Most wonderful time of the year - for mice

[Mac]

As winter is quickly approaching us here in Ohio, the mice are actively looking for warm winter nests. Garages offer shelter and snacks of vehicle wires. With that said, the Jan 2023 issue of consumer reports has a small article on how to prevent the little critters from moving in your garage. Most of what they state is common sense; such as looking for gaps, no keep trash bins with food wastes, etc.

A couple of new things to consider though are putting rodent deterrant tape around wires (refer Honda part #4019-2317 in a 20 meter roll - $43) that is treated with super-spicy capsaicin. Also use of a specialized vehicle rodent spray (mighty mint rodent vehicle protection spray - $21)

Myself, I've had good luck with glue traps and little pouches of mint (from Home Depot). Also stuffing steel wool in all the cracks/joints I've found.

Any other ideas/suggestions are very welcome!

Mac

 

[vikingsandpintos]

I've had good luck with a combo of fabric softener sheets, Irish Spring soap, and peppermint oil on cotton balls. I use all 3, and so far so good

 

[Spike Morelli]

X2 on what vikingsandpinto posted....

 

[jpaz]

I live in Michigan and my Mach is in my heated garage and I Never get any mice, or for that matter any critters in the car or the garage. I do occasionally get them in the house, where there’s food. Are you guys keeping some kind of food, seed or something like that in your garages?

 

[Ron Tanzi]

I agree with Mac on the Capsaicin tape from Honda. Although the little bastards go after the wiring of modern cars more than the oldies. This is due to the modern (Enviro green) wiring especially in Toyota and Honda products. They use soy and peanut based oils in the composition of their wiring insulation. Some of these cars have been written off after a rodent attack on their wiring systems. Peppermint oil rocks for deterring mice and I like the smell.

Ron

 

[midlife]

What's wrong with barn cats?

 

[DAverkamp]

I live in Michigan and my Mach is in my heated garage and I Never get any mice, or for that matter any critters in the car or the garage. I do occasionally get them in the house, where there’s food. Are you guys keeping some kind of food, seed or something like that in your garages?

Yes the dog and bird food are stored in my WI garage. We’ve never had an issue until two years ago at the height of the kungflu deal on a 40 degree day I cranked her up and then after shutdown I opened the trunk to remember what parts I had stored in it and saw momma mouse heading from my spare tire to the DS “drop down” hiding spot in the quarter panel wheel well. As she crossed my view I saw she was carrying a newbie hanging halfway out of her “love socket” but I didn’t care or scream and promptly put a trap with mozz cheese in the enticer part. Next day there she was, a solid 5 oz’r, eyes bugged out and done dancing. As most on here may recall, I washed out a lobe on my FT cam in April and during that process of switching to a RR set up I refreshed the engine bay, etc and when I made it to the trunk and pulled the spare OEM tire to get reworked, there were 4 petrified mouse infant specimens inside the tire cover. Poor little buggers, only if their momma would have picked a better neighborhood to move in to.

 

[Hemikiller]

I have to go old school, living in the woods. I buy about two dozen snap traps each year and bait them with peanut butter. The little buggers can't seem to resist the stuff. Every night I go out and check the traps, re-bait and discard the carcasses. Got three last night in the hoop house. I've found that I have to secure the traps with screws or a weight, or they'll disappear. Had several in the garage that vanished this week, I'm sure I'll find them when I pull the Mach out this weekend.

 

[steves73]

Last spring I found that mice had been using the glovebox. Apparently it's made out of cardboard, so was damaged by urine. I was able to save some receipts and the GiJoe tissues are okay. To fix I made some oil paint match the interior.

 

[DAverkamp]

What's wrong with barn cats?

The one’s that moused or ratted and hung around us pulling tits and doing chores had a great life when I grew up. The freeloaders that only came around after milking for the cooler cream usually disappeared somehow..

 

[73 Mach 1 4 me]

I've had good luck with a combo of fabric softener sheets, Irish Spring soap, and peppermint oil on cotton balls. I use all 3, and so far so good

I use Irish spring soap to, and it makes the car smell good.

 

[73 Mach 1 4 me]

I use Irish spring soap to, and it makes the car smell good.

I also leave my hood up I heard the mice won’t go in the engine compartment because they like dark places. Fortunately I have windows in my garage so with the hood up the engine compartment is no longer a dark place 24 hours a day.