Auto storage... and mice!

[Joopin]

Well it's almost time to put away the 67 stang for the winter again. Past winters I have found that mice end up living in my mustang and making nests in my ventilation system. Does anyone know of a way to keep these things out of my car for 4 months? I don't want to kill them cause they would stink up my car and be who knows where in it. I have no problem killing mice though! Any ideas?

Joop

 

[LadyJeepFreak]

obvious, get a cat!

 

[bchcky]

when one of my co-workers up here stores his snowmobiles for the summer months, he makes sure to put moth balls under the covers with the machine. he says it will keep squirells, mice etc away. just put a few in obvious nooks and crannies, on the floorboards, some in the trunk and wherever else you feel might be an entryway for the mice, or a place they'd consider hiding out. moth balls smell, but i'd rather that smell than the one the mice would leave

 

[OutOfStep]

glue traps in the engine compartment, snap traps around the car, and \fire the car up once a week for a couple minutes (keeps seals and gaskets in better shape as well). Nothing will screw up a good interior like mice

 

[bchcky]

only problem with traps is that you gotta clean up the dead mice periodically or the smell will be bad when you take it back out after the winter. moth balls will hopefully just keep them away. hey, why not both?

 

[Sparky-Watts]

About the only way I could think of would be to put the car up on jack stands, pull the wheels, and put some type of cone over the jack stand with the big end down, several inches off the floor, so that the mice couldn't climb the jack stand and get into the car. Used to do that with my brother's Chevelle and it worked well. He used those plastic cones that veterinarians put on dogs heads to keep them from chewing themselves. It was a slick plastic that the mice couldn't get a grip on.

 

[Joopin]

I would like to start it up every week but the place I store it for now is 3 hours away. I am looking for a place closer but havn't found one yet. Thanks for the ideas! I could use mothballs but... you put them on the inside of the car too? Gross! But your right, it's a toss up between smells... unless I can get away with putting them under the car and under the hood maybe. I like the jack stand idea too... Thanks!

 

[88Wrangles]

About the only way I could think of would be to put the car up on jack stands, pull the wheels, and put some type of cone over the jack stand with the big end down, several inches off the floor, so that the mice couldn't climb the jack stand and get into the car. Used to do that with my brother's Chevelle and it worked well. He used those plastic cones that veterinarians put on dogs heads to keep them from chewing themselves. It was a slick plastic that the mice couldn't get a grip on.

Keep in mind mice can jump pretty good! Either your brother was just lucky or he had it jacked up REAL high...

 

[OutOfStep]

only problem with traps is that you gotta clean up the dead mice periodically or the smell will be bad when you take it back out after the winter. moth balls will hopefully just keep them away. hey, why not both?

The smell's only bad for a couple weeks while they freeze dry... it serves as a warning to any passerby mice as well, kinda like sticking a head on a pike over your ramparts ;-)

 

[Joopin]

The smell's only bad for a couple weeks while they freeze dry... it serves as a warning to any passerby mice as well, kinda like sticking a head on a pike over your ramparts ;-)

Maybe I should just put some 'pre-dead" mice around the car. That will warn the others ahead of time!

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Keep in mind mice can jump pretty good! Either your brother was just lucky or he had it jacked up REAL high...

Not very high, maybe enough that if the wheels had been on the car, they would have been 3-4 inches off the ground. The only thing really low enough for the mice to jump onto was the plastic cones, and they were apparently too slick to crawl up if they could jump on them.

 

[OutOfStep]

Thats a good idea, it will get the ball rollin faster if you have to wait to draw first blood. I'd go with the extra large adults personally, and maybe put an XXXL Guinea Pig in the ash tray just incase one slips in without seeing the mice...

http://www.rodentpro.com/catalog.asp?prod=3&label=frozen_mice

 

[mingez]

1. "Scare-mice" Fake Cats around perimeter of car, like "Scarecrows" but for mice.


2. Mark the territory: Another method I've heard of is kinda gross but effective. What you do is get used kitty litter and sprinkle it around the perimeter. My buddies' grandpa used to put it in beer cans like ever 4 feet around the car, and the smell of thier feces and urine is enough to steer them away. Works for like 3 weeks or so.


3. Dryer Sheets. Dryer sheets are supposed to work like mothballs but not smell so bad. Mothballs work, but it's hard to erradicate the smell.


Maybe if you do all three, and also put it up on Jack Stands as well, you'll be mice free!

Good luck.

 

[mingez]

Here's a thought: maybe a small electric shock perimeter (like fencing) could do the trick. You could hook it up to a small battery, low volts but enough to teach them a lesson.. or kill them.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Here's a thought: maybe a small electric shock perimeter (like fencing) could do the trick. You could hook it up to a small battery, low volts but enough to teach them a lesson.. or kill them.

Yeah, and you could have cats on miniature horseback riding the range, singing cowcat songs around the campfire at night.......

 

[TwistedCU]

If you won't be there to empty traps, which is the only real way I know of to rid anyplace of mice, then maybe you could try one of those doohickeys that plug into an outlet and emit a high pitched signal to deter them. I've never tried them and have no idea if they actually work though.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

If you won't be there to empty traps, which is the only real way I know of to rid anyplace of mice, then maybe you could try one of those doohickeys that plug into an outlet and emit a high pitched signal to deter them. I've never tried them and have no idea if they actually work though.

Don't waste your money. I've got a buddy that bought 3 of them because of the mice in his trailer house out in the country. All they accomplished was to annoy people and chase off the mice's natural predators like snakes, hawks, cats, and dogs. The mice seemed to like it and the population seemed to increase.

 

[TwistedCU]

Don't waste your money. I've got a buddy that bought 3 of them because of the mice in his trailer house out in the country. All they accomplished was to annoy people and chase off the mice's natural predators like snakes, hawks, cats, and dogs. The mice seemed to like it and the population seemed to increase.

I saw one in the hardware store the other day and it said on the package that dogs, cats, and humans can't hear that frequency

I'm not saying they work though. Just thought for as cheap as they are it might be worth a shot.

 

[southtj]

If you won't be there to empty traps, which is the only real way I know of to rid anyplace of mice, then maybe you could try one of those doohickeys that plug into an outlet and emit a high pitched signal to deter them. I've never tried them and have no idea if they actually work though.

Don't know about rodents but we used one for bugs in an apartment I used to live in . We had a roach problem and figured what the heck, it's worth a try. It worked. The bugs left and the neighbors hated us because they all went next door. We left that thing on for years. I never saw any mice so maybe it did work.

 

[Joopin]

My shopping list:

Dryer sheets
Jack stands
Orange cones (extra slippery)
moth balls
dead mice
dead gerbils
fake cats, (dead stuffed cats for the extra life like option)
a six pack of cat excrament
high pitched noise maker thingy
electric shock perimiter fence

If all this doesn't work I'm coming after you guys!

This post deserves a 5 star rating!