Don't know if this is the right place for this, but...
Does anyone else have problems with mice/pack rats in their shop?
I have some, and nothing I do seems to be able to get rid of them. I've tried rat traps, but they seem to be able to get the bait with out getting caught. Tried poison bait (years back) which killed them but they crawled into unreachable spaces, died, then stunk up the shop so bad I couldn't stand to be in there. And that bait doesn't seem to be available anymore.
I'm thinking about the electronic noise generators, but they are expensive and I'm not sure how well they work. I do know that sometimes when I'm running grinders (especially 'Dremel) that I've seen rats flee the shop from the sound.
Anybody have suggestions, experiences, advice? I'd really like to get them out.
I live way back in the middle of 2000 acres of woods, and they seem to be everywhere!
Tim
I am currently digging back in to a 1953 3800 (one ton) with a nine foot bed. I've owned it since 1979, and drove it until 1982 (or so). My wife got me involved in restoring it back in 2002, got the body removed and the frame redone, then things came up. Now I am retired and starting again. If anyone is interested I have photos on Imagur ( https://timwhiteblues.imgur.com/ ). I live way back in the woods in the Ozarks on 40 acres at the end of a 2 1/2 mile private road.
There are some sticky cards app 4 x 6 inches which smell faintly like peanut butter. There are two brands...final step is one and tomcat is the other. Do not get the ones with green sticky stuff. Those are no good. Get the thin cardboard ones. Mice and rats get caught on them if they even put one foot on and they don't leave. They work at night. Jon
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
buy the plastic rat bait boxes to keep the cats/dogs/etc out. place them along the wall with the holes that allow them into the station. Make sure they have a trail or a path. but make sure you purchase the bait that contains the active ingredient Methyl Bomodialone. Because I want them to "die alone!". cats are good. a snake is better.
I use my shop to store corn seed about 6 months out of the year. The material is insured from everything except rodent damage. So guess who wages war against mice and rats? This guy. At $350+/bag, i can buy a lot of rat bait.
The sticky glue traps are good for the mice too. especially if you can find their travel ways. skip the mice sized ones and just buy the rat sized ones. pair of pliers will remove most of them and you can reuse them. sprinkle some dog food or peanuts in the middle of the trap. For traps, I have had good luck using peanut butter. Happy hunting!
5 gallon bucket half full of water, beer can, inclined board clothes hanger wire, and peanut butter. Dump the bucket every few days before it starts to stink. You'll eliminate dozens of them. Here's another design:
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
No mice in my shop in years. I have a very stealthy secrete weapon. Sam the rat snake. He's about 6' long and will lay for hours with out moving a detectable muscle. I've watched him lay 3' from the bench grinder while I worked for 30 minutes and never flinch.
Love it! Nature doing its job is a pretty cool thing when you allow it to happen. I can't stand when people complain about their "snake problem", kill every snake they see, and then complain about the resulting rodent problem.
Agree, I'd leave Sam alone in his home called your garage
1953 Chevrolet 3100 261 cu inch, sm420, 3.55 rear, torque tube still,omaha orange, still 6 volt, RPO green glass, side carrier spare, all done In the DITY Gallery Video of the 261 running
1964 GMC 1000 305 Big Block V6, sm420, the next cab off restoration
I have two Black Rat Snakes hanging around, I found one 3' long skin along the bottom edge of the shop garage door and the other a 5' skin in the yard while cutting the grass this Spring.
Happy to know they're on-guard!
Mike B
Last edited by Mike B; 10/02/20183:06 AM. Reason: spelling
I third (or fourth) the 5 gallon bucket cure for this problem. My neighborhood cats are not working hard enough on the outside mice problem. And the snakes are invited to a road trip ( i don't kill them unless it is absolutely necessary ie. they are poisonous ).
Another quality post. Real Trucks Rattle HELP! The Paranoids are after me!
FYI, by relocating the snakes (further than a few hundred yards) you have effectively killed them. In there life time they only travel in about a 1500 foot max radius from where they are born and by moving them they don't know where to hibernate for the winter and die within a year. Snakes don't migrate, you never see snakes return to urban areas where they were all killed off hundreds of years ago.
Ok on the snakes not for me but, my farmer neighbors had them in their barns! Not to fond on mice rat bait because of Jesse my Burmese German shepherd she would eat it. I have found putting moth balls into the corners, under work bench works pretty good. When I used to store a 63 Chevy Impala Convertable that I restored. in my grandpas barn I would put mothballs inside the car worked great! Take it for what it is worth worked for me!
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
I've used moth balls as a snake deterrent before. Once the moth balls were scattered around they seemed to be pretty docile and non-confrontational, never complained.
be careful leaving open anti freeze round tho. I need to chase my neighbors cat out of my shop often... but there are no mice in there
I second on NOT having antifreeze out in the open due to the potential harm to pets.
I really like the rolling beer can with the 5 gallon bucket. It works well. I still have not found a brand of peanut butter that doesn't harden or become moldy though. What baits do you all use?
The Mousetrap Monday guy is over the top. I admire his enthusiasm but question his sanity...what drives people to be so ardent? The "walking the plank" style is intriguing, might have to make one of those.
