Rodents win again

[DaveD1944]

Gotta love this push for climate change! If these manufacturers had kept with the olden days with proper wiring insulation it might not have been so bad. They are now using a soy based or vegetable based wire insulation product that sadly attracts rodents. They are trying to come up with a fix but I have heard it causes lots of havoc! Sorry for your loss of hard earned money!

Yes, soy based wire insulation. Who ever came up with that? Some eco genius in a white room who has never been in out the real world!

Several years ago I spent a couple days replacing the wiring on my trailer, which I keep in a storage area in the woods behind the house. I did a nice job and used it once after, then put it back in its place. The following spring I pulled it out, hooked it up, and nothing. No lights. The wiring was completely eaten up. Only then did I determine that the wire insulation was soy based and the mice love it. It was then somewhat easy to find wire with traditional insulation, since this whole problem is becoming well known. So I did it again, but this time I encased the total wire run in metal, including using a stainless steel weaved wrapper around the flexible whip that connects to the truck. No problems since!

Luckily, I keep my Kubota in a pre-built shed that I mice-proofed when I got it (although not a problem with a 1996 B1700--the world was still reasonable then). It is so tight that the little buggers can't get in and that's saying something since they can squeeze through a hole that is only larger than their skull.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

Not welcome on mine either, but that doesn't seem to stop them.

Actually, for some reason rodents aren't a big problem here. Not sure why. Have a couple cats that are good mousers, but don't seem to have any interest in chipmunks or squirrels. Do have some lynx around here, maybe they're keeping the population down. Wish they'd do something about the moles...nothing seems to eat them. Don't seem to get into anything, but they sure make a mess of the yard over the winter.

We have Ermines (weasals) on our property, they are vicious hunters. Cut the hay/grass that is now my lawn. Chased the mice on tractor. Plenty of flying predators and the Ermine I saw seem to have control of mice.

 

[Oaktree]

cats are generally nocturnal but just like our house cats--for rodents also---it's about the training. We start them and keep them on OUR schedule and they adapt. We never free feed them unless we're gone for a few days of course. We don't overfeed but cat food and hunting are mutually exclusive for cats, within a few days I observed kittens (at the time) hauling a field rat nearly twice her size from the pasture, it was struggling to get away--took a while for the smaller kitty to kill the larger vermin.

Not sure I agree with that. From everything I've read, under-feeding cats will not make them better hunters. Mine have always been well-fed, and most have been quite good mousers.

 

[Tpondel]

Sticky pads work for me but the tractor is in a barn with lots of stick pads around the doors.
I have a couple of the pads inside the cab and they are effective.

Never thought of putting them around the front tires. Will add that to the list.

 

[AchingBack]

They are great horned owls: the largest owls in the US, but my bird book shows they occur in most states. I’m sure they get mice outdoors, but of course they aren’t in the barn.

The great gray owl is actually the world's largest. Carnivora-Great Grey Owl v Great Horned Owl