How to keep the mice at bay?

[Exranger]

Please explain how/where you spray the font wheel wells.....

Each side over the front tires, spray into the wheel well liners, just a few seconds each.

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[gjallen3]

I know there are lots of posts where mice are mentioned but I didn't see any that answered the question as to how/where are they getting into my Maverick? I have a 23 EB, Lariat. It is always garaged but I still get the occasional mouse making its way into my truck. I don't keep any kind of bird or pet food in the garage that might attract mice, but they still keep coming. I have traps set up in the garage, where I catch one every other month or so, and, as of yesterday, in my truck (I caught one there overnight last night). Even though I have a newer garage that is well sealed from the outside intruders they find a way in.

Does anyone know for sure where they are gaining access? If so, is there an aftermarket screen I can install? I had something like that installed by Toyota when the mice chewed up the AC unit on my wife's Prius a few years ago.

I appreciate any feedback on tried-and-true methods of stopping the mice.

Very long post already but I’ll throw my two cents in. In AZ our problems are Mice and Pack Rats. My problem was the rats getting into the engine and chewing wires and building nests. I tried all of the commercial sprays and 3 different ultrasonic devices. None worked. They actually built nests on top of the devices. The only thing that worked was trapping. They climbed up the tires so that’s where they went. I did this every day until it stopped. I would also leave the hood open at night when possible. For some reason I really don’t have a problem anymore.

 

[Timothyd]

Very long post already but I’ll throw my two cents in. In AZ our problems are Mice and Pack Rats. My problem was the rats getting into the engine and chewing wires and building nests. I tried all of the commercial sprays and 3 different ultrasonic devices. None worked. They actually built nests on top of the devices. The only thing that worked was trapping. They climbed up the tires so that’s where they went. I did this every day until it stopped. I would also leave the hood open at night when possible. For some reason I really don’t have a problem anymore.

 

[Timothyd]

Very long post already but I’ll throw my two cents in. In AZ our problems are Mice and Pack Rats. My problem was the rats getting into the engine and chewing wires and building nests. I tried all of the commercial sprays and 3 different ultrasonic devices. None worked. They actually built nests on top of the devices. The only thing that worked was trapping. They climbed up the tires so that’s where they went. I did this every day until it stopped. I would also leave the hood open at night when possible. For some reason I really don’t have a problem anymore.

Done. Hank is on it.

 

[gjallen3]

Done. Hank is on it.

Hank is the way nature intended it to be. You gotta love him.

 

[dochawk]

that surface wouldn't be horizontal if a cat wasn't meant to sit on it, now would it
?

 

[dhaskit]

Not what you are asking but I have been told that modern electrical wire, as used in vehicles, has insulation that is made from Soy. I can attest that mice and squirrels both love the stuff.

Sounds dumb but;
Try throwing a couple of rubber snakes under your truck to see if that scares them off. My Dad had one hanging from a rafter on his patio and the birds would’t go under there anymore. Seemed to work for him.

 

[MikeS1942]

Not what you are asking but I have been told that modern electrical wire, as used in vehicles, has insulation that is made from Soy. I can attest that mice and squirrels both love the stuff.

Sounds dumb but;
Try throwing a couple of rubber snakes under your truck to see if that scares them off. My Dad had one hanging from a rafter on his patio and the birds would’t go under there anymore. Seemed to work for him.

Apparently peppermint is the answer. My wife would use peppermint oil in the house and our mouse issues disappeared.

 

[Deleted User 109142]

I had some in the detached garage. I could tell by the occasional droppings. I spoke with a exterminator at an apartment complex one day a few years ago. He said they don't like lights.
So I hooked up a couple of lights and put them on a timer. Haven't seen droppings since. With 2 motorcycles and a car in the garage, I feel much more relieved now.

 

[Cherokee]

https://www.amazon.com/PredatorPee-100-Mountain-Lion-Urine/dp/B0CX3QXJ3T

This worked way way too well for me.
I had a mouse problem in my shed out back.
Had a squirrel problem in my roof.

For the next six months I did not see a squirrel within a square quarter mile area around my house.
The neighbors noticed.
No mice anywhere.

Wolf urine,
Panther piss,
Any Alpha predator that eats your pests will do.

I keep deer away from my Maverick,
Antlers are rough on paint, by taking a piss behind it now and then.

And I’m pretty much an Alpha Predator.
:’P

Go on, take a piss on your front tires.
If ya ain’t got enough for both tires,
Well,
That’s what beer is for.

 

[G-man]

I know there are lots of posts where mice are mentioned but I didn't see any that answered the question as to how/where are they getting into my Maverick? I have a 23 EB, Lariat. It is always garaged but I still get the occasional mouse making its way into my truck. I don't keep any kind of bird or pet food in the garage that might attract mice, but they still keep coming. I have traps set up in the garage, where I catch one every other month or so, and, as of yesterday, in my truck (I caught one there overnight last night). Even though I have a newer garage that is well sealed from the outside intruders they find a way in.

Does anyone know for sure where they are gaining access? If so, is there an aftermarket screen I can install? I had something like that installed by Toyota when the mice chewed up the AC unit on my wife's Prius a few years ago.

I appreciate any feedback on tried-and-true methods of stopping the mice.

Check your cabin filter (behind the glove box). I had a nest with a whole family living in there. I even had mummified former family members stuck on the housing. They almost chewed their way through the filter, so they are coming in from the windshield wiper trough. I bought leaf guards to close off that entry point but haven’t installed them yet. That won’t keep them out of the engine compartment though.

 

[MetalMedic]

Get your vehicle fluid filmed

How does that repel mice?

I have some mouse repellant pouches that were recommended to put in the engine compartment. Anyone know if there is a "safe" place to put them that won't potentially cause a problem while driving with them in place?

 

[Escapologist]

We had enough of a thaw that my toolshed was no longer entombed in a glacier, so I got out there to grab some stuff. I discovered a lot of mouse sign, chewed boxes and poop. Since it is uncomfortably close to my Maverick and my kitchen I decided I had better go to war.

I saw one of the critters first a couple of days ago and it did something quite worrying... the books say they will get through a 10mm gap or a dime sized hole... well this little bastard went into a quarter inch/5mm crack... holy shit, probably need about an inch or so of width with it, but that's a far smaller gap than I anticipated or heard about. These seem to be white footed deer mice.

Anyway, to war... dug out all the traps I could find, I could use buying some more, basic spring traps. Now I had heard that mice in urban areas have evolved distaste for peanut butter as it is frequently used in baits and traps, and I am more in town than not. So I looked around what I had and put half an almond, Planters roasted and salted on the traps...

So roasted almonds are apparently like crack to these little suckers... I heard a trap activate within 2 hours of setting it, mouse got his arm caught, was dragging the trap around.. dammit... gotta kill the thing... I was kinda not prepared so best thing I could think of on the spot was drop a heavy can.. and it just gave the little shit a glancing blow and in a convulsion it pulled out of the trap and into the nearest crack... dammit.... so not sure if that one is gonna die from injuries or not. Anyway, all I could do was reset the trap.

Four hours later that same trap reset, got one with a clean snap to the back of neck, then overnight one trap activation and another clean kill. So in 12 hours got 4 trap activations, 50% kill rate. Maybe need a better trap brand, some cheapy one this.

Well the whole post and the tl;dr is just to tell you how good roasted almonds seem to be working here as bait, so use that however, for kill or catch traps or attractants.

ETA: don't think the first mouse numbered among the 2 later dead, because it had it's brown coloring in almost a stripe on the grey and the two caught had their brown go further down their sides.

 

[dochawk]

So roasted almonds are apparently like crack to these little suckers...

M&M's embedded in peanut butter.

Maybe add lettuce & raisins, but they're purely secondary.

Professional exterminators bemoan not being able to use peanut butter in their traps in schools.

 

[Wahjahbvious]

Wait, other people call them Murder Buckets too!?

A murder bucket would work well in a garage, better than a spring trap.

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