Rodents win again

[billb1385]

Two things a brick or block barn/shed for storage and a real, live cat to roam the place a couple times a day. My cat works wonders but he can't stay ou all the time due to climate and predators.

 

[jyoutz]

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.

I have several Tom Cat bait stations in my barn, carport, and around the outside of the house. I also have dogs. Never a problem because the bait is locked inside the station and not available to the dogs. I keep these stations filled with bait year round. I used to have mice issues in the vehicles before doing this; no problems for awhile now. Tractor Supply sells 4 pound buckets of the bait blocks for about $25 (a years supply for me), and they also have the bait stations.

An added benefit of a reduced mouse population is a reduced prairie rattlesnake population.

 

[jyoutz]

Don't get 1 barn cat, get 2 or 3. Your rodent problem will abate quickly. Dont feed them much cat food so they stay committed to finding those little chewing bastards!

Owls get our cats. They only last a short time around here.

 

[jyoutz]

This ^^ exactly when we moved into our house our barn was full of mice. We got one cat and then another. We feed them, and they have a heated water bowl, and right now they are parked on a Lazy-Boy I found in someones trash with a heating pad on top. We have zero vermin, and they help with the Chipmunks. They hunt as a pack and based on the paw prints in the they also patrol around the house at night. They actually took down a full grown Rabbit and left it as a present for my wife. I'm not a cat fan, but I see them as a tool to keep the rodents at bay. LOL

I wish I could keep cats in the barn, but they wander outside at night and the owls get them. One by one.

 

[ParkWhite]

My old truck suffers with mice infestation and I recently forgot to remove some of those free dog biscuits that I picked up at the farm store. The mice moved in and I was forced to use poison. Now I am waiting for the smell to subside.

Here is my list of thoughts on prevention:
1. Never leave any food, not even crumbs.
2. Never leave any paper or cardboard.
3. Spray with repellent weekly. You can make your own from peppermint oil (just Google it).
4. Pressure wash everything outside and clean the interior. Mouse smell attracts mice.
5. Dual frequency mouse repeller (haven't tried this yet but it sounds good)

Here is my thoughts on infestation:
1. Mouse traps, but you have to check them daily.
2. Poison if you are overrun (only use if the equipment is stored outside and idle for a week).
3. Never bring the vehicle near the house!

I know I will never completely win my battle as my old truck has a lot of hidden cavities and cotton batten padded seats but I did have the upper hand before I forgot about those dog biscuits. Oh well, back to prevention rule #1.........

 

[bmg88201]

Geez, that was a lot of damage done to the tractor. I had an issue of rats nesting on the engine of my suv and they chewed some of my insulatin and wiring that I fixed myself. So I got some bait blocks that I put in the shed where I park my Yukon. The rats just carried the bait blocks up on the engine. So I got live traps and that worked, once in the trap I just have Mr Ruger have a one sided talk with Mr Rat. But kitty cats are the most effective, I think.

 

[Jchonline]

I wish I could keep cats in the barn, but they wander outside at night and the owls get them. One by one.

The owls dont eat the mice? I am going to guess most ppl dont have a ton of owls around to eat their cats. Sorry you have the unfortunate issue!

 

[Oaktree]

The owls dont eat the mice? I am going to guess most ppl dont have a ton of owls around to eat their cats. Sorry you have the unfortunate issue!

Was wondering the same thing. Maybe owls in New Mexico are a lot bigger? Ones here might carry off a kitten, but not an adult cat.

I have tried decon, moth balls, dryer strips, and a bunch of brand name repellents. It is always back to the traps. Dead mice don‘t damage the equipment.

Don't forget ultrasonic mouse repellers. All of the above work for a while, but the mice adapt. Traps and/or predators are the only real way to keep them under control.

Rodent damage is serious stuff. I have had a continuing problem keeping chipmunks out of a Pontiac Vibe. Once they find that they can build a nest in a place protected from the weather they evidently leave scent trails and keep coming back. The only solution that I have found is to keep parking the car in different locations 50 yards apart. It’s a second car so it doesn’t have to be next to the house. Next to our barn works, too. The chipmunks don’t seem to want to travel more than a few yards from their nests in the ground.
My wife used the car last fall for a couple hour drive because car #1 was in the shop. She smelled gas and called me one hour into the trip. A stop at a mechanics revealed that the little bastards had chewed on the fuel line. I had to rescue her with the F250, arrange with the mechanic to fix the Vibe, find a used fuel line on eBay because a new part is NLA, drop it off and then retrieve the car less $140 for the mechanic.

Wasn't the Vibe just a rebadged toyota (or maybe it was the other way around)? Maybe toyota dealer might have the part? Seems hard to believe parts for an 00s vintage car would be unobtainium.

 

[NoTrespassing]

The owls dont eat the mice? I am going to guess most ppl dont have a ton of owls around to eat their cats. Sorry you have the unfortunate issue!

We have owls and red tail hawks. Both will take a cat and they like chicken too. Of course they eat mice and voles but they can't get the ones in the buildings, snakes help too. Red tree squirrels have done the most damage to vehicles on our property though.

 

[jyoutz]

The owls dont eat the mice? I am going to guess most ppl dont have a ton of owls around to eat their cats. Sorry you have the unfortunate issue!

What the owls don’t get, the coyotes do