The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop f'n rodents!

My 50 Chev 3600 has been sitting in the garage for 12 years. I got it running a couple of months ago and plan to get it back on the road this summer. During it's long reat and despite the mothballs, the mice moved in and proceeded to take the seat stuffing and run it up front cab pillars and stash it on top of the headliner. This also became a favorite place for them to **** and poop. Yesterday I ripped the headliner out and started to clean up the mess. D-con and traps are on todays shopping list but what can I do to prevent them from getting back into the headliner? I know I'll never be able to kill them all. I was thinking about some stainless steel pot scrubber pads jammed in there. Anybody else ever deal with this problem? Thanks for any tips.

I got cats,,they are also a pain but don't ruin as much stuff as rodents,,brian

I do have cats - they just can't get at the buggers in the garage. I have WAY to much stuff in there and the mice have plenty of places to hide.

I leave one in the shop overnight occasionally. the mice don't expect it & get caught. Also try the glue traps if you know a typical path they take, usually along base of walls. the Victor spring loaded traps won't catch anything in their OE configuration-you gotta bend on the trip a little to get them to be more sensitive, otherwise you are just feeding the buggers. Moth balls in the truck seem to help also. brian

I don't know what it is about those spots in our trucks- mice love them. I've heard that dried peppermint (in plant form) repels them. Don't know if it's true, or just an old wive's tale.

I didn't have a mouse problem,I had a snake living in the cab of my Fleetside,I'm sure it took care of the mice.

dont use d-con,,theyll just go off and die in your truck somewhere and then you'll have a really nasty mess.use traps!!!!!
steel wool or pot scrubbers will keep them out from places you dont want them to be in.

Ya, don't do the poison thing.

I use a "Tin-cat" which I think they still make. It is about the size of a shoe box, but only about 3 inches tall and has two, one-way entrances. It works great as the mice go in to a small hole-which they like- and then are trapped. You can put any type of bait you want in these things. I live in the country so I can never kill them all, but it has been great. I remember when we first got them (2) and placed them in our chicken house. We had 17 mice in the morning between the two...mice sure are stupid. If I saw 8 other of my friends going into a place they couldn't get out of, I wound't follow...

Please please don't use glue traps. They are very cruel and unnecessary.

Mice destroyed a nice Ford Bronco that I had and eventually got into my house. I had no choice but to use the snap traps. If placed properly, they kill quickly. Those glue traps are most inhumane and boarder on evil. It's not the fault of the mice. They are just doing what nature has designed them to do. There is no reason to be spiteful.

Place the snap traps in corners and put some boxes next to them so that the mice can only come at the trap from one direction. This will ensure a quick, humane kill.

Also: Glue traps kill all kinds of animals, not just mice.

Glue Trap Info

More Glue Trap Info

I love animals, but really don't give a rat's arse when it comes to vermin,,my cats are not humane when they kill mice-they torture them for hours sometimes. Nature is cruel. Brian

I pretty much cleared my garage of mice by using a pair of snap traps... place them end to end behind a box where they run... bait the traps with peanut butter, set the trap to be sensitive... snapola!!

Well I did stick a couple of glue traps out there months ago and have yet to catch anything. I'm not so concerned about catching things other than mice in them because whatever I catch, they do not belong in my garage. A couple of years ago, I opend the drawer in my Kennedy chest only to find mom mouse nursing a few mouselets. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!. She had been busily ripping up all the felt from the other drawers before giving birth too. The black flag is out when it comes to rodents and I do not care if someone thinks my methods are cruel. I do not torture them for pleasure, I just want them dead and gone. I shoot all the chipmunks around my house too. Those critters are just about as destructive as the mice. My house is old, 1860, and they seem to find ways inside no matter what I do. The piles of insulation on the cellar floor are testament to that. They excavate it from the walls to make tunnels for themselves. In the past, I avoided poisons because I do not what happens to it all. It ends up somewhere in our ecosystem. But, it is about as effective as you can get.

Hanging bags of peppermint, scatter mint leaves or Camphor will discourage mice and not hurt your pets.
This next may give you a chuckle and lighten some of the fustration of having rodents.
This is taken from a book written in the very early 1900’s. Not that I would try this or advise anyone else to try it. So please no animal lovers bash me I am an animal lover too! But I found it interesting the lengths one will go to rid themselves of rodents. This is no joke, this is actually in print.
“Release live rats after coating them with a mixture containing phosphorus. Mix with water to the consistency of milk 4 ounces of glue, 4 ounces of asafetida, and 2 ounces of potash, and add ½ ounce of phosphorus dissolved in a little alcohol. Shake the whole to form a complete emulsion.
Catch one or more rats in a wire cage. Take a pronged stick having prongs about as long as the rat’s neck is thick, wedge the fork just behind the animal’s ears, and pin him firmly to the floor. He can be held in this position without risk or difficulty. Roll a bit of newspaper into a tight cylinder, set fire to one end, and with the lighted end singe the hair from his back. This can be done without burning the flesh. Fix a small paint brush on a long stick and after dark apply a coating of the phosphoric mixture, slightly warm, to the animal’s back, and release him near his hole. Just what impression is produced by what seems to be the ghost of a departed rat reappearing in his old haunts would be hard to say, but those who have tried the experiment report that no rats remain in the vicinity to give an account of their sentiments”.
But again in another paragraph in the same book, it gives the recipe of "mixing in a fruit jar ½ ounce of phosphorus in 10 ounces of warm water, and mix to form a stiff dough with 10 or 12 ounces of rye meal, 10 ounces of butter, and 8 ounces of sugar, Place small quantities of the dough in the rat runways. But…remember that phosphorus readily ignites by friction, and the rats may carry it into their hole and set the place on fire".

Tell us something we don't know....


Those glue traps catch kittens, puppies, birds, snakes et. They are EVIL. Do not use them.

Humans are their own worst enemy. They kill all the coyotes, snakes, and birds of prey then complain about rodents. I had a mouse problem in my well shed. I found a big rat snake in the road. Rather than run it over like most of the IDIOTS do, I picked him up, brought him home and put him in my shed. Problem solved.

Tab

They kill all the coyotes? That is one species that has made an incredible come back, even with humans shooting them. That incredible comeback is why most of the states around here have no hunting season on them - in other words, shoot them if you see them. They are so plentiful and hungry that many house pets fall prey to them. In regards to the glue traps, I have had two of them in the garage now since about June and haven't caught anything in them. It is very unlikely that I will catch any kittens, puppies or birds. A snake may sneak in there but I think I have seen about 3 snakes in the 16 years that I have lived here so that is unlikely too. I put one of the sticky traps in the truck in any case so it is really unlikely that I will catch anything but a rodent in it.

Oh man they can be trouble. I left the oil cap on the valve cover off and they moved in over last winter. Had to pull the cover and clean the top of the head inbetween rocker arms and push rods hoping not too much fell down to the oil pan. On another car I left the carb off overnight and found crap in the manifold the next morning. Had to pull the manifold in fear of sucking in a nut shell or something. The motherhood thing would make me pause, but other than that, the ends justify the means!
Rick in VA

I have lived in the Texas country for 20 years and NEVER had a problem with coyotes. People shoot them because they love to blast animals with their guns. It makes them feel macho. It's really very cowardly and when they shoot mom the cubs die a terrible death. Unnecessary cruelty is so repulsive.....

Speaking of mice, my daughter phoned me the other day and she was going out Sat morning and the car was dead. Brand new 2006 Chev. She called the GM dealer and they towed it to the shop. The mechanic looked under the hood and apparently mice had gotten into the wiring under the fuze panel in the engine compartment, chewed the wiring up. The dealer said that this was the second Chev in for the same problem. Guess mice have a taste for new Chev wiring harnesses. She had to pay 300 for wiring repairs, warranty doesn't cover critters Bob T

For years I also had mice nests in an around the intake mainfold on my 95 Silverado. I guess they would wait until I came home and then run in there while the engine was still warm and spend the night. So far, they have not found that spot on the new one after 2 years.
I have no preblems with dispatching vermin. Earlier this year, I had to shoot a raccon that was on my roof ripping the siding off so that she could get into the "attic" space above my kitchen so she could have her litter. Too bad for here but she made the wrong choice. If I ever have the opportunity to shoot any coyotes on my property, I will. I have more than one friend whose pets have dissappeared during the night and the corner store has a bulletin board of missing pet notices. I have another friend who watches a coyote essentially stalk his pet dog while it is in the yard with the invisible fence. The coyote waits in the tall marsh grass, it sometimes even enters his yard sniffing around and I am guessing it is just a matter of time before the coyote has himself a nice spaniel dinner. He doesn't want to take my advice to just shoot it and be done with it.
Tab, do you feel bad for the fawn that is having it's entrails ripped out by coyotes while it is still alive? Probably not, it's natural after all.

I've got a bad pack rat problem. Moth balls help a little if placed strategically. It appears to me that things/areas that are greasy and smelly with car chemicals are not as favored by the rats. I had my suburban parked for 5 years,Once or twice a year i sprayed under the hood with WD 40. Minor wire damage there, the frame rails and gas tank area were not sprayed and the damage there was major.

If you don't have pets or you if you do or can put posion outI would do that frist chioce. I had my year of "trying every thing else" and it does not work. Field rats and mice are better at making babies than any animal I have had to deal with. With the woods, fields, dog food bins, chicken food bins, chicken coop and garages believe you me I have tried everything and Decon posion with peanut butter is the only thing I have found to work. But with pets around you have to put it where they can't get to it and check for dead vermin everyday and give them a good heave-ho to the nearest ditch. If they get into your house or garage wiring it will eventually burn to the ground. If you have a newer Ford around you will not need any help in that department. (had to add that and yep I have a 97 F150)
I have tried sticky traps and the only thing I seem to catch is bugs.
Every time I find a king snake I bring it home and let it go in the back field. Every little bit helps. I have had to relocate a few snakes with a belly bulging from eating chicken eggs. But a little sulfer and mothballs keeps them out of the chicken pen.
Hey I love animals until they start eating my stuff and costing more than they could possibly be cute! Nature is more cruel in more ways than I could think of benig.

That's smart! The folks around here are afraid of ALL snakes and kill them on sight. Then they wonder why they are over run with rodents. :rolleyes:

I don't kill any snakes. Even when I find a rattler or copperhead on my property I just catch and release. The Copperheads try to get away but the Rattlesnakes turn and fight. It can get a bit dangerous at times. I'm hoping for a reward in the afterlife... :o

Tab,
I agree with you there. Snakes & spiders are among the most beneficial creatures on the planet. But people are quick to kill them.

BTW - email me again. Would like to talk.

I use glue traps in my attic and under my roof eves... that is the only way I can catch the roof rats... and they dont suffer long... not more than a few minutes anyway... I check them daily, and have yet to see a live one there.

I did find a bunch of young rats living inside a carpet i had tossed over my chainlink fence... I would smack the carpet with a shovel, and one would drop out dead, the others took off running... it took a week to get them all...

There is a coyote trapper in the neighborhood too... they use a "live catch trap"... then they relocate them elsewhere... I would shoot the coyotes running rampant through the neighborhood, but my neighbors would probably get mad at me!!! so I just throw rocks at them...

Maybe the next time i see a coyote in the coyote trap, i'll stripe his back with that phosphores stuff..... maybe i'll break open a couple of light sticks and put that on them... should get a rise out of the neighbors when they see the "ghost of the coyote" running through their yard with a pet in it's mouth.

PS... how did this thread get into the paint and body shop?? shouldnt it be in the Spoon? :confused:

In most states it is illegal to transport live wild animals. Just a heads up for you snake collectors and coyote shufflers.

I went out and checked the sticky traps today and nothing. It seems after I ripped the mouse **** soaked headliner out, they haved moved somewhere else. For now anyway.
What would guys reccomend that I clean all the rusty mouse **** interior metal with? Wash it with something and then wire brush and paint with something like that extend stuff?

You're right Rusty. To the spoon ...!!

Gazz,
In Oregon, the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife allows certain limits for collecting reptiles & amphibians if you have a valid fishing license. Not sure about other states.

Gazz, I would use a bleach/dish soap solution to clean. Brian

While the original topic sort of fit into the paint and body shop forum, it has drifted wildly. I am locking this thread and deleting a few way off topic posts. You can start a new thread in the lounge forum if you want but I don't think I will bother to move it.

Your friendly moderator was too busy this weekend to catch it earlier.