Car Storage Tips - Or Of Mice and Men

New 09/30/2004

This was over on the 911 list, but I thought that it had good info from
another angle about the mouse problem.

Ron Porter

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With apologies to any haiku scholars on The List;

Evenings bring a friendly chill,
Trees show off in shorter days,
No more tomatoes.

Rabid fans in Cheesehead hats.
Droppings on my workshop bench.
The battle begins.

Yes, it's that time of year, when we in temperate climes battle the small,
furry makers-of-nests/gnawers-of-everything.

For those who are allergic or can not co-exist with cats, some observations
and opinions:

- Traditional traps are probably the best all-around choice. Cheap, simple,
reusable. Sticky traps (from little glue-floored huts to large, open plates
of stickum) are expensive and can only be used once. More complex mechanical
box traps are fine if they work (different results in different regions),
are VERY expensive for multiple units.

- Multiple units are often needed. Mice in my region seem territorial; traps
stay empty on one end of the 30' garage while gnawers work at the other end.
Also, if you have one mouse, you probably have several mice.

- Traditional traps need tuning. Off the shelf, they require a decent
movement of the trigger to spring. After all the clumsy mice are caught,
many of my traps have the bait licked out of the trigger. Tune the triggers
by bending the tab that holds the retainer bar towards vertical until they
will not hold, then bend back a tiny bit. The best set is a trap that almost
goes off when you set it on the floor.

- Bait: Peanut butter (creamy) is my fave. Food items dry and harden, lose
aroma, can be pulled out of the trigger whole. Not peanut butter. Soft,
gooey, sticky. Use a toothpick to get it deep into the bait area. It will
dry after a couple of months, but is still aromatic, and crumbles so it can
be poked out with another toothpick relatively easily.

- Placement: Around valued items, like a perimeter. One at each corner of my
911, at each end of my motorcycle. (They use the tires to climb up into.)
Then under things that they can get under like work benches.

Final tricks.

- The time to start is fall. They are just starting to build their nests and
store food.

- Squeemish about disposal? Do you have latex or vinyl gloves for working on
your car? Problem solved.

- When rebaiting, put a dab of peanut butter on a piece of wax paper and
take it out to the garage with you, leaving the jar inside. Then you will
not accidentally put the toothpick you just used on an old, used trap back
into the jar for more peanut butter. It's bad. But not half as bad as if
your wife catches you doing it. Don't ask how I know this.

- If you have multiple traps in multiple locations, tie a string to the
retainer-bar staple, run it into an open area where you can see it and tie
it to something that will not move. A lightly caught mouse will take the
trap with him somewhere where you will not find it/him until late summer.
And you do not want to find him in late summer. Don't ask how I know this.

- If you have a particularly adept quarry that keeps licking your traps
clean, it becomes a battle of wits. Bait the trap, then wrap a tiny square
of Saran Wrap around the bait holder, kept in place with a very small rubber
band. Then poke a hole in it at the bait with a toothpick, so the peanut
butter oozes out just the tiniest bit. Set. Your quarry will be forced to
gnaw at the plastic wrap to get more food.

- Check your traps daily, as a trapper would. When you catch one, dispose of
him, rebait the trap (if necessary) and reset. This becomes less necessary
the deeper your winter, but until it gets below freezing, make this your
routine, like when you come home from work.

DO NOT STORE BIRDSEED, VEGETABLE SEEDS OR GRASS SEED in or near your
garage. To mice, a nice sports car put up for the winter in the same garage
as a bag of bird seed is like a condo next to a supermarket.

- Do not leave towels, clothes or other cloth items in your car if you can
avoid it. Boxes of kleenex, paper towels, maps, anything soft and shredable.
This is like a lumberyard for a housebuilder.

- When you are doing any this, do not share the experience with your wife.
She will look at you askew and say hesitatingly, "Uhm, honey? The Taylors
down the street are coming over for dinner. You remember them - she drives
the Miata and he's a, uhm, mental health professional." Don't ask how I know
this.

Ooops. Have to go. Time for my medication.
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I have found the best way to get rid of mice is to put a pan of antifreeze somewhere in the garage. They can't resist the stuff, and they usually die right there in the pan. My dad had a small (one gallon or so) washtub that he'd fill with about an inch of antifreeze in the late summer/early fall. By springtime, the pan would have about two dozen dead mice in it, and they'd be preserved in the glycol, so the stink didn't get out of hand.

Don't try that one if you have cats or dogs roaming around, though.

Dan
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Moth balls and a bar of soap . I have "0" problems when using them .
B.King 13

*edited for content* U.L.

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I don't know, maybe it's just me, but you gotta wonder about those Porsche guys. Good Stuff though, Thanks Ron.

U.L.

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