Mice got me!

[bartjoebob]

So, my trusty 2015 T4.95 developed a fuel leak on top of the engine. That is covered by the exhaust system. Well, took to my dealer and they took it all apart. Mice built a nest and chewed through the fuel return line. Ugh. Probably the "best" case scenario but still requires several hours of service time to remove parts to get at it and then another several to replace / put back together. I bet the mice will cost me $1500....

I have had good luck with Cab Fresh. In the fall I set up a rolling log mouse trap. Mice walk across this thing over a 5 gallon bucket and roll into a water trap. That alone takes out about five to seven mice a week in the fall. The cat gets the rest.

 

[Talkstogoats]

I have been told that if you use antifreeze instead of water in your 5 gallon bucket traps it will "preserve" your dead mice and keep them from stinking.
Just don't use glycol based antifreeze where a dog can get to it....
I use both Cab Fresh and big bait boxes in and around my equipment...

 

[medic1050]

I use these:
View attachment 742931View attachment 742932

I keep my pantry safe with these. Baited with a raisin mushed under the curl. Last fall I got 12 mice with the same raisin. Doesn't ever go bad, sits undisturbed all winter and then in the spring when the mice start trying to get inside again the raisin is poised and ready.
Traps do have to be checked regularly and emptied but the raisin work better than cheese, peanut butter or anything else I have tried.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I keep my pantry safe with these. Baited with a raisin mushed under the curl. Last fall I got 12 mice with the same raisin. Doesn't ever go bad, sits undisturbed all winter and then in the spring when the mice start trying to get inside again the raisin is poised and ready.
Traps do have to be checked regularly and emptied but the raisin work better than cheese, peanut butter or anything else I have tried.

Good thinking! I’m going to to switch to raisins. The PB goes rancid pretty quickly and it’s just a pain to mess with.

 

[Bobrown14]

I keep a pack of D-Con behind each headlight in my Charger. I put a pack on top of the intake of my wife's Fusion. If my Charger D-Con runs out they eat my headlight wires. You can't buy just the connectors and a new harness is about $900. Last year the labor was an additional $1500. My insurance would have covered it but I opted to spend a couple hours under my hood instead.

 

[Bobrown14]

I keep a pack of D-Con behind each headlight in my Charger. I put a pack on top of the intake of my wife's Fusion. If my Charger D-Con runs out they eat my headlight wires. You can't buy just the connectors and a new harness is about $900. Last year the labor was an additional $1500. My insurance would have covered it but I opted to spend a couple hours under my hood instead.

Reason they are eating wires = insulation made with soy based plastic instead of oil based. Those are usually silent recalls at you dealer. I have a Tacoma Toyota only used those wires for like 1.5 years and they took care of everyone that came into the shop with a problem but never made it a "recall" just when ever it happens they fix it.

I had a snake chase a red squirrel up onto my engine. He ate a spark plug wire (I soldered new wires in place) when I looked it up thats when I found out about the soy based insulation (from China).

The snake got the squirrel found a snake skin under my pickup truck after the fix.

Now I have sulfur prills (99.9%) sulfur in a basket in the garage. Rats hate sulfur. Its enough to just have some in a dish. They smell it from pretty far wont come near it. I sprinkle some on the crushed stone around the edge of my pole barn where my tractor is. I had a nest on top of the radiator last fall.

 

[Alan46]

Reason they are eating wires = insulation made with soy based plastic instead of oil based. Those are usually silent recalls at you dealer. I have a Tacoma Toyota only used those wires for like 1.5 years and they took care of everyone that came into the shop with a problem but never made it a "recall" just when ever it happens they fix it.

I had a snake chase a red squirrel up onto my engine. He ate a spark plug wire (I soldered new wires in place) when I looked it up thats when I found out about the soy based insulation (from China).

The snake got the squirrel found a snake skin under my pickup truck after the fix.

Now I have sulfur prills (99.9%) sulfur in a basket in the garage. Rats hate sulfur. Its enough to just have some in a dish. They smell it from pretty far wont come near it. I sprinkle some on the crushed stone around the edge of my pole barn where my tractor is. I had a nest on top of the radiator last fall.

Great post! Where does one get said sulfur pills?

 

[T J]

Chiming in again. Dealer told me that the older wires had a petroleum base. Newer wiring insulation is vegetable oil base. Rodents and varmits love their veggies so the eat the wires. My State Farm agent told me that this kind of damage is not uncommon.

 

[Johnb0311]

So, my trusty 2015 T4.95 developed a fuel leak on top of the engine. That is covered by the exhaust system. Well, took to my dealer and they took it all apart. Mice built a nest and chewed through the fuel return line. Ugh. Probably the "best" case scenario but still requires several hours of service time to remove parts to get at it and then another several to replace / put back together. I bet the mice will cost me $1500....

Good stuff I use is this. I throw em around the barn under the tractors and log splitter and a few motorized garden tools. Been using for two years after having to take clean out a couple nests inside some cramped spaces under cowlings. No problems now cept have to throw a few around every now and then to feed the little critters.

 

[alaarp]

Haha! PJohnson and I are on the same wavelength this morning! He posted his suggestion on mothballs while I was typing mine..

We used to have a lot of neighborhood cats but the general consensus is that either fox or fishercats have taken them out...

What are fishercats? Unfamiliar with the term here down south.