Wiring, a treat to rodents

Lycomech96

Member

Equipment
B2601, loader, backhoe
Nov 12, 2018
49
0
6
Williamsport, PA, USA
Sounds like you hate your truck too! Cutting a hole in your hvac case is not a very good idea.

Being that the mice got in on that side of the heater core to blow out the vents then you might also want to figure out where they are getting inside the truck at.
I am only going as deep as the plastic is thick, in the cutting action. I know enough not to nick any coolant passages. I'll take the piece and make a door out of it for easy access and complete cleaning.
Do you think I want to go through removing the entire heater box to clean it every year? I have tried every which way to blow or vacuum the crap out. There are four diseases you can get from mouse droppings. Hantavirus is the one that will kill you.
 

prof.fate

New member

Equipment
75 L175, 14 toro timesaver, Landpride boxblade, countyline auger
Nov 9, 2017
155
1
0
Beaver, PA
saw a thing today - an equal mix of flour, sugar and baking soda, mixed, left in a dish - rodents (or anything) will eat it - and they will die.
So keep away from your cat, but seems an easy way to discourage/control rodents.
 

Nicolangu

New member
Apr 20, 2021
2
0
1
UK
The method with flour and sugar might work, but only with one mouse. I tried this method several times and noticed only 1-2 dead mice while the rest kept eating everything. Later, I’ve read about rodents. When they see new food, they send a few rodents to check it, and if those rodents die, the rest avoid eating it. That’s why this method doesn’t work. I suggest you check this service — brightpestcontrol.com.au. They can help you if you want to get rid of mice and other rodents in your house. Sometimes, it is better to call professionals instead of doing something yourself.
 
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aaluck

Well-known member

Equipment
L4400HST, Bush Hog 276, RDTH60, Speeco PHD, etc
Oct 9, 2019
946
771
93
Snowdoun, AL
Had this issue (several times) years ago when I would leave my (gas) golf cart on our hunting land. Finally after rewiring everything a couple of times I ordered flexible metal conduit and put all wires in that--solved the problem
 

fruitcakesa

Well-known member

Equipment
M 6040
Oct 26, 2010
856
270
63
Cavendish Vermont
I started my car this morning and noticed my hi-beam indicator light was on and the headlights were off?
Put on the headlights and the indicator still was on??
Got out of the car and looked and saw DS headlight was out, ok bad bulb. I had a spare on the shelf.
Removed the headlight access panel and found the housing packed full of FG insulation and nestled at the bottom were 3 recently born micelings!!!
I removed them and insulation to find all the headlight and turn signal wires chewed through; Arrgh!!!!
I have to pull the bumper cover to access the lower headlight mounting screw so I can pull the light to get to the wiring to try and repair.
How they got into the apparently sealed housing is currently a mystery that may be explained when I get the light out.:eek:
 

Fordtech86

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3200
Aug 7, 2018
4,976
5,917
113
Pineville,LA
I started my car this morning and noticed my hi-beam indicator light was on and the headlights were off?
Put on the headlights and the indicator still was on??
Got out of the car and looked and saw DS headlight was out, ok bad bulb. I had a spare on the shelf.
Removed the headlight access panel and found the housing packed full of FG insulation and nestled at the bottom were 3 recently born micelings!!!
I removed them and insulation to find all the headlight and turn signal wires chewed through; Arrgh!!!!
I have to pull the bumper cover to access the lower headlight mounting screw so I can pull the light to get to the wiring to try and repair.
How they got into the apparently sealed housing is currently a mystery that may be explained when I get the light out.:eek:
they will chew through the plastic housing, look for a hole in it. Besides them returning you will also never keep bulbs in it from moisture getting in it.
 

woodsy

Active member

Equipment
95 Kubota L3300DT W/FEL, 60" AgroTrend 3pt snow blower89 Arctic Cat 440 Panther
Apr 20, 2021
132
60
28
Maine
Been using Bounce fabric softener sheets in places where mice like to build nests.
Battery boxes, under the bonnet and other caverns etc, Makes your machine smell like a french hoe but it works, they hate the smell of it, refresh as needed.
 

Steve Neul

Member

Equipment
B5200
Jun 3, 2017
130
14
18
Terrell, TX

number two

Active member

Equipment
B3030HSDC L2501HST
Mar 26, 2021
341
158
43
Northern Lower Michigan
I've trapped maybe 50-60 mice in the last 1-1/2 year with peanut butter baited traps.
Traps were even out of stock last year around here-probably not virus related.
Have you ever seen the damage porcupines can cause?
They have become my sworn enemy 30 yrs ago!
Good Luck!
 

jake044

New member

Equipment
l2800, front bucket, back hoe
Apr 21, 2021
8
1
3
Higganum Ct
Has anyone ever tried peppermint oil? I was told mice don't like it. I have sprayed some around in the garage to try. If nothing else it smells good ,lol.
Love that stuff. Mice were nesting in the instrument panel of my tractor. Used a mini spring clamp to attach a cotton ball saturated with the oil to the bottom of the opening. They haven't been back. I resoak about once a month.
 

D2Cat

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Lifetime Member

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L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,812
5,545
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
Love that stuff. Mice were nesting in the instrument panel of my tractor. Used a mini spring clamp to attach a cotton ball saturated with the oil to the bottom of the opening. They haven't been back. I resoak about once a month.
Where do you purchase the oil? I've looked around and it was more expensive then I wanted to spend on mice!
 

Cathy Liebchen

Active member

Equipment
KUBOTA L3901, MX5800, MULE PRO FX, MULE PRO FXT
I have a wood working / cabinetry shop (made my living there for some years). No business there now .... but anyway went in there a few years back in the winter and discovered mice droppings.... some were bright red and some were bright blue. Really looked crazy !!! :confused: Took me awhile to solve the mystery and then I remembered the tray that was attached to the top of a cut off saw.

.... the tray where we kept red and blue lumber marking crayons ... they were very wax based. Yummy :D
We use cats, 100% effective rodent control
 

Joisey

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Lifetime Member

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Kubota L47 TLB
May 31, 2015
191
124
43
Wild, Wonderful West Virginia
Old post, I know. Mice and rats aren't the only thing that love wire insulation. Years back I had to put a new control panel in our wall oven. Take the oven out late in the day, install the new control panel and had just enough time to shower and go to some godawful social event. The oven was on the floor, covered in a blanket.

We get home, shower and go to bed. the next morning I uncover the oven and lift it onto a box so that I don't have to dead lift from the floor. I happened to look at the back of the oven where the wires ran. These are all heat resistant wires, the ones with the colored threads criss-crossing the wire. About 70% of the wires were bare.

We had 3 cats and hadn't seen a mouse in years, so I got on the phone and ordered a new wiring harness ($140 on top of the $200 control panel). Happened to walk past the wife cleaning the litter box, and she asks me what all the little bits of color were in the cat poop. The little bastids ate the insulation off of the wires on the wall oven. It must be a taste/smell thing with animals.
 

Sparky Prep

Active member
Dec 24, 2022
177
245
43
South Florida
Cats, my friend. Cats. Best rodent control on Earth. Mine live in the barn. They are friendly, and occasionally come in the house for petting. Even with chicken feed, cow feed, and farm equipment stored in the barn, ZERO rodents.
 

Highvoltagehands

New member

Equipment
Kubota B21 TL421
May 5, 2022
1
0
1
NorCal
Wondering if hanging candy canes in cars would keep the vermin away ??
Nope. Before Christmas I had mice nest under the engine throttle body of a pickup. After cleaning it all out, I tried dryer sheets, moth balls, cayenne pepper, etc…none of it worked, they just kept coming back nightly. When I had to leave for a week I tried soaking the entire engine compartment, axles, wheels/tires with Peppermint mouse/rat deterrent spray. I even sprayed the access gaps around garage doors. When I returned a week later, I found they had just started building another nest so I think the peppermint spray probably only deterred them for 3-5 days. Since this is a second house on acreage with no pets around I decided to poison them w/ JT Eaton’s Apple Bait Blocks and put a glue trap on throttle body. Each week I would return and find 1 or 2 mice/rats dead in garage or engine compartment. After the third week I stopped seeing any sign of mice/rats And have been mouse free for 6 weeks. That stuff works great. I have since placed some small glue boards under the roller tracks on each side of the garage doors to help prevent access. For those of you worried about poisoning pets or other animals, I have a buddy that swears by Ecoclear RatX pellets. It’s FDA approved non-toxic to animals other than Rats/Mice.
Shawn Woods on Youtube has tried and tested over 1500 traps and deterrents and is a great source of info.
Good luck.
 

Bee-Positive

Member

Equipment
BX1880
Nov 16, 2022
41
78
18
Amsterdam, NY
Living in farm county we get field mice every year. A little peanut butter on a trap - SNAP - works every time. Even caught one in my kitchen stove. Saw him peeking out the top vent so I put a trap in the bottom warming drawer. Sitting there eating dinner I hear a snap and sure enough. 14 in a week once, mostly in the basement and garage. (My son has Ashma and we can't have cats).

Couple years ago we got rats. Even got them on trail cam in the garage. Whole different ball game with rats. Peanut butter - nope. Bacon greasy stuff - licked it clean. Bucket traps like shown above - nope. I read up and tried everything I could find for about a year until I found "Just-One-Bite". As mentioned, rats are extremely smart, if something kills one of them the others won't touch it. Just-One-Bite works over a about a week or so and the rats will take it back to the nest and feed it to the new guy. Since he didn't die right away they think it's safe and start munching. I put out pieces for a week and a half and they took all I could give them. After week two and three - no more rats. Since it worked for me that's what I do - your mileage may vary.
 
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