mouse repellent--cancel my recommendation...

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Late last fall, I recommended some scent sachets called Fresh Cab (as in tractor cab), based on the praise they seemed to have gotten from farmers who used them over the winter in their tractors. They're not cheap--$25 for four, or maybe it was eight, I can't remember--but they don't seem to work after all. I just discovered a big field-mouse nest under my cowl, behind the cover for the hvac stuff--and I had wintered the car in the barn with two of the sachets inside the closed trunk. Helluva lot smaller and more airtight space than a tractor cab, but they still didn't do any good.

I'm goin' back to mothballs.

[3.2 CAB]

Put a cat in there.

[300cd300sdl911]

I heard from our mechanic today that cedar chips work as a mouse deterrent.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Got a cat. But I live in a 3,500-acre forest filled with rodents of every sort. I'd need 5,000 cats. The one we've got usually barfs up at least one field mouse or chipmunk per day and manages to digest probably another two.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

I would doubt the cedar-chip recommendation. Why on earth would a mouse be repelled by cedar chips? They live in woods filled with cedars.

I suspect the mouse problem occasions every possible suggestion that smells--pepper, used Tampaxes, air freshener, engine oil, asparagus pee, whatever. But I doubt any of them really work. If you actually caught a mouse and dropped him onto a pile of cedar chips, he'd probably take a nap.

[Jack Olsen]

Cat urine on Fuchs is a good example of the solution being as annoying as the problem it solves.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

That's interesting...I Googled "mouse repellent" an hour ago, and one of the top things that came up was a company that sells shaker-cans of pellets infused with fox urine. (How do they get so many foxes to pee for them? Beats me.)

Gonna try it, since it sounds reasonable. But right now, I'm pulling the alternator and duct-taping some garden hose to my ShopVac to try and reach those bastard nests on the cylinder fins.

The best one, though, was built by the family that climbed up through the hollow B pillars and built a nest _inside_ the headliner. Acorns, Stuttgart insulation, fiberglass, yarn, all sorts of stuff. Required me to replace the headliner this winter, of course.

Oh, and by the way, how do you get your cat to piss on your wheels anyway?

[gumby]

On a friends recommendation after this December finding a mouse started to eat my speaker wires ( I could care less, I'd rather here the motor) I ended up using Irish Spring soap , about 5 -6 bars and was impressed! NO MOUSE this spring and the car smells nice'n soapy

[ZOA NOM]

umm... wrong forum

[real550A]

How do they get so many foxes to pee for them?

Simple....They shoot the fox, drain it, sell the fur for hats,
and humanely release the fox back into the woods.

[john walker's workshop]

a bouquet of dried lavender keeps them away.

[sfoster13]

think snake, big snake

[DanielDudley]

Moth balls baby ! Don't bother to ask how they get them.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
Got a cat. But I live in a 3,500-acre forest filled with rodents of every sort. I'd need 5,000 cats.

Naw,......IMHO, you only need 3500 cats (one per acre) and that should do the job very nicely unless they are "rodents of unusual size",.....

[Monza_dh]

Originally posted by DanielDudley
Moth balls baby ! Don't bother to ask how they get them.

LOL!!

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

"A bouquet of dried lavender"? You're kidding, right?

[CurtEgerer]

"Bounce" fabric strips work well (and your car smells fresh in the Spring! ). Hunters/fishermen also use these. Taped around your ankles and wrists, they prevent tics and other bugs from crawling up your clothes.

[9dreizig]

Originally posted by Jack Olsen
Cat urine on Fuchs is a good example of the solution being as annoying as the problem it solves.

Jack if my car looked as good as yours and there was cat urine ( and I suspect cat paw prints), I'd be starting a thread as to how to get the smell of dead cat out of my car...

[ericwitte]

Cedar chips work well in hamster cages as nesting material... I suspect they would have a similar effect in the car. Buy a car capsule!!!

[Por_sha911]

I've read that people found moth ball collected by the mouse and put in the nest. Whatever happened to a good old fashioned mouse trap and some cheese? I tried peanut butter but the cheddar worked better. One trap in each corner of the garage in a nice "hidden" spot. Works like a charm for me. When one is caught, I throw the whole thing out. No muss, no fuss.