Mice can get in anywhere

[kballowe]

I bought this bike in October 2021, and it always had an odd, intermittent rattle in the instrument cluster. 

Now I know why.

That mouse is long gone, but his "stash" remains.

[Motormike]

That's funny.  Was the previous owner a farmer??    Or just some deer feeding Bambi lover. 

[PeteS]

They got into my Goldwing air cleaner that takes me two hours to get to.

Pete

[Tkelly]

They loaded corn into our bmw r65 air cleaner to the extent the bike wasn’t getting enough air.

[faffi]

Amazing!

[Dukedesmo]

Indeed they can, I was recently repairing the doors on my Land Rover (the bottom of the frame rusts) and there was a nest in the left side door.

[kballowe]

The little [censored] chewed the coil wire off the lawnmower last year.

They're in for a surprise this year.

[Dukedesmo]

The little blighters chewed part of the wiring loom in the engine bay of my Sister's car, cost her quite dearly to get it fixed.


We get them in our attic every winter, I have been chasing holes in the wall and every other access point I can find. Greatly reduced the quantities over recent winters but just don't seem to be able to completely stop them.


Earlier in the year, I was getting a dog chew stick out of a bag from the cupboard under the kitchen sink, when I pulled it out there was a piece missing (I assumed broken off in the bag), when I looked into the bag there was a mouse in there, eating my dog's chew - I threw it out the door, in hindsight I should have thrown it to the dog, being a Jack Russell he'd have loved it...   

[faffi]

We have plugged in some squeakers to various electrrical outlets that produce a sound we cannot hear, but drive the mice mad and away. Not been a mouse in the cabin or outhouses since we got them.

[twowheeladdict]

So far the cats have been doing their job well.  When I was in New England earlier this spring I heard many complaints about rodents.

[jrt]

I put out moth balls and that seems pretty effective.  I guess it is the same principle as the squealers, but a different sense.   

[Kiwi_Roy]

I had a landlady once, she had a Morris 1100 to drive.
One morning she went out and the car was listing badly to one side, a mouse had chewed through one of the hydrolytic suspension hoses letting out the fluid.

[Clifton]

I used to fight mice in my garage all the time (until I finally sealed it so they can't get in). As posted they like to use airboxes to make nests and hoard food. I was forever cleaning the mess out of my SXS, ATV, cardboard storage boxes, etc. They even packed grass and twigs in the mower engine in between the cylinder fins and shield that flows air. I used dryer sheets, peppermint oil, ultrasonic emitters, all to no avail.

One spring I removed the seat on the R1200RS to find corn and birdseed. After cleaning all that mess out I checked the V7 Stone and thankfully didn't see any sign they used it. A couple days later when I backed the Stone out, turned it around to head out and started it, it I heard a hell of a racket when corn shot out from the muffler like a shotgun against the garage. That's the point when I said enough is enough and worked to stop their ingress.

[faffi]

Ouch

A former colleague went away for a few days, and when he came back, mice had destroyed most of the interior of his car. He was not pleased, but at least the insurance covered the majority of the extensive repair bill.

[StuCorpe]

Twice I've had the critters get into the control box of the outside unit for the air conditioner.  They chewed a wire in half, the fist time it cost me $125 service call to fix the unit, all he did was splice a new piece of wire in, took about 5 minutes.  The second time I took the cover off and looked myself first.  Cleaned out the mouse nest, spliced the wire they had chewed in half and everything worked fine.  Haven't figured out for sure how to keep them away from the AC unit.  This time I'm trying a mixture of water and Cyan Pepper sprayed on the ground all the way around the unit.  I'll find out next spring if that works.

[Stretch]

You all have my sympathies.

I HATE mice. Seal up all  points of ingress - this may take A LOT of effort.
I had them in the walls of my house, and found some rotten sheathing under
the vinyl siding - a previous owner's, "fix!" I spent most of a summer's free time
fixing all of that. Then we got the bats out of the attic and all is quiet.   

I use the Victor mouse traps with the yellow plastic paddles and peanut
butter as bait. I've also drowned, smashed and shot the little pests. We
also have 2 cats. 
 
A coworker had her car TOTALLED by the little varmints. They chewed through
so much that it was uneconomical to repair.

                                                 -Stretch

[SIR REAL ED]

I have heard so many stories like these.  To date, no problems here, perhaps due to 3 cats and 3 dogs living here.

I would expect the little buggers to have a keen sense of smell.  Perhaps the scent of dog and/or cat smells like "Napalm in the morning!"

[nmroadrunner]

A fully-grown adult mouse can pass through a hole the size of an American money dime.

[Ncdan]

I do not kill the black snakes around my house therefore mice seldom detected.

[kballowe]

[guzziart]

I found this under the seat of my vStrom back in '22, same sort of thing with my Wing in '20 in the air filter box.  I wonder if any of those electronic type pest repellent devices actually work.

[Clifton]

......  I wonder if any of those electronic type pest repellent devices actually work.

They never worked for me, I had 3 little ones and a larger different brand all plugged in. I also tried peppermint oil and drier sheets around my mower that was stored in a metal shed and they didn't seem to help either. Heck they utilized pieces of the drier sheets in their nests. Poison would probably be the most effective but I don't want to use it.

[Moparnut72]

Do not use DCon rodent bait. It can cause secondary poisoning. In other words if a cat or dog eats a poisoned rodent they could also suffer the same thing. I don't think it is available in California anymore but may be in your state. Anti coagulant baits are fine, they take multiple feedings to be effective. They generally contain diphacinone.
kk

[Dukedesmo]

Quote from: guzziart on Today at 02:05:26 PM

I wonder if any of those electronic type pest repellent devices actually work.

>_____________________________________________

I bought a couple for the attic. I plugged them in just inside the entrance, where I put the mousetraps.

Never saw a reduction of Mice in the traps, maybe they just jumped into them willingly to escape the ultrasound?

Anyway, I'm not convinced.

[bacongrease]

    I cranked one of my Honda 750s after a lengthy set....mouse and litter blew out 3 feet.  Cat had a feast.   

[faffi]

I wonder if any of those electronic type pest repellent devices actually work.

They have worked for us. No more mice turd to be found inside either of the buildings where it used to be common. Maybe Norwegian mice have better hearing? Or perhaps American mice are tougher

[Alfetta]

I don't have much of a mouse problem....   but those mud-daubers are a serious pain in my arse !