[100% veg*n ] Getting, and keeping, mice out of my vehicle?

November 10, 2009

this week huh? i'm not sure you can get them out in that amount of time

first off, get two live hav-a hart traps, or something similar and bait em with peanut butter or the like

clean the van with some sort of disinfectant

if you catch the lil critters, make sure you move em a good mile away to some far off field, or they might just come right back

stainless steel wool (like you use to scour pans, but has to be copper or stainless steel, not regular steel) can be used to plug up any obvious entry points..but that could be a humongous undertaking, vehicles aren;t exactly rodent proof and there's a few billion entry points for the lil guys

if you get them out, i've heard moth balls may repel them, but dunno if its true....

fraggle

Jim Sinclair Nov 10, 2009 2:37 PM [100% veg*n ] Getting, and keeping, mice out of my vehicle?

I have a Chevrolet Express 2500 cargo van. It's mostly been sitting inthe driveway for the last couple of months, rarely driven. I just wentout to pack it up for a long trip, and discovered that mice have movedinto it. There are droppings everywhere.How can I get them out, without harming them?How can I prevent them from coming back in?I've had mice in my house before, and managed to get rid of them usinga combination of live traps and relocation, ultrasonic andelectromagnetic repellers, and having a repairman come find and fillin openings where they were getting in. The process took a long time,though, and needed to be approached from all three angles at once.Removing mice that were already in the house only left an invitingvacant habitat for new mice to move in. Neither blocking cracks norusing repellers got rid of mice that were already in the house, butboth seem to be effective in keeping new ones from coming in.I don't have that much time to deal with the mice in my van. I need toget rid of them quickly, because I have to drive some 400 miles, thisweek, with my four dogs, six cats, and assorted human and animalsupplies in the van. I do not want to have mice getting into thesupplies, spreading diseases to my animals or to me, getting killed bymy animals, provoking loud and potentially dangerous agitation in mydogs (if they get all worked up about trying to catch a mouse, theycould end up getting into a fight among themselves), and I don'treally want to import mice from one state into another state 400 milesaway.HELP?!Jim Sinclair jisincla (AT) syr (DOT) eduwww.jimsinclair.orghttp://moosepuppy.petfinder.com

You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me!

November 11, 2009

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 5:41 PM, fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote:

>

> this week huh? i'm not sure you can get them out in that amount of time

>

> first off, get two live hav-a hart traps, or something similar and bait em

with peanut butter or the like

I got eight Mice Cube traps. Much better than Havaharts, in my

experience, because the Havaharts are hard to set, prone to being

tripped by things other than mice (like, in this case, vibrations that

would be caused by slamming the van door after placing the traps), and

other times they don't trip at all, so mice can carry off the bait and

get out without being trapped.

One mouse has been caught and released. Video of the release can be

seen at http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=15078026

.. It appears to be a deer mouse, and according to information I found,

this means they're nocturnal and probably won't be out looking for

food and wandering into mousetraps during the day.

> clean the van with some sort of disinfectant

This is the next overwhelming task (besides continuing to set and

check the traps): Instead of being able to pack up my van for the

trip, I now have to completely empty it, making sure as I remove each

thing that I'm not carrying mice into the house with it (I already

discovered mouse nests inside both of a pair of shoes that were in

there), clean everything that has mouse droppings or other signs of

mouse usage, throw away anything they've destroyed, *and* see if I can

identify and block any obvious access points, then leave the van

emptied out of everything except the Mice Cubes until I can be

reasonably confident all the mice are gone, *then* clean the interior

of the van itself, then load everything back in, so I can go home.

Where I have a doctor's appointment on Monday. Not a lot of time to do

a lot of work! :-(

> if you catch the lil critters, make sure you move em a good mile away to some

far off field, or they might just come right back

Yes, I know. The other problem is, if my van is an attractive and

accessibly mouse habitat, then removing the already-resident mice will

just create an unguarded territory for new mice to move into.

> stainless steel wool (like you use to scour pans, but has to be copper or

stainless steel, not regular steel) can be used to plug up any obvious entry

points..but that could be a humongous undertaking, vehicles aren;t exactly

rodent proof and there's a few billion entry points for the lil guys

From what I've found in online searches, when mice get into vehicles,

they often get in through the engine, chewing on wires and hoses along

the way. But in my van, based on what I've found so far, they seem to

have been living in the back of the van. I haven't found any droppings

or other signs of mouse activity farther forward than the rear bench

seat. Any thoughts on where they might find entry points in the back

part of the van?

> if you get them out, i've heard moth balls may repel them, but dunno if its

true....

I don't know if it would repel them, but it would repel *me* to the

point of being unable to breathe. I have asthma.

Jim Sinclair jisincla

www.jimsinclair.org

http://moosepuppy.petfinder.com

November 11, 2009

cute lil bugger\but, sorry jim. it just sounds like a bit of a task for you.

as for how they are getting in. take a look at your van (or any vehicle)..now imagine you are a tiny little critter, cold, and scared of being eaten by, well, everything.. then thick of every concievable way you could get into that big metal container...

when you get to a thousand, stop before you go crazy.

mice are dang small, and can shimmy, climb, squeeze, jump and hop...

since they are mostly in the back of the van and don't see them in the engine, i'm guessing coming up the rear wheels and then finding an entry point back there somewhere.getting up under the rear bed of the van.

to keep em out...well..gotta think like lil ol musey. why is he/she in yer van? its getting cold out, its safe, its relatively warm (compared to out in the grassy field)..there's lots of things to make nests in (like your shoes)...mousey wonderland

you gotta figure out how to make it less inviting.

that way when you capture and remove em, they won't just come back

a number of years ago, lived in ahouse that SHOULD have been mouse heaven. next door neighbors had a backyard just filled with junk and trash. but i spread peppermint oil around the inside base of the haus, and in the cabinents...in like 4 years i saw A mouse. i had a cat, but he was old and could care less about hunting anything. tho there is a possibility the smell of the cat kept mickey away

(but on the other hand, my neighbor had cats, and they were infested with mice....)

we had mice problems here (i;ve been here 4 years as well now)....my partner started using the rose bushes by the kitchen door as her compost pile, and the mice moved right in, then just hopped into the house. had em everywhere. my cat was way to old to bother. when he unfortunately passed away at age 19, we went and got two kittens at the pound. whether they had a talk with the mice, or whatever, within 2 weeks every lil mousey was gone.....since we probably had a couple dozen of em scampering around, some of it had to be "virile new folks in the house...run!"

Jim Sinclair Nov 11, 2009 2:12 PM vegan-network Re: [100% veg*n ] Getting, and keeping, mice out of my vehicle?

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 5:41 PM, fraggle <EBbrewpunx (AT) earthlink (DOT) net> wrote:>>>> this week huh? i'm not sure you can get them out in that amount of time>> first off, get two live hav-a hart traps, or something similar and bait em with peanut butter or the likeI got eight Mice Cube traps. Much better than Havaharts, in myexperience, because the Havaharts are hard to set, prone to beingtripped by things other than mice (like, in this case, vibrations thatwould be caused by slamming the van door after placing the traps), andother times they don't trip at all, so mice can carry off the bait andget out without being trapped.One mouse has been caught and released. Video of the release can beseen at http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=15078026. It appears to be a deer mouse, and according to information I found,this means they're nocturnal and probably won't be out looking forfood and wandering into mousetraps during the day.> clean the van with some sort of disinfectantThis is the next overwhelming task (besides continuing to set andcheck the traps): Instead of being able to pack up my van for thetrip, I now have to completely empty it, making sure as I remove eachthing that I'm not carrying mice into the house with it (I alreadydiscovered mouse nests inside both of a pair of shoes that were inthere), clean everything that has mouse droppings or other signs ofmouse usage, throw away anything they've destroyed, *and* see if I canidentify and block any obvious access points, then leave the vanemptied out of everything except the Mice Cubes until I can bereasonably confident all the mice are gone, *then* clean the interiorof the van itself, then load everything back in, so I can go home.Where I have a doctor's appointment on Monday. Not a lot of time to doa lot of work! :-(> if you catch the lil critters, make sure you move em a good mile away to some far off field, or they might just come right backYes, I know. The other problem is, if my van is an attractive andaccessibly mouse habitat, then removing the already-resident mice willjust create an unguarded territory for new mice to move into.> stainless steel wool (like you use to scour pans, but has to be copper or stainless steel, not regular steel) can be used to plug up any obvious entry points..but that could be a humongous undertaking, vehicles aren;t exactly rodent proof and there's a few billion entry points for the lil guysFrom what I've found in online searches, when mice get into vehicles,they often get in through the engine, chewing on wires and hoses alongthe way. But in my van, based on what I've found so far, they seem tohave been living in the back of the van. I haven't found any droppingsor other signs of mouse activity farther forward than the rear benchseat. Any thoughts on where they might find entry points in the backpart of the van?> if you get them out, i've heard moth balls may repel them, but dunno if its true....I don't know if it would repel them, but it would repel *me* to thepoint of being unable to breathe. I have asthma.Jim Sinclair jisincla (AT) syr (DOT) eduwww.jimsinclair.orghttp://moosepuppy.petfinder.com

You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me!