mice or rats use hood of tractor for latrine

[rangerfredbob]

I have one of them too, they are unpredictable... and I try to keep him out of the garage, he's a good mouser but has the attention span of a goldfish, and is never in the right place at the right time to catch what I want him to catch...

 

[denchen]

Years and years ago, Morgan Cars here in England had trouble with small birds and mice coming into the paint shop and making a mess during the night. Great Grandad, Mr Morgan got hold of a dead owl from somewhere and put it in the eves in a corner. No more birds mice or rats. The last I heard, that old bird is still there but is unrecognizable, its just a heap of feathers, but everyone knows not to touch it as they still do not get any problems.

 

[The Deerslayer]

I have been using a bucket trap for years with excellent success. In the colder months, a little bit of anti-freeze in the water keeps it from freezing (no domestic outdoor pets to worry about drinking it). I have scooped out as many as a dozen mice at a time. Easy set up and disposal of the dead critters. Self resets and you just add peanut butter as needed, but tends to be very infrequent.

I also place several "moth ball" packs in strategic locations inside the engine compartment area when the tractor is not in use. A few used nylons from the wife filled with mothballs do the trick. Have not seen any sign of damage or droppings in those areas.

Also, it is not a good idea to take the nylons out of the wife's dresser drawer without consultation.....don't ask me how I know this.

 

[Frankenkubota]

You won't get rid of them but less damage and hassle dealing with a small local population vs a very large one. Plus it takes time for the population to shift. Trapping and poisons work but aren't 100%. Even with adding deterrents you still might sustain damage.

Dogs such as Rat or Jack Russel Terriers are the best at elimination and deterrent. They constantly work with a passion towards getting them off your property.

Saw a show on pbs about creatures that thrive in cities etc.

2 things I remember

1. There are over 20,000 coyotes in the City of Chicago, mostly city parks.

2. A professional rat catcher said the best, and probably only deterrent is a rat terrier etc.

Then they showed the little guy go into a dumpster area and it was amazing, a killing machine!

This could be bs but I think the guy said the record was 2000 dead rats in 1 hour.

When I was growing up in Milwaukee we would drink beer till the bars closed then take our pellet guns to the slaughter houses and shoot rats. Really, drink more beer and shoot at rats.

 

[ruffdog]

De-Ratting with air powered pellet guns is quite the sport using infrared and thermal imaging.

 

[bigtiller]

De-Ratting with air powered pellet guns is quite the sport using infrared and thermal imaging.

That reminds me, as a kid, we used to go to the city dump down by the river and shoot our .22's at cans and bottles. Sometimes we got a brave rat or two. There was plenty of them there.

 

[Rebeldad1]

A while back someone posted his fix to keep them out of the engine compartment. My F350 was getting nests built everytime I looked. Tried it and havnt had any mice since.
Just leave the hood open. Mice like to hide and dont like open areas

 

[oosik]

A while back someone posted his fix to keep them out of the engine compartment. My F350 was getting nests built everytime I looked. Tried it and havnt had any mice since.
Just leave the hood open. Mice like to hide and dont like open areas

A while back I posted this. I don't really know how much it will help on a tractor. Tractors generally have a pretty open engine compartment anyhow. But it certainly won't hurt. Now on my new pickup - it works very well. Open hood - no mice or chipmunks.

 

[Alien]

There are some good electric traps available. I find the old snap traps pretty useless. They just take the bait off them.

What oosik said works. They kept building under the hood of my Honda. No problems since I left it open.

 

[oosik]

I was kinda hoping this dense smoke here in the PNW would kill some off. So far - no little dead bodies lying around anywhere.

However - I'm VERY PLEASED to report- as of last week I've gained a feral cat. True to form - it sleeps most of the day and goes out on patrol at night. I have a big dish of cat food and a pot of water, out on the porch, to augment his efforts.

Should he choose to stay. I will build a small shelter for it. I've found, over the years, barn cats are the very best answer to mice & chipmunks.

They are out there 100% of the time. Either acting as a roving deterrent or on active patrol. HUU-RAAA.