Mice!

[flatbow]

Long story short - Got mice in my 1989 Ranger Fisherman somehow. Found out by chopped insulation falling out of tunnel under the bow where the wiring runs. Traps, caught a couple, then nothing. Insect fogger down the pipes, nope - still finding insulation/flotation. Finally got fed up and hooked the shop vac hose to the truck and ran it for an hour. Seemed to work, no sign for a week or so. Opened the battery box today, two were staring at me. I had a screwdriver in my hand, you can guess the rest.
Anyway, how the hell can I get rid of them? I don't understand how they get in, or what they eat in the first place. I doubt they can climb smooth fiberglass, especially upside down (up the V) and I doubt they can digest insulation. I'm afraid they will short out the wiring.
Help!

 

[jdlough]

Re: Mice!

First, you're gonna need to catch some snakes.....

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Mice!

lololo Get some of the pellet posions, and break it up a good bit finer with a hammer, as is its to big for them to eat, and it will dry them up and wont stink.

 

[flatbow]

Re: Mice!

lololo Get some of the pellet posions, and break it up a good bit finer with a hammer, as is its to big for them to eat, and it will dry them up and wont stink.

I thought of using them, but They seem to not be in any specific area. After I caught the ones in traps, they avoid going there. I wonder if I could blow the poison down the channels with the shop vac reversed. Either way, they have now been officially seen throughout the boat.

I WISH I could find a few snakes....

 

[bgc]

Re: Mice!

2nd the poison...

 

[Captmills]

Re: Mice!

mothballs, mice hate mothballs

 

[markheck1]

Re: Mice!

We sell Fresh Cab at work, seems to work pretty well......

http://www.earth-kind.com/products/repellent/

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Mice!

You asked how they get in. Do you have a cover? Any tie downs or ropes, etc?

I kept my boat on the water. One time arriving at the dock, I saw a mouse walking across on of my lines. They're good.

Sea ya.

 

[64osby]

Re: Mice!

5 days after I picked up my boat, I was fishing at night. Saw a mouse walking down the gunwale. I was 200 miles from home.

Never saw him again. Over the winter had a few hanging around under the cover. Even now I see a few droppings every other week, and some chippy stuff too. Going to have to get the cats motivated again.

Put a cover on it and set off a bug bomb, should clear them out for a while.

 

[flatbow]

Re: Mice!

Thanks guys...
I guess it'll be poison, maybe followed by the bug bomb under the cover trick. For what it's worth, it sits on the trailer in my drive, no cover, no ropes, only thing contacting the ground is the tires. Literally nothing I can see that they might climb. And forgetting for the moment how they got there, I still can't figure out what they're eating. I certainly can't feature them jumping off to eat, then pole vaulting back in...

 

[5150abf]

Re: Mice!

DCON, the little box of poison, works like a charm every time, the little critters might stink for a bit buit it is the smell of them not eating your wiring.

I saw a mouse running across my boat once and had the Dcon on it that night, never saw it again, moth balls keep them away but they are on the boat now and you need to kill them fast.

 

[3rdtimesthecharm]

Re: Mice!

I put Downy dryer sheets in my camper.They don`t like those either.

 

[markheck1]

Re: Mice!

Get a cat! LOL...we had a stray cat running around work for a while, and I never saw a mouse in the boat....I did hear kittens once when we shut it off to change people on the tube once, LOL

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Mice!

get a dozen traps, use peanut butter

then use drier sheets in the boat (does same thing as mothballs, however doesnt stink)

if you park in the garage, your garage is infected - you will need to clean that too. if you park outside, then I would park in the garage.

If you have a breading pair, you will have over 144 within a year.

 

[mrdancer]

Re: Mice!

Thanks guys...
I guess it'll be poison, maybe followed by the bug bomb under the cover trick. For what it's worth, it sits on the trailer in my drive, no cover, no ropes, only thing contacting the ground is the tires. Literally nothing I can see that they might climb. And forgetting for the moment how they got there, I still can't figure out what they're eating. I certainly can't feature them jumping off to eat, then pole vaulting back in...

Mice can jump out of a five-gallon bucket, so if your trailer rails are that high or less, than mice can jump right up onto them. Also, they can likely run up the tire. Then onto the fender or whatever else, then easily into the boat. They are pretty good at getting around. A little mouse will fit through a dime-size hole. I've seen them get inside the cab of a pickup truck that always had its doors/windows closed.

They may not be eating anything - just looking for a comfy home. Or possibly someone dropped part of a granola bar or something in one of the nooks and crannys of your boat, and that may be attracting mice.

If you get them in your garage, you can do the trash can/toilet paper roll trick to catch them alive (so they don't die elsewhere and stink up the place). Put a empty toilet paper roll tube on your work bench, about half-way out from the edge. Put a peanut or peanut butter on the suspended end, and place over a trash can (remember, they can jump out of a five-gallon bucket). When the run into the tube to get the peanut, they will fall into the trash can.

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: Mice!

Mice can scale anything and jump like a frog. They are like a circus act. I would do the following.

-Set up a trap line like you are trying to catch beaver or muskrat. By the time you are done you will have enough pelts to make a hat.
-After you catch them all, if you can, fill the interior with mothballs and dryer sheets.
-Place additional traps and dry poison.
-keep the boat outside until you determine all the varmints are gone.
-cats help also.

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Mice!

Thanks guys...
I guess it'll be poison, maybe followed by the bug bomb under the cover trick. For what it's worth, it sits on the trailer in my drive, no cover, no ropes, only thing contacting the ground is the tires. Literally nothing I can see that they might climb. And forgetting for the moment how they got there, I still can't figure out what they're eating. I certainly can't feature them jumping off to eat, then pole vaulting back in...

What, you haven't heard about flying mice? lol

Sea ya...

 

[64osby]

Re: Mice!

As I passed my boat pulling in the drive last night, one of my cats was laying on the bow. Good Kitty

This morning he brought a present to me while I was standing outside having coffee, a little bunny. Bad Kitty

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Mice!

DCON, Use a straw to drop them into every nook and cranny. What they don't eat they take back to the nest and that'll kill next weeks generation.

 

[flatbow]

Re: Mice!

Went with the decon first... took a piece of 1/2 inch hose and filled it with pellets, then used shop vac to blow it in all the tunnels and holes I could find. took a few packets, but I think it's pretty evenly spread so they'll find it. Giving it a couple days, then it's mothballs. Do you know how hard it is to find mothball scented mothballs nowadays? they're all pine or cedar scented to avoid annoying housewives. All I found is flakes (2 lb box) Going to use the shop vac again and really hose the boat down with the stuff. If this plan doesn't work it'll have to be H.E. next...
Thanks to all for the input