Mice in my headliner

[SJTD]

I guess it depends on the mouse. I opened a drawer in the garage to find two adults and two babies hanging on to the mother. These were tiny compared to the ones I had in the truck.

Put them in a bucket chlorine tablets come in. Not quite as tall as a Homer bucket. Had a board over it with about a half inch gap and one of the adults, the male I assume, left that night. Mother left a week or two later after the babies were weaned.

Little buggers can jump.

Still have one of the babies. Can't get the wife to let it go.

[rang-a-stang]

Hopefully I don't die. I'll let you know how that goes.

I ordered 16 more traps, but realized that I can't wait that long.
Watched some youtube videos and built a mouse catcher.

https://youtu.be/6SIlYiiCGLI

We'll have to see if it works. Hopefully my log spins easy enough.

Soooo? catch anything last night?

[joe]

If you have lotsa mice the bucket thing works. Only difference on mine was the bridge was a piece of wood and from it I hung a small piece of wood w/peanut butter suspended with a couple inches of string. They'll jump to the wood...slpoosh.

[seventynine]

You know...I commend your tenacity...but from my experience...they will come back! Especially if you are not using it all the time. It's a constant problem where I live out in the country in Virginia. I had let my Airstream camper sit for a couple of years without much activity and the vermin invaded it badly. after opening it up and airing it...cleaning it etc...the smell went away. I placed traps all over and caught many mice...but they are still there.


I wish there was something reliable you could put in our vehicles or campers to make them not want to be there in the first place. I've researched various methods....not really sure any of them really work besides sealing it up completely. They can fit through the smallest cracks.

[seventynine]

Snakes...

Snakes might work;-) I find snake skins in my CJ's all the damn time after they have been sitting. The snakes come because of the mice...don't know whats worse. Well...Id rather not have the snakes ;-P

[JoggerFogger]

Soooo? catch anything last night?

I took 2 traps from under the jeep and put them next to the wall where I caught the last two and they ate the peanut butter off the triggers.

Zero mice in the bucket. Doesn't look like they touched the PB.

The only good news is that all the PB is still on the triggers in the Jeep.

The nice thing about the bucket is that I can leave it and passively catch critters. I can also make 10 of them and catch tons... if it works.

I'm going to get some cotton balls and peppermint spray today and stuff it in the pillars of the Jeep before I install the headliner. Maybe I'll put the Jeep on 3' tall steel stands so they can't jump in. I feel like they've at least left the Jeep now that their nests are gone.

One thing that's amazing about watching the youtube videos of the bucket traps catching mice is their ability to jump. I wondered how they climb into the Jeep in the first place. They don't have to climb the tires. They can probably jump onto the axles. In the buckets without water, the mice could jump up and grab onto the head of the sheetrock screw +12" up from the bottom of the bucket and escape.

I too have an Airstream. When I bought it 5 years ago, it came with mice. Caught a few, and they didn't come back. Now I store it at my shop because I have a covered area. I should probably put some traps in there as well as a preventative measure. I made sure that I suspend the power cord going to it so they don't have an easy ladder, and stuffed steel wool in every penetration possible. All it takes is a dime sized opening and they'll get in.

Fricken' vermin.

[letank]

All it takes is a dime sized opening and they'll get in.

an exterminator told me the width of a pencil eraser is all it takes.

I had to rodent proof the crawl space many years ago, yes this is San Fran, I used wire mesh, of the smallest matrix, probably 1/16 to block off all the timber and plywood cracks. It has been mouse proof for over 10 years.

A friend used a motion activated flashlight to prevent a ferret from eating his cooling hoses... it worked, but he had to spend over $1000 to fix the damages on his german sports car, apparently the animal was attracted to the coolant and the nice taste of the electrical wires.

I will ask him if he remembers the brand of the device... because it worked

[SJTD]

Oops. Didn't see the bucket was full of water. That should work if you can get them in it.

I wonder if beer would get them to take a dip since they are avoiding peanut butter on the hi-wire.

[mwood65]

BBBWWWAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
LOLOLOL!!!!!!!

It's true man, I ONLY use peanut butter in my mouse traps!


Took a couple times but the dogs learned quick it wasn't a treat set out for them.

[mwood65]

Snakes might work;-) I find snake skins in my CJ's all the damn time after they have been sitting. The snakes come because of the mice...don't know whats worse. Well...Id rather not have the snakes ;-P

When I took apart the tailgate on my 74' Cherokee to fix the regulator,
I found a shed rattlesnake skin inside.


Not sure how a good sized snake got in there or out again...or if the skin was put there for some reason by human hands.


There was some good sized rust holes he could have slithered into I guess.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Change out the pipe covered in PB to a soda can. Poke a hole in each end and feed a wire through it. Drop the can down about 4-5 inches in the bucket and place a board above it so they have to jump down on the can. The can will roll super easy and having it lower means they have to jump on it from above. The pipe is narrow enough to where they could possibly walk it without making it roll. I have used a bucket trap like this in Oregon and it will catch them over and over. A friend in Oak Harbor caught 14 in one night. Clean up is nasty though. They all poop in a panic.

[SOLSAKS]

on traps that they ate peanut butter off try this

use peanuts

cram a dry peanut into the metal bait holder
then hold a lighter to the nut

they cannot resist the burned or roasted peanut smell

and they have to work at it to get to the peanut
and that usually sets the trap off.

good luck with the invasion
dave in NC

[JoggerFogger]

3 down

Caught one more. No PB has been eaten off the traps inside the Jeep.

I'll rebuild the bucket trap when I have a chance. My thought is that the PB hasn't been disturbed on the "log roll" yet, so they're not venturing out to test their skills. Maybe I'll have a Pepsi Challenge and build a 2nd one with pop cans and see which one they like better. (Am I dating myself with a reference to the Pepsi Challenge? Yes, we say Pop here in Oregon, not soda.)

Instead of working on the Jeep, I moved a 26,000 lb press brake last night with a forklift that is supposed to only lift 8,700 lbs. and some skates. Fun!

[JoggerFogger]

cram a dry peanut into the metal bait holder
then hold a lighter to the nut

Awesome idea, thanks.

I bought chunky. I have been trying to cram one chunk into the tab. Haven't thought to use a lighter yet. I'm waiting to get my yellow tab traps from Amazon, which I think will prevent them from stealing bait.

I'm hoping that I don't have a large infestation of mice. Once I have 21 traps set in all directions around the Jeep and no kills or bait stolen, I'll put the headliner back in.

While it's out, I've decided that now's the time to put in sound deadening and new insulation on the roof. As much as I just want to start driving so I can tune my transmission, I'd kick myself if I realized down the road that it's too loud and I need to pull the headliner to apply deadening. If you haven't seen this rig, I am putting in a 1989 Isuzu 4bd1t diesel, and I'm sure it's going to be louder than a purring V8. I also bought new carpet with "Mass Backing". In talking with other diesel Jeep folks, more is better. With it all out, it would be stupid not to now.

-Kevin

[babywag]

Used oil in a rectangular plastic bin works well ~8" high.

My dad left a few in the garage of their lake home from draining boat engines.

After he passed and I was cleaning the garage must have been a dozen mice in the things when I tried pouring it out to bring oil to the dump.
Was just NASTY! they were well preserved and didn't even stink lol.

I'd imagine they jump up/in to investigate and the oil made it too slippery to get out? Rather than used oil maybe cooking veggie(peanut?) oil would work the same.