The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk How to keep the mice out of your 'bolt?

My '56 lives in the pole barn along with most of the other toys. For some reason the mice love the truck. I drove it to work today after getting the windows refelted and vent seals. What a lovely smell. Not! They must have died in the vent system or heater. Any ideas on how to keep the little #%$^&'s out?

Moth balls spread around the barn, inside and out, including inside the toys. I also use them in some old part cars and trucks stored out side.

Couple of out side cats that can't get into the barn also help.

One thing we used on the farm was irish spring soap bars, with a bit cut off so there is always a fresh bit out, they dont seem to like the smell, it always seemed to work ok, and the smell is nice.

Sounds like a kook remedy really.

Soap Bars sound better than Moth Balls, at least for the smell factor.

I find that if leave my windows down and moth balls under the seat and its not closed up and cozy I don't get mice. My girlfriend's D series Power Ram on the other hand, always smells like mouse wiz.

The mothballs thing intrigues me though, never heard of that, i imagine they dont like the smell of those. Less work than the soap, you need to keep a fresh skin on the soap for it to work well.

Mothballs in out door potted plants also keeps squirrels from digging/burying.

Give 'em somewhere else they'd rather be. Put a 5-gallon plastic bucket close to the truck with a gallon of water and about a pound of cracked corn in it. Lean a board up against the lip of the bucket with a couple of inches hanging over the rim. As the corn ferments, the mice (and rats, if any) will climb the board and dive in, trying to get to the corn. It's a one-way trip, because they can't climb the slippery sides of the bucket.

My friends who brew white lightning have a terrible time keeping the varmints out of their mash vats. After a couple of days, they bloat and float, and they can skim the carcasses off the top. It doesn't seem to affect the taste of the finished product, thank goodness!
Jerry

THAT'S Funny!!

Have tried both the mothballs and dryer sheets. Neither did a darn thing for me. Must have mice without a sense of smell here. I have found, however, that starting it once a day at least chases them off for a bit...until I go back in the house. Alas, without doors on the truck, and enough holes in the floor that they probably think it's cheese anyway, I am stuck while it's parked outside.

Best of luck,

Jim

Mothballs in an aluminum pan in the attic keeps birds, bats, squirrels, and bees out of the attic (a well ventilated attic, as it should be). I have also used this inside my trucks over the winter.

We catch many mice in regular mouse-traps inside our house every early winter (until the deep freeze sets in - it never did this year).

[b]There are a wide variety of designs for HrL's 5-gallon bucket.[/b] I have also used these in the garage (an anti-freeze solution is needed in the bucket). The Allan Easterly design is the simplest.

I consider it to be a full fledged war against mice. I have no problem bringing out the heavy artillery against them. I have a cheap electronic gizmo the seems to direct them away from areas of my garage. In fact, most times I put that right on the seat of my truck. Sticky traps are quite effective. I keep a bunch of them around. put them in "runs" on top of the walls, railings, etc.
When electrical wiring has been compromised by mice and your ride burns up, you may be thinking about what you didn't do to catch these varmints while your breathing your last breath.
I never had any luck with bounce dryer sheets, but many swear by them.
And as for starting up the truck every day to scare them off......well, um, that's exactly what they like. Heat! A nice cozy place to raise a family! Don't do it if you can help it.
I probably dislike cats almost as much as mice, but there's no denying a good barn cat is better than anything we can devise.:)

I have used a product called FRESH CAB for two years and had no mice. put one inside the car and two in the engine compartment on the manifold. Got it at ACE Hardware. good luck

Bounce Dryer Sheets.. I have been using them for about 10 years. Just toss some under the seats, under the hood and under the vehicle. If it's a car throw some in the trunk too.

For some reason the critters hate them, and they don't smell nearly as bad as Moth Balls.

I should probably stuff the seat with them as tonight I found out that's where they are getting their nest material from. No wonder the seat needs work.

Here's one of my pest control squad.

Mind you, he and his sister have grown a little since then.

I use peppermint oil. A few drops onto a cotton ball sitting on a piece of foil 1 or 2 in each area, Jim D

Tree rats like them also and will go to great lengths to get in, check your glove box also. I tried the moth ball route and the things built the nest on top of them so no luck there, I ended up with heavy duty rat poison I put the box staked down outside the truck and that did it, just make sure your pets can't get to it.

At least the peppermint oil would smell better than mouse poop.

I've had mice problems out in the barn too. Got a cat. She takes care of 95% of it. Traps take care of some too. They love peanut butter. Don't want to poison them. Might inadvertently kill my cat. I've also put wire mesh in the areas of my 39 that mice could possibly get in. It's done in a way, that you wouldn't know it's there. Haven't had any mice in years now.

I second the idea of poison. We live out in the country and I just brought home my '48. I moved some equipment around and swept out the center aisle in my barn to make room for it. Then I scattered around an entire package of mouse poison. We don't have any outside cats, and the barn is pretty much sealed up against anything larger than a rat.

Just wait until a poisoned mouse dies in some inaccessible part of your truck (or another vehicle). My dad did that to my Corvette once. I never want a repeat.

Dryer sheets and moth balls so far are doing the trick.

Dogs, not cats, are the solution. My 2 Boxers don't allow any mouse or rat come near my garage. They chase and kill them mercyless, but never eat them.
Just bring the corpses to show us their good work.
My cats, well feed (as the dogs are, by the way), absolutely don't care about the rodent creatures. To be sincere, I guess they're somewhat afraid of them.
Fabio.

X2 on the dogs-My girl's English Springer Spaniel is the best mouser/mole killer I've ever seen.