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Old 07-07-2019, 04:31 PM   #1
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Rodents!!!!!

Or: I hates meeces to pieces!

Brunhilde is parked in a field. AC power cables run under her to the power source. The meeces in question are very adept at climbing said cable. They find their way inside and have set up households. Their grocery procurement is usually accomplished by eating MY food.

So, I've tried just about everything short of a pounce of cats. (No pets allowed) I got a spray jug containing a substance that is guaranteed to repel them Yeah, right. They congregate around where I spray; it seems to be an attractant rather than a repellent. Glue traps are good, but they get expensive with one per trap. I've since resorted to poison bait. I put a block in a bait station and placed one without the station on top of my Blu-Ray player. I watched one come up and grab that one, presumably to take it home.

This morning, the one in the bait station had been thoroughly consumed, leaving just the wrapper. I've refilled the station. I also placed two additional ones (in succession) on the player, only to have those disappear, as well.

Methinks I may be on to something.

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Old 07-07-2019, 05:17 PM   #2
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I wonder if coating the cable in something hot (like literal hot sauce / buffalo sauce) or one of the spicy pepper sprays designed to keep critters out of the garden might work as a deterrent?

I know they don't work at all for squirrels, but I figure the cable is under the bus (so it won't just wash away), and we're assuming the cable is the single point of entry.

Not that poison won't work, just that if these mice figured out how to get in, there will be others in the future too.
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Old 07-07-2019, 05:41 PM   #3
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Wheel bearing grease on the cable from ground level to entry hole in bus floor?
Eventually the poison baits will work.
Those glue traps can be reused. Drop it with the live critter into the toilet or a water filled bucket. Once the critter is dead, peel it off the board and re set.
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Old 07-07-2019, 06:11 PM   #4
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With eating the bait trap ingredients, the mice will just dry out and die wherever inside so get ready for a summer of stench.
I like the pail trick with water, a ramp and a dowel piercing thru a large plastic bottle. The dowel acts as an axis and is notched into the top of the pail. Then smear peanut butter on the bottle. Then watch as the mice can't

resist and fall off the bottle into the water as it spins from their weight.
Just like a lumberjack on a log boom.


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Old 07-07-2019, 07:22 PM   #5
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Poison bait works well, but to avoid collateral damage (something is going to eat the dead mouse eventually, could be someone's pet cat), you might consider sonic repelling devices. I use 2 in my RV and I haven't seen mice in quite awhile.

Here's another old trick to trap mice... similar to the previous post. Most don't know this, but mice LOVE peanut butter.

Step 1) Pour a small amount of water into a five-gallon bucket. Two inches will keep them from getting enough momentum to jump out if you want to catch and release, four to six inches if you want to drown and dispose of them.

Step 2) Take a paint stirrer, ruler, or something of the sort and put a small blob of peanut butter on the end of it. Lay it over the rim of the bucket so that the peanut butter over the water doesn't quite tip it inward. When the mouse approaches the peanut butter to eat it, their weight will tip the stick, and them, into the bucket. Works like a charm, I caught eight within a week.
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Old 07-07-2019, 07:32 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackJohn View Post
I like the pail trick with water, a ramp and a dowel piercing thru a large plastic bottle. The dowel acts as an axis and is notched into the top of the pail. Then smear peanut butter on the bottle. Then watch as the mice can't

resist and fall off the bottle into the water as it spins from their weight.
Just like a lumberjack on a log boom.


John
I forgot about that one! It is a great tool in catching mice...

https://youtu.be/6SIlYiiCGLI
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Old 07-07-2019, 07:37 PM   #7
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When a mouse eats poison it then goes somewhere to die. This could be someplace in your bus.

Spray foam or fiberglass insulation where they are getting in.

Beware they don’t eat your wiring!!!
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Old 07-07-2019, 07:41 PM   #8
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If using traps, MJ seeds work very well. A few glued on the trigger will do and they're usually not eaten so reusable.

According to a friend of course.
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Old 07-07-2019, 07:46 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2kool4skool View Post
If using traps, MJ seeds work very well. A few glued on the trigger will do and they're usually not eaten so reusable.

According to a friend of course.
Of course...
Plus, it's a fine repurpose to avoid blinding oneself with sativa shrapnel.
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Old 07-08-2019, 06:05 PM   #10
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Heres a trick you wouldn’t believe! Go to the dollar store, buy 2-3 bars of Irish spring bar soap, cut the bars into 4th, and put the parts on paper plates. Leave the paper plates under the cabinets, in the storage compartments, and even 1-2 on the frame rails or near each tire...you probably think I’m crazy at this point but it works! My parents have a toy hauler that we have parked in the side by a field, did this trick and bam no more mice droppings or any signs of them.
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Old 07-08-2019, 06:56 PM   #11
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I had heard of that one before, so I decided to try it where I'm camped out on the prairie.
Damned Texas rodents!
Quote:
Originally Posted by aowen7a View Post
Heres a trick you wouldn’t believe! Go to the dollar store, buy 2-3 bars of Irish spring bar soap, cut the bars into 4th, and put the parts on paper plates. Leave the paper plates under the cabinets, in the storage compartments, and even 1-2 on the frame rails or near each tire...you probably think I’m crazy at this point but it works! My parents have a toy hauler that we have parked in the side by a field, did this trick and bam no more mice droppings or any signs of them.
Little bastards snagged the soaps, used them in my outdoor shower, made a helluva mess, scarfed up my towel, and then, adding insult to injury, they left the bars on the ground, coated with mousie pubic hairs...
It's true! Why would I lie?
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Old 07-08-2019, 07:19 PM   #12
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Fox urine/scent. You can get it at a decent sporting good store. I also use snap traps with pretty good success, just have to tie a little piece of frayed yard around the trigger and coat it with something good and otherwse have a clean tight space
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Old 07-08-2019, 11:38 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SolomonEagle View Post
Fox urine/scent. You can get it at a decent sporting good store. I also use snap traps with pretty good success, just have to tie a little piece of frayed yard around the trigger and coat it with something good and otherwse have a clean tight space
Tom cat wee wee works well too!

BE CAREFUL with warfarin!!!!! It's the most common rat poison. It's a blood thinner. If cats or other predators (good as rat deterrents) consume the dead rat, they too get an overdose of warfarin!


Just a friendly reminder from your website paramedic......

M
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