Rodents win again

[RMRDallas]

My 18 month old Deere cab tractor was totally disabled about a month ago by either rats or mice. The total damage ended up costing about $11k as the little critters chewed on a variety of wiring harnesses, fuel lines, coolant lines and even the DEF lines. Seems like the Deere dealership had to disassemble half the tractor to get to and fix the damage. It had been parked on a gravel pad under a car port but looks like I need to move it to the concrete pad barn to at least get a little more protection. Been looking through a lot of posts and may look into Tom Cat, cayenne pepper, and some of the other suggestions. I have dogs so want to be careful with poisons. My truck has also been parked under the carport and have noticed evidence of mice on several occasions as they would eat my starlight peppermints and leave their wrappers all over the floorboard. I then put a live trap on my floorboard with the peppermint as the bait and have caught 5 mice in the last six months. I had previously used dryer sheets and heavily scented trash bags in my glove box where they had chewed on kleenex before but not sure they had any effect. All the damage to the tractor was underneath the cab which Deere had to totally remove so I need something I can use under the cab.

My tractor is finally being brought back this Friday. If anyone has any new updated ideas, I am all ears.

 

[sea2summit]

If I know I'm going out of town for a while I put a mouse trap on top of each axle, caught a few. Day to day I usually leave one in the cab and next to the dipstick on the frame where they might walk. So far I've never caught one on the tractor, they prefer my truck

 

[NoTrespassing]

Wow, $11k, I've had damage 4 or 5 times but nothing that expensive. The vehicles that were damaged were older and I repaired them myself or mechanic friends helped me out each time. I'm sure there's been a few thousand dollars in damage.

Sometimes I wonder if Tom Cat might actually attract them before it kills them, allowing the damage to happen anyway. I do use it though and it seems to cut down the population slightly. I have 2 outdoor dogs and neither have been poisoned since I started using it years ago. I don't put the poison where the dogs can get to it and I don't think a poisoned mouse is going to kill them but I'm not a vet so don't take my word for it.

 

[tradosaurus]

Wow. Sorry to hear about that.

I keep my tractor and side by side parked under a metal carport about 200 ft from my house. So far my 3 cats (and a neighbor cat) have kept mice away. Also moles are fair game.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I can't offer advice on how to keep the mice away. But I am going to suggest good insurance. I hope this was covered. I have heard that some insurances won't even try to fix mouse damage. Just write it up as a total loss.

 

[WranglerX]

I have had best luck is "sticky boards".... But you have to have strong stomach with live critter wiggling in sticky goo and have to send it off (.177 cal. pellet pistol) to its final resting place...

Would actually prefer "snap" traps but finding a bail they like has been a mystery....

 

[big bubba]

hate to hear of your repair bill, hopefully insured being so new? leave your hood open, you might even consider a light bulb at night (carefully placed). i understand rodents don't like wide open areas or light, so you may also consider parking in those conditions. once again, sorry to hear of your misfortunes. i have always been leery of poisons, etc. good luck

 

[Erik M]

I would look at leaving the hood open so no shelter for critters, plus setting up a few well baited 5 gal pails with flip traps and 6” of water Close to where your tractor is parked. Try and interdict them before they get into the tractor. Stop killing the snakes in your area ;-)

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

ouch.... that pic is just dam heartbreaking.
tonight is supposed to be -35 tonight so hoping the temp thins out the little buggers in our area.

I use a lot of Tom Cat and wire 3 blocks or so inside 2' pieces of PVC pipe making homemade holders. So far the dogs has never bothered with the home made holders and hoping when mice get sick and go to die they go somewhere dogs cannot find them.

I remember using strychnine back in the day when we could buy it at local grocery store but banned because of residual in dead animals. Wonder if residual true for Tom Cat?

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[Patches]

i use snap traps baited with peanut butter or sunflower bird seed. Both very effective; vehicle and tractor parked in a 24' x 36' closed garage. Two traps under the tractor, one on the floor under the tractors' midsection and one under the rear axle; one under the vehicle about it's midpoint and a couple at the rear of the building. Usually catch a dozen or more early fall into the winter season. Haven't caught any in several weeks; maybe got them all? LOL