How the heck do I keep mice out of my garage?

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Posted: 10/3/2011 9:34:35 AM EDT

Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:35:54 AM EDT

[#1]

Install cat

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:36:06 AM EDT

[#2]

cat

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:36:11 AM EDT

[#3]

Well if you want to keep your doors open, there really isn't much you can do. Poison is probably the best bet if you hate traps.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:36:48 AM EDT

[#4]

Poison works well, but it'll also draw them in...so if you poison you have to make it a regular thing. That's generally how I cope.

I've tried most of the recommended things, mothballs do NOTHING. Electronic deterrents do NOTHING. Traps can work, but you have to get them in the mice's line of travel and keep on top of them. Doesn't take long for a mouse to screw stuff up....got one in my motorcycle and it chewed all the wires around the ECU.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:37:05 AM EDT

[#5]

Garage cat likes mice.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:37:58 AM EDT

[#6]

Fire.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:38:46 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

5 gallon bucket half full of water and antifreeze, coat hanger, beer can covered in peanut butter, ruler.

Empty weekly

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:39:13 AM EDT

[#8]

I will shamelessly repost my mouse safari stories. I'm sure they're in the archive somewhere, but I got no idea how to cross link to them. Here's the first installment:
Sitting on my couch last night during Jeopardy, I see an adolecent mouse dart out from behind the cedar chest. My cat was lazily stretched out in her windsor chair that she stole from me. My two dogs were asleep 5 feet away from the culprit and didn't lift even an eyebrow.

I was armed with my micro compact 1911 but I figured that would be a bit too much gun and the wife would probably be mad as she was sitting on the couch next to the cedar chest. My second thought was my Beeman Tempest air pistol but after consideration of the velocity of said weapon and size of the mouse, overpenetration was still a concern. I didn't want a hole in my woodwork, even a .177 hole. Alas, I thought of my airsoft Glock replica spring piston. Ammo was 6 mm plastic balls at approx 200fps.

I went and retrieved the pistol and my Surefire Backup (which, btw, I've been very happy with as an edc light). I scrounged 5 rounds from the bottom of the tub of airsoft/paintball crap that has been sitting in the basement for years, loaded the magazine and chambered a round.

Now the chest in question has only about a 1.5 inch opening at the bottom so I lay down flat with the gun horizontal and the light on the floor. I press the side of my face against the floor and spy my adversary backed into the rear most corner... about a 5 foot shot from where I lay. It took some effort to get a decent site picture and after calculating the proper hold under due to the sites not having to work against gravity, I squeezed off the first shot.

I belive it just touched his hind quarters. The reason I know this is he came charging out from under the chest directly toward my face and got within about 6 inches of my nose. He was far too fast and I was in much too awkward a position from which to rechamber my pistol. I did the only thing I could... retreat about 3 feet by carefully employing a ninja roll.

My wife was getting great enjoyment out of the whole spectacle. The mouse, not so much, I suspect.

I rechambered and went for shot #2. Repositioned and "doink" a broadside shot right behind his shoulder. The damn airsoft didn't achieve penetration, but the blunt trauma must have been tremendous, relatively. The mouse rolled over and kicked once. He lay still for about 30 seconds and then regained his feet. CRAP. OK, time for a head shot. I lined up my sites very carefully and with as much control as possible squeezed the chinese copy of an already poor Glock trigger. "Doink" . Yep, right in the side of the head. That was all she wrote. He was DRT.

I moved the chest and retrieved my quarry. I contemplated skinning and mounting it as my first airsoft trophy but I think I'll wait for a bigger one. Anyone know how Pope and Young scores mice?

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:39:45 AM EDT

[#9]

You aren't gonna keep them out.

Get a cat or (not and) plenty of D-Con and traps.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:40:04 AM EDT

[#10]

Here's #2
So, I'm sitting on the couch, watching TV when I hear a crash in the back bedroom. I hear the wife go into the room and proceed to ask the cat,"What are you doing? Do you have a mouse in here?" She was joking about the mouse part until said varmint darted out from under the bed. Fuzzball (the cat) likes to catch mice. She likes to play with mice. She's not good in the killing department. I make my way to the bedroom to see the wife dancing like Sugar Ray Leonard and Fuzzy repeatedly catching and releasing the mouse.

I decide to take action. I went to the kitchen to grab a plastic bag, figuring I could just grab the mouse and squash it, if the cat still had him cornerd.I assumed he'd be half dead by the time I got back anyway. Well, the mouse was a sneaky and fast little rodent and had gotten away. He was currently hiding behind the toy kitchen unit. I thought,"I've got 'im now. I'll just smash him between the baseboard and kitchen. I give a shove and the wicked little monster jumps up ontop of the baseboard. I had run out of room and he was safe there.

I've been in similar situations before. You may recall my last household safari involving a mouse, a cedar chest and a glock airsoft pistol. I was undergunned with that pistol. It failed to achieve necessary penetration for the first two shots. This resulted in a charge from the mouse and I could have easily lost the end of my nose if it weren't for my lightning fast ninja roll. (I was on my belly shooting underneath the chest when charged). I would not make the same mistake again.

As I walked through the house toward the garage (hoping the little beast would stay put) I saw my 1911 .45acp laying beside the couch on my table. I briefly thought of the carnage I could wreak with that instrument of destruction. I quickly abandoned that idea when I thought of what the wife would think. I'm a fan of Robert Ruark and his book,"Use Enough Gun". I had to admit this would be a bit of an overkill. I proceeded to the garage and retrieved the appropriate tool for the job.

I returned with my Beeman Tempest .177 caliber spring piston air pistol. Said weapon propels a 10 grain .177 caliber pellet at about 450 feet per second. This should be more than enough. I had it cocked and locked as I re-entered the bedroom. As I jockied around the room, I contemplated on taking the safety off, or not. I didn't want a negligent discharge with the Wife and Fuzzy in the room but I knew that I may need to make a snap shot on a fastly moving quarry and the safety was an awkward one. I decided to get into position with the gun and my surefire pocket flashlight.

The space between the wall and the toy kitchen was only as wide as the baseboard making for a difficult shot. I pressed the gun against the wall and held my flashlight to where I could see the mouse. He looked huge, with sharp claws and snarling teeth dripping with what I knew was bacteria infested saliva. I knew that I had to connect with the first shot. The memory of the charge I narrowly escaped during the last incident was nagging the back of my mind. I lined up the sights for a head shot (the only sure thing on a creature this tough and nasty), carefully and squeezed the quality Beeman trigger ( a noticable improvment over the "toy" with which I dispatched the last maurader in my house...the airsoft glock). The pistol bucked in my clenched and sweating hand. The mouse didn't reaact. How could I have missed? I reloaded the pistol and retook my position. I decided to move the kitchen and take my chances on a possible running shot. The mouse fell to the carpeting and the carnage was, then, clearly visible. The pellet had entered the eye of the beast and traveresed what must have been at least 3/8" of increadibly tough mouse skull and brain, glanced off the baseboard and came to rest in the carpet. The resulting wound left a considerable mess under the mouse, as one could imagine.

The wife insisted that I be the one to dispose of the body AND clean the mess. Well I got to shoot, but I didn't need a shovel, and was certainly not going to shut up about it.

I was sad that I took a head shot, after thinkin about it. The ruined trophy would take massive amounts of work to sew back into anything resembling the magnificent beast. I have no room on my wall for a pieced together, substandard mouse mount. Next one, I may try to take with a bow and arrow. I'm really looking for a Boone and Crocket scored trophy.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:40:12 AM EDT

[#11]

Go to your local rescue shelter and find the ugliest, meanest barn cat they got. DON'T tell them it will be an outdoor cat. Bring him home and show him where the litter pan, water and food bowls are. Let him start for a few days with the garage door down then walk him around the perimeter of your house and back into the garage. Always keep the food, water and litter in the same place. Step back and watch the war on mice begin its shock & awe phase.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:40:15 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Install cat

^ This ^

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:41:05 AM EDT

[#13]

Do the 5 gallon bucket trap. It works!

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:41:54 AM EDT

[#14]

Here's the last one. I think the thing to keep in mind is it's all on how you look at them. View it as entertainment and a challenge and they're more tolerable.

Enjoy.
You may remember the two previous incidents. In the first one, I narrowly missed serious injury from one of the vile beasts charging me from under my cedar chest with my face flat on the ground attempting to angle for a shot with my airsoft Glock. It took three shots from that anemic pistol to dispatch the intruder.

The next came with a cornered vermin in my daughter's bedroom (hopefully that's the only vermin I'll ever have to dispatch in her room). I up-gunned for that expedition to a Beeman .177 airpistol. I've always been a fan of Robert Ruark and his book Use Enough Gun was resonating in my head as I made my choice of weapons for the task at hand. I would not be charged again.

Well, in the interim, I have had several encounters that were less than fruitful. I have trapped a few which is quite anti-climatic. Even trapped two in one trap. That was something. Still, though, trapping just wasn't as much fun.

The problem is, the little bastages are fast. I mean like little brown streaks of lightning. What I needed was a shot gun. The wife absolutely forbade the use of firearms upstairs. She does tolerate the occasional few rounds into a set target in the basement (she's a real keeper) but when approached with the reasoning that we had to dispatch these mice with extreme prejudice, she was unwaivering in her stance of no firearms upstairs.

I then had an epiphany. I have a Tippman 98. That is a .68 caliber smoothe bore air gun, in my book, with enough power for a small payload of .25 caliber plastic airsoft pellets, albeit a muzzle loader.

I turned up some delrin shot cups. I made a top card cutter.(top wad to keep the shot in place). I experimented with the number/volume of airsoft pellets that the gun would effectively fire and get a decent pattern and velocity out of.

I tested my new tool of death on a cardboard box. At 12 feet I had a dense pattern of about 6 inches diameter and obliterated the cardboard. Good. Plenty of power and enough size on the pattern. Time to go hunting.

I knew I had a single shot, no backup. If I got into a tight predicament with one of the snarling, ferocious beasts, it would be a terrible thing to miss. The thought of going hand to paw with one of the nasty little furballs was not appealing at all. I decided to tote along my airsoft glock. I knew it lacked power, but figured it would be better than nothing. Besides, if I needed a Coup De Gras, I'm sure it would have sufficed at point blank range.

So, I stoked up Ol' Betsy and left her in a handy spot.

They generally come out just after dusk. You can hear them when they run over the tile or wood. Their sharp, nasty little claws making that scraping sound as they stalk in the darkened corners.

I think they were on to me. They weren't showing up. No fleeting glimps of their snake like little tails. No pitter patter of little paws. No scratching of their claws as they attempt entry to my hard earned food stuffs.

Then it came, all of a sudden. In the kitchen. The "scratch, scratch, scratch" of those terrible little mouse claws on some paper bag of meal or grain or, heaven forbid MY GRITS. You WILL NOT poop in my grits with your little, football shaped mouse turds.

I grabbed the Tippman and slipped the Glock in the elastic band of my boxers, carefully keeping my booger hook off the bang lever. A negligent discharge in this area would be very unfortunate, even with airsoft. I stalked into the kitchen and arrived at the pantry door.

The question arose. Should I do a dynamic entry and hope for surprise? Should I carefully and slowly open the door so as not to disturb my quarry and hope for a semi-stationary shot? I had no idea where he was in there. What if he leapt out onto my face? I'm too pretty for scars. What if I was screaming, rolling around with a furry death dealing beast on my face in the kitchen floor and my wife decided to follow Ruark's advice and employ the G34 beside the bed? That would be bad.

I had a SHOT GUN. I had the upper hand. I felt confident I could make a running shot even on a small streak of fur moving at least 100 mph across my kitchen floor. I decided to turn on the lights to swing the advantage in my favor, they being nocturnal, and all. I dried my hands and firmed my grip on the fowling piece with one hand on the pantry door knob.

I threw open the door, eyes scanning up, down, left, right, looking for movement. Where was he? He sould be running by now.

And there, perched on top of a box of oatmeal was the mouse, eating a Ritz cracker without a care in the world. At least that's what he wanted me to believe. They are masters of guerilla warfare. They appear to be innocent, cute, even cuddly. Then, they pounce and take a chunk out of your nose.

I wasn't falling for it. However, I had a dilema. My bag of grits was directly behind the varmint. I rememberd what my weapon did to the cardboard at 12 feet. I knew what it would do to my grits at 2'.

I stepped back, and prodded the seemingly innocent mouse with the muzzle of my gun. That's when he showed his true colors. This experience, combined with the charge of the first mouse I killed, confirmed that MICE CHARGE in the direction of the offender. The little bastage leaped right at me.

I'm glad I wasn't wearing socks, for on a hardwood floor, I'm sure I would have went down with injuries. I back peddaled a couple steps in a big hurry. Luckily, the mouse was just bluffing...trying to gain some space for a tactical retreat, for he hit the ground and took off in the opposite direction. Didn't even retain his cracker. I'm sure he was frightened at a .68 caliber muzzle staring him in the face.

I regained a shooting stance and brought the gun to eye level. Sights are more a hinderance than anything in such snap shots. I just looked over them and put about a mouse length lead on the quickly vanishing cracker thief. When I pulled the trigger, I was surprised at the loudness of the shot. The gun's report combined with all the plastic pellets slamming into the wood floor was impressive. Loud enough to wake the wife.

She was mentioning something about me yelling," Take that ya little bastard! I got ya this time!". I don't remember making any such utterances, but I suppose it's possible in the heat of the moment, I may have taken a victory lap around the living room.

Back to survey the damage, and it was considerable. I was informed that the mess will be soley cleaned up by me and be done pronto and that if there is one little blue BB left, my safari days are over as she has no way of knowing if said BB passed through the mouse or just bounced off the floor.

I decided that the middle of the night was no time to explain that if it had indeed passed through the mouse, it would have blood on it. I'm crazy, not stupid.

The terminal effect was impressive with at least 10 BB's striking my quarry. Here again, as with the last, I have no trophy. It was a mangled mess, not even fit to skin out much less mount.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:42:41 AM EDT

[#15]

Cats often will ignore mice if better game is in the area - ie chipmunks, birds, etc.

Not a very effective method, trust me I've got barn cats and mice don't get eaten...but they'll drag a baby rabbit back into the garage to eviscerate.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:42:56 AM EDT

[#16]

I use traps and poison. Tie a line to the traps so they won't steel 'em

Decon works great...I think. Cats only work.....if they work. If they don't work they become coyote bait. Which is fun in itself. The cat does not have to get hurt.....just cry a lot

. Drives the coyotes crazy.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:43:38 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

5 gallon bucket half full of water and antifreeze, coat hanger, beer can covered in peanut butter, ruler.

Empty weekly

make sure that you have some kind of ramp from the floor to the top of the bucket. this is the cheapest and best trap there is

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:45:49 AM EDT

[#18]

I had a bag of fire ant poison in my garage, and noticed that the rats had chewed through it and gotten to the poison. Shortly thereafter, I stopped seeing any sign of rats around the house. That was a few years ago, and I still haven't had any sign of them around.

It's the Ortho Max stuff.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:46:35 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Install cat

First post.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:46:37 AM EDT

[#20]

get a cat.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:48:22 AM EDT

[#21]

You've been around here long enough to know the answer.

On a side note, the only kill I got in Afghanistan was a mouse I found in the garbage trailer. I got it with my knife, though, so that's like tier 1 operator shit, right?

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:52:38 AM EDT

[#22]

Catch a few w/ conventional traps and impale them on shish ke bob skewers near known mouse entrance points.

This will send a message to the other mice; VietCong style

Speed

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:55:13 AM EDT

[#23]

Dont let the innocent look fool you, he's a cold blooded killer (7 so far this season).

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:55:50 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

5 gallon bucket half full of water and antifreeze, coat hanger, beer can covered in peanut butter, ruler.

Empty weekly

make sure that you have some kind of ramp from the floor to the top of the bucket. this is the cheapest and best trap there is

I usually set it near a shelf or desk or something then just run the ruler to the beer can from there.

This is our go to trap for our hunting camps. You can leave one all winter and come back and it will be full up.

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:57:27 AM EDT

[#25]

Posted: 10/3/2011 9:58:17 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Dont let the innocent look fool you, he's a cold blooded killer (7 so far this season).

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll40/badfish25/HPIM0810.jpg

cat dildo?

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:03:27 AM EDT

[#27]

We buy the poison that makes them want to go out to get water, but also have a tub of water set up to drown them. A trap like that will hold a bunch of floaters before you have to dump it.

Sometimes even the fresh smell of a cat will keep the mice out. We have a mountain cabin and will put the cat up there alone for a week starting in the fall. I don't think he catches that many, but the smell seems to scare off the mice, especially when food is still available outside.

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:04:07 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Dont let the innocent look fool you, he's a cold blooded killer (7 so far this season).

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll40/badfish25/HPIM0810.jpg

Innocent look? He looks like he wants to kill my family.

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:05:32 AM EDT

[#29]

Buy some steel wool.

Whereever you find small place they can get in, stuff it with the steel wool. They try to eat through the steel wool and it fucks them up real good ( gets in their teeth. )

Supposed to work. Grandpa did it all the time.

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:11:51 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Garage cat likes mice.

Garage kitty ready to swoop down on unsuspecting mice...

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:14:58 AM EDT

[#31]

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:18:07 AM EDT

[#32]

wat? nothing from the rattlesnake groupies

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:30:22 AM EDT

[#33]

I use the mouse spa, bucket of water and a ramp. Mice jump in, but can't jump out. I also put some sort of small stick/float inside so they think they can land on it, drink and jump out. Just water though, easier to dispose of.

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:37:10 AM EDT

[#34]

1. dig moat
2. fill moat with flammable liquid
3. light moat
4. mice burn up trying to cross moat
5. no more mouse problem

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:41:11 AM EDT

[#35]

Traditional mouse traps with peanut butter as bait

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:51:00 AM EDT

[#36]

Put up some "mouse free zone" signage. That way they will know they are not allowed unless they get the exclusion on thier permits.

Posted: 10/3/2011 10:52:17 AM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:

Put up some "mouse free zone" signage. That way they will know they are not allowed unless they get the exclusion on thier permits.

Makes perfect sense though. Should work

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:04:25 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

5 gallon bucket half full of water and antifreeze, coat hanger, beer can covered in peanut butter, ruler.

Empty weekly

Please elaborate! A pic maybe?

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:10:58 AM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

5 gallon bucket half full of water and antifreeze, coat hanger, beer can covered in peanut butter, ruler.

Empty weekly

Please elaborate! A pic maybe?

Eres a link: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/easterly110.html

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:21:29 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Little bastards keep building nests in my tool cabinet and crapping all over the place. I live in a heavily forested area so it seems hopeless. I set traps and always get one right away, but, setting traps every night gets old. I leave the garage door open a lot and don't really want to keep it closed all the time. Any ideas? Poison?

5 gallon bucket half full of water and antifreeze, coat hanger, beer can covered in peanut butter, ruler.

Empty weekly

Please elaborate! A pic maybe?

Eres a link: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/easterly110.htmlhttp://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/images/easterly110-1.jpg

Similar to this but with a beer can in the middle with a ruler just long enough so that the mouse can just barely get on teh beer can but not so close that it rests on the can. I usually run the ruler to a near by shelf.

Either way will work

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:23:45 AM EDT

[#41]

Its not about keeping them out - that's a lost battle. Dealing with them inside is now your front line.

1. Cat.
2. snap traps
3. poison (if you have a cat, use bar bait with those boxes the cat can't into)

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:24:55 AM EDT

[#42]

Tom Cat. Get a free male from the local paper or a scruffy one from the animal shelter that isn't declawed. Built it some sorta cat nest in the garage and let it roam free if it's semi country where you live which it sounds like it is. I would avoid a female unless you get her fixed or you'll just end up with piles of cats.

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:26:06 AM EDT

[#43]

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:27:15 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
http://childrenstorytales.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/anaconda4.jpg

Thats a great picture of a fleshlight but how is this going to help the OP with his mouse problem...

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:27:31 AM EDT

[#45]

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:50:58 AM EDT

[#46]

Ive got a very healthy population of black rat snakes around the house, they can surprise you sometimes but they eat lots of mice :)

Posted: 10/3/2011 11:57:08 AM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:
Install cat

Cats climb all over everything and knock stuff over. I've had them climb to the top shelf of a storage unit (7 feet) and knock off some reloading tools.