[WrongDoug]

I store my Cub Cadet in my shed in the backyard, and there's always been a few mice in there, but they've mostly left the tractor alone. But the past couple months there have been mouse nests inside the tractor engine and I have to thoroughly check it over for mouse nests every time I use it. I'm getting fed up with them, and I want them dead. I've tried a couple repellents with no success. Short of getting an angry cat, what is the best way to get rid of them? Traps would work but I would need about 100 of them. Any other suggestions?

 

[Father Deerest]

Dryer sheets. Place them where you don't want the mice, works well for mosquitoes.

 

[AddictedToTractors]

Available on Amazon, works for chipmunks, mice, rats, crickets, anything small enough to fit in it!
I use mine for chipmunks and mice. Works great, uses 4 AA batteries.

 

[Obscured_by_Clouds]

People have claimed that leaving the hood up on the tractor will help deter them. Since you keep it inside the shed where rain isn't an issue, it would be worth a try.

 

[My craftsman 917.27308]

My shed is sealed tight. The doors overlap the bottom and top by 2 inches. The roof is sealed tight. Can you seal up around the bottom of the door. I bet that's how they are coming in. Walk around the outside and see if there's any little holes at the bottom. Get a pet to hang around the shed like a dog or cat.

 

[Ariens93GT20]

Got some good unwanted guest food and the local feed store. A little goes a long ways and they sure like it.

 

[PA318Guy]

I just ordered a Rat Zapper, have a few vermin in my shed lately too!

 

[9297oldram]

I made a mouse bucket trap that works really good and easy to use and can catch ( drown ) quiet a few before having to rebait it again. Just Google mouse bucket trap and you'll find alot of ways to make them.

 

[Obscured_by_Clouds]

All of the people on Earth combined could never make, let alone sell or use enough traps, zappers or bait to eliminate them all. The best we can do is co-exist and deter.

Stop throwing your money away on gimmicks and learn preventative measures which are probably different for everyone.

 

[Polish Wizard]

A neighbor swears by his use of dryer sheets (I think he says Bounce is the best) in his motor home.

From my limited experience you are right to be concerned with the mice.

I've heard too many tales of mice chewing through wires on vehicles, and I needed to vacuum out a nest from the intake manifold of a seldom driven pick-up garage kept. Looks like they didn't mess with any of my wires.

A friend donated a small tractor and I found the urine-laden mouse nest had eaten away some of the aluminum head on the engine. The tractor was too small and mostly junk so I didn't try too hard to get it running. The mice won the battle but lost the war -- i.e. a place to nest -- since I took it to the scrap yard.

You may want to consider what happens to them if your house animals get hold of a poisoned mouse, and the possible lingering odor if the mice die somewhere inside your structures in an obscure place.

I think I'd try the bucket and water method if I needed to try getting control of them.

 

[WrongDoug]

My shed is sealed tight. The doors overlap the bottom and top by 2 inches. The roof is sealed tight. Can you seal up around the bottom of the door. I bet that's how they are coming in. Walk around the outside and see if there's any little holes at the bottom. Get a pet to hang around the shed like a dog or cat.

I'd be better off to knock my shed down and build a new one than to try to seal the one I have. The sheathing is rotted at the bottom and the doors never closed tight to begin with.

I'm curious if anyone has ever had any experience smoking them out. A friend of mine swears it worked for him. He says he parked his tractor in the shed and started it up and let it run at half choke with the doors closed for a couple hours. Obviously you can't do this anywhere that is occupied by people, but for a shed it seems like it makes sense. It won't deter them from coming back, but it should at least get any living ones out.

 

[APinNY]

Our camp is in the mountains, so lots of critters in the area. Over the years, mice have occasionally gotten into the house and run amok. This past winter only one apparently got in, but one is too many. They have also gotten into our pontoon while in storage and chewed on the folded up Bimini. We put Bounce dryer sheets everywhere, and they do work, to a degree. Unfortunately, they are not foolproof so we need to try something else. In the past we have used poison. That makes them go into the walls and die, creating a stink for up to a week. I recently ordered some "walk the plank" kits to try. They got excellent reviews on Amazon, and for the price they are much easier to order than to build. It is a little early to set them up here but I am looking forward to trying them soon. I also plan to get an electronic zapper big enough to hold a few if necessary, but hoping the planks will stop them before they get inside the house.

 

[stoneaxe]

Buy the victor traps with a steel trip lever. . They come in a 72 pack. Buy a bag of almonds, some elmers glue and a box of disposable gloves. Spread the bait pocket and glue in an almond. do 20 at a time. Set four and keep the rest in the house. Then keep working them. The almond will allow you to reset without rebaiting- the mouse usually only gets a bite or two. Chuck them after they get too scroady. Gloves to keep the vermin off your hands. I wash the places they accumulate on the machine with natures miracle enzyme deodorant.
Leaving the hood open is a good idea- helps deny cover- also if possible, get rid of food sources- like a bird feeder, maple trees, etc. Keep the machine and floor as clean as you can- they like cover.
This is not a do once and forget- it takes constant relentless trapping to keep them down.

 

[WrongDoug]

Buy the victor traps with a steel trip lever. . They come in a 72 pack. Buy a bag of almonds, some elmers glue and a box of disposable gloves. Spread the bait pocket and glue in an almond. do 20 at a time. Set four and keep the rest in the house. Then keep working them. The almond will allow you to reset without rebaiting- the mouse usually only gets a bite or two. Chuck them after they get too scroady. Gloves to keep the vermin off your hands. I wash the places they accumulate on the machine with natures miracle enzyme deodorant.
Leaving the hood open is a good idea- helps deny cover- also if possible, get rid of food sources- like a bird feeder, maple trees, etc. Keep the machine and floor as clean as you can- they like cover.
This is not a do once and forget- it takes constant relentless trapping to keep them down.

I love the nature's miracle products, they are a must for pet owners. I keep the machine really clean, but I do have to go through the shed and throw some stuff out. There are no food sources in there, so I don't know what they are eating, but I keep all my bird seed and chicken feed inside the house. The only thing that is in the shed other than tractor is some garden tools, a couple tires, some old lumber and some shingles, a couple bags of concrete and my gasoline cans. Nothing that would make good/easy food. I guess I'll have to get started on traps. I may store the tractor elsewhere until I've got them at bay.

 

[Steve Urquell]

I keep them out of the engines bays of my cars with cayenne pepper. Sprinkle it where you don't want them and you're done. Below is what my wife's car was getting overnight. After the cayenne it hasn't had a single nut in there.

 

[Nouveau Redneck]

Those acorns are more likely from squirrels or chipmunks than from mice. But cayenne pepper sprinkled liberally does keep just about any rodent away. My wife uses it in the vegetable garden. It keeps the ground hogs and even the deer from eating all of the produce. It keeps most insects away as well. But in an outside garden you have to remember to spread more after each rainfall because it gets washed away. She buys it in bulk off of the internet.

 

[Polish Wizard]

I'm curious if anyone has ever had any experience smoking them out.

Having spent 34 years in the fire service I had the opportunity to be the "stoker" during training sessions. Part of that task meant I was in the basement of a home we would eventually burn to the ground during training, but during the first day we would use lots of straw kept to smoldering in basically a large bucket sitting on the floor to create smoke for the troops to navigate through in the upper floors.
Most times I could barely see my own hand in front of my face, and the upper floors were just as "bad".

As we broke for lunch I had a mouse run up the steps past me. Where I needed my breathing apparatus this little bugger seemed to tolerate a lot of smoke.

 

[Steve Urquell]

Those acorns are more likely from squirrels or chipmunks than from mice. But cayenne pepper sprinkled liberally does keep just about any rodent away. My wife uses it in the vegetable garden. It keeps the ground hogs and even the deer from eating all of the produce. It keeps most insects away as well. But in an outside garden you have to remember to spread more after each rainfall because it gets washed away. She buys it in bulk off of the internet.

Yes. This was chipmunks. I re-apply it as it fades in color. Some people worry about it when servicing the vehicles but I just blow it off and haven't had an issue. If it goes to the dealer I warn them and they pressure wash the engine before working on it. It's the only way we can keep our cars from being destroyed by the little devils.

I found about it after watching a show about New York city electrical maintenance workers using capsaisan impregnated wire insulation to keep rats from eating their wires. Rodents don't like pepper.

If you have wires being chewed on you can spray them with Fluid Film but it is greasy. https://www.fluid-film.com/

ETA: I came home to her engine covered like that, cleaned it off and cleaned it with purple degreaser to get all the smell and smears off. The next morning was when I took that pic. They did that between 8PM and 5AM.

 

[poncho62]

If you are going to put traps out, the little buggers seem to love peanut butter.....Might was well let them have a tasty bit before they get squished......:tango_face_devil:

 

[hatzie]

Having spent 34 years in the fire service I had the opportunity to be the "stoker" during training sessions. Part of that task meant I was in the basement of a home we would eventually burn to the ground during training, but during the first day we would use lots of straw kept to smoldering in basically a large bucket sitting on the floor to create smoke for the troops to navigate through in the upper floors.
Most times I could barely see my own hand in front of my face, and the upper floors were just as "bad".

As we broke for lunch I had a mouse run up the steps past me. Where I needed my breathing apparatus this little bugger seemed to tolerate a lot of smoke.

They're a lot lower toward the ground than us. More air down low... at least that's what they taught us in elementary school in 1971.