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Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: wal1809 on May 01, 2011, 09:46:14 AM

Title: Death to all mice
Post by: wal1809 on May 01, 2011, 09:46:14 AM
Amongst the other issues we discovered a mouse problem.  I am personally waging war against every mouse in the county.  I had to take out the pooper throne today because some mice decided to chomp on the water line.  When you hit the flusher lever water was shooting out the back of the commode.  As if I didn't have enough to do, this problem went straight to the top of the list.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: letz4wheel on May 01, 2011, 10:54:25 AM
mice are people too  ;D ;D
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Oonrahnjay on May 01, 2011, 10:56:35 AM
Yeah, I have a friend who has a Honda Fit.  Honda decided that it would be a good thing to make the insulation on the wires out of soybeans.  My friend has had to pay $6-700 twice to fix it.  She now has a bunch of "Bounce" dryer sheets and a rubber snake under the hool along with another snake (also rubber) on the ground under the front bumper.  No problems lately.  She hates mice.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Oonrahnjay on May 01, 2011, 10:57:53 AM
Whoops, duplicate.   Sorry.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: mikewarmblood on May 01, 2011, 11:38:43 AM
I never had a mouse problem with my buses. When I worked at a school district as maintenance we had a mouse problem in one of the Bluebird Visions. The newest bus 2009 model it needed rewiring by the driver's side.  I guess mice loves the wiring in Bluebirds. 
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: gus on May 01, 2011, 03:19:54 PM
I live in the sticks and can assure you rats are far worse.

Mice will eat almost any wiring insulation. I can't count the wires I've replaced for that reason.

"Bounce" dryer sheets  work. I used them in my 4104 about three years ago and haven't had a mouse since.

The very best method is to place traps at each wheel. I use two at each rear and one each at the fronts. Wheels are best because that is normally the entry point unless you happen to have some cords or hoses attached.

The thing you absolutely do not want to use is poison because they will crawl up into an inaccessible place and die. The smell is something you will never forget.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: robertglines1 on May 01, 2011, 03:48:25 PM
I though you played with snakes. They don't like mice?   Couldn't resist ;D we do the bounce thing and also bait bars in hard to get to places. Had a large mouse get shorted out to ground from hot bat post to ground and drained battery once.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: boxcarOkie on May 01, 2011, 03:51:13 PM
mice are people too  ;D ;D

I sure hope Mickey & Minnie are not reading this!  What am I supposed to tell my grandchildren Wal?  Hey, don't rattlesnakes eat mice?  Problem solved.  But then again, having folks over might present a problem.

BCO

(we always leave a little D-con in ours when stored)
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Lin on May 01, 2011, 04:00:16 PM
I once solved a mouse problem by placing mint in all the draws and cupboards, so I was confident the next time that it would work.  I guess the new batch of mice did not mind mint.  We upgraded to dryer sheets+mint.  That did not work with these guys either.  Mouse/rat poison was next and, although it took some time, it did work.  Now I tend to leave some in a couple of places.  I do want to be sensitive though and not harm innocent creatures, so we leave a warning sign with it that says, "Poison! Do not eat!"  Look, if the mice want to live in America, they should learn English.  Am I right?
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: roadrunnertex on May 01, 2011, 04:16:17 PM
Our two black tom cats Sammy and Barney keep the mice and rats away from our 4905 GMC Buffalo that sits in it's bus barn.
One tom cat sleeps next to the bus on the Ford tractor seat and the other sleeps on the hood on the Ford Ranger.
So far we have not had a mice or rat problem and yes we live out in the country. ;D
jlv
 
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: belfert on May 01, 2011, 04:41:22 PM
One year I used my bus in mid November and then parked it for the winter.  I forgot to take a tub of food out of the luggage bay.  Man did it stink in the spring!  Mice were attracted to the food.  I've not had mice trouble any other year.

I'm lucky not to have had any wiring damage from mice.  I have no idea how I would fix the large number of wires in my bus.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: mikewarmblood on May 01, 2011, 06:22:50 PM
Try rewiring a huge church organ that mice used for residence till i got it!!! had to midify it and computerise it.  I hate those little bastards.  I have a nice kitty that takes care of that problem ;D
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: artvonne on May 01, 2011, 07:18:35 PM
  I never hated mice, I always thought they were kinda cute. Then I made the mistake of leaving the fuse cover off a Mercedes I had. The electrical box was under the hood and used a big moisture proof sealed cover. With that cover off, mice were able to get under the fuse panel and crawl through the conduit into the car, chewing wiring as they went. Then they chewed up insulation and built nests inside the HVAC ducts. I do NOT love the smell of mouse crap in the morning.

  I now hate meices to peices, but not so bad I like sticky traps. Thats just wrong.

  One thing ive had good success with are iron cats and plain old everyday mouse traps with fresh cheese and peanut butter. As stated above you really dont want poison, the smell of rotting mice carcasses is something you truly wont soon forget.

  The best thing is to keep them out in the first place. Caulk, cover or seal every gap and hole you can find, starting in the engine and axle bays, then cargo bays and stair well, door area. If they never get it, youll never have to deal with the lil bas, er, guys. 
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: wal1809 on May 02, 2011, 07:01:31 AM
Well it is too late on the poison.  If they stink then they are just goona have to stink.  They ate the hole dern box.  I can't let the rattlers out to get them but I do have chicken snakes.  I don't kill them because they are supposed to eat mice.  They best be getting to work!!!  I believe I am just going to poison the barn and leave poison out at all times.  Taking that commode out was a pain in the butt that I didn't need at the time.  It kind of threw my calander out of whack.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Cary and Don on May 02, 2011, 07:35:34 AM
We parked next to a very pretty river in a meadow area in the Sierra Mountains one time.  We ran our satellite dish way out on the ground to get reception.  The next evening I saw a mouse walk across the floor.  We decided to move from this pretty area before we got another.

When we got home I set out my humane traps.  Sorry,  I'm an animal lover.  Didn't want him to eat the water lines, so I even supplied a dish of water. Caught five the first night.  Over the course of two weeks,  I caught 22.  Pinion mice are really cute.  Don't look anything like a regular mouse.  That one I saw must have brought her whole family and had another litter too boot.

We plugged that hole that the dish cable ran through.  And yes,  Don says I'm nuts.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GMC 4107
Neoplan An340
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: happycamperbrat on May 02, 2011, 09:26:00 AM
Ive used those humane traps too with great success....... in my house. Ive also found that putting a large bowl of water out will attract them and then they fall in and drown. Im not so sure either of these are appropriate for our buses (unless you fulltime). If you go a week leaving them in one of the live traps, they could starve/thrist to death. I havent had problems with mice (yet!) on my bus, but Im sure it is just a matter of time before I do. I want to prepare for it in the most humane way possible. Thanks for the thread
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: thejumpsuitman on May 02, 2011, 09:48:33 AM

When we got home I set out my humane traps.  Sorry,  I'm an animal lover.  Didn't want him to eat the water lines, so I even supplied a dish of water. Caught five the first night.  Over the course of two weeks,  I caught 22. 

Cary, I would say there is a good chance you caught the same two mice 11 times each.  Dee wanted to try the "humane" traps a couple years ago in our house, but we kept catching what I believe were the same 2 or 3 mice literally every singe night even though I released them way at the back of our property.  I began to catch on to them and said "Sorry Dee, I think they are getting one over on us."  So I put out some good old snap traps and caught them all in a couple days and they didn't come back.  ;D ;D ;D

I think it's more humane to keep the humans healthy and away from mouse poop.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: artvonne on May 02, 2011, 10:01:06 AM
  They are cute outside, but once inside a home they become very destructive and disease prone. Outside of a cockroach i cant think of a filthier dirtier animal to have inside your home. They need to die.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: fe2_o3 on May 02, 2011, 11:34:54 AM
We didn't have a mouse problem till we got the cat. She will go outside and catch them then bring them inside to play with, then let them go to catch and play with later. Hid her food hoping the catch your food instinct would kick in. She started eating my shoes. Put out sticky traps. Caught one mouse. The next night we heard the cat going nuts. She was running all over the house, knocking over lamps and yowling. I got up and hunted her down. Found a sticky trap wedged behind a table. The trap was covered with yellow hair, and the cat had a bald spot on her butt. I'm all for moving into the bus and giving the house to the cat and her playmates...Cable
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Busted Knuckle on May 02, 2011, 12:00:29 PM
We didn't have a mouse problem till we got the cat. She will go outside and catch them then bring them inside to play with, then let them go to catch and play with later. Hid her food hoping the catch your food instinct would kick in. She started eating my shoes. Put out sticky traps. Caught one mouse. The next night we heard the cat going nuts. She was running all over the house, knocking over lamps and yowling. I got up and hunted her down. Found a sticky trap wedged behind a table. The trap was covered with yellow hair, and the cat had a bald spot on her butt. I'm all for moving into the bus and giving the house to the cat and her playmates...Cable

See why I have dogs? LOL!
;D  BK  ;D
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Oonrahnjay on May 02, 2011, 12:05:44 PM
  I though you played with snakes. (snip) 

That's just in church.  You gotta get rubber snakes for protection Mon -- Saturday.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: gus on May 02, 2011, 02:26:07 PM
I have a very hard time getting dewy-eyed about mice. They don't play fair and neither do I!!

I once read that Lifebouy soap would keep them away. Well, those mice really liked that soap and ate most of it.

I dislike cats almost as much as I do mice!!

However, we do have a good population of black snakes that pretty much keep our house mouse population down. Those snakes are my pets but I haven't taken them to church yet.

I finally discovered that if I leave vehicle hoods open rats will stay out. Since I have about a dozen vehicles I have a lot of hoods open, looks like a bunch of baby birds at feeding time. Baby birds - another reason I don't like cats.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Kevin on May 02, 2011, 05:09:52 PM
My buddy had a s&s 30' coach which he kept on his 10 acre mini-ranch here in the So Cal high desert. He pulled out of his driveway one day and glimpsed something in the rear view... mice falling from beneath his motorhome. They tumbled onto the asphalt, but then picked themselves up and scrambled full-tilt towards his rig. He punched it and outran 'em.

He chuckled all the way into town where he stopped at the local RV place to dump his tanks. He was chatting with another RVr who was emptying his tanks too, when, to his horror, he saw about a half-dozen mice drop from his coach onto the ground. They began jumping back up onto the chassis and then back down onto the ground again like it was a game. He was so embarrassed that he positioned himself in a way that the nice gentleman he was chatting with would hopefully not notice that his near-new home on wheels was mouse-infested! Heh, heh.

Later he had problems and an engine light w/code. He took his coach (still under warranty) in and the tech discovered that the stinkin' mice had chewed away some wires to a sensor or something. Since the warranty didn't cover it - it was going to cost over a hundred bucks. My buddy soldered it back and it was okay.

I've learned alot of preventative measures on this thread today. I will share with him.

Thanks!

Kevin

Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Pete359EX on May 02, 2011, 05:14:01 PM
Funny timing. Took my Cadi in for warranty work recently. Picked up a mouse at their shop. They said they could not differentiate whether it was from their shop or my house. I told them the car had just been totally detailed before arrival, and that I keep it in an air-conditoned garage. Needless to say I got nowher with them. They gave me a deodorizer and told me to bait the car. The little buger got in my back seat and nested, and found droppings at the drivers side front mat. Basically they said that if the problem continued, to contact my insurance company and file a claim. Can you believe that! The car is a 2007. Fortunately the mouse left the house. But there shop was a real dump. I would not recommend them at all. So if in Ocala, Fl. Do not go to Sullivan Cadillac!
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Hi yo silver on May 02, 2011, 08:53:51 PM
I had a mouse problem the first year I had the bus. Made the mistake of leaving the food and paper products in the bus between trips. Since then, anything like napkins, T-paper, etc. goes in plastic containers when I get home. Also, I bought "Fresh Cab" things at Tractor Supply. They are little pillow-looking things that come four to a box. They smell like mint, but they're expensive, so I picked up some spearmint oil at the drugstore so I can rejuvinate them every couple of months rather than buy new ones. Using those and peanut butter baited traps around the outside of the bus has worked well. No more mice. Not as much fun as watching Barn Owl's system, though. He has a Jack Russell Terrier that is DEADLY on mice!
Dennis   
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: artvonne on May 02, 2011, 09:15:21 PM
  Maybe some could share the more entertaining ways of "dispatching" them. I happen to like those round wind up traps, they go in and its like a bad ride at the fair. ZOOOOmmmmmmmwhapwhap whap  whap   whap    whap.  

  
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: boxcarOkie on May 03, 2011, 03:33:00 AM
We didn't have a mouse problem till we got the cat. She will go outside and catch them then bring them inside to play with, then let them go to catch and play with later. Hid her food hoping the catch your food instinct would kick in. She started eating my shoes. Put out sticky traps. Caught one mouse. The next night we heard the cat going nuts. She was running all over the house, knocking over lamps and yowling. I got up and hunted her down. Found a sticky trap wedged behind a table. The trap was covered with yellow hair, and the cat had a bald spot on her butt. I'm all for moving into the bus and giving the house to the cat and her playmates...Cable

Not THAT was funny, worth reading.  Kudo's!

BCO
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: gus on May 04, 2011, 05:28:18 PM
The plain old fashion kind of mouse trap is as good as any. To get rid of the mouse you just lift the spring loaded wire and Mr Mouse falls right off!

I forgot to mention, I've found acorns to be the best bait of all for country mice. City mice may not like them as much though. I turn up one corner of the bait holder, stick that into the acorn good and solid so the acorn stays put even when the mouse takes a big bite.

I've used the traps with yellow bait flap already installed and have never caught a mouse with one.

I use the wire cage traps for rats, the plain snap type rat traps aren't strong enough to kill the monsters we have out here. After the trap door closes I shoot them in the head with an air rifle then feed them to the buzzards.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: JohnEd on May 05, 2011, 06:52:31 PM
It takes a Terrier to handle rats.  I got one.....a terrier, not a rat.

For mice you can't beat a pair of Seal Point Siamese cats.  I had one long ago and she was "insane" ly smart and had a sense of humor.  Problem with a pair is they will kill rattlesnakes so if you are ranching snakes they are a bad thing.  For the rest of us they are superb rodent control.  Not to mention pets extraordinaire.  Get a kitten from a breeder with good credentials as it is less hit and miss that way.  The Siamese is not a cat but something closer to a dog in behavior.

Granny used to poison the mice once a year.  She used a poison that mad them mad with thirst and along with the poison she put out a nice dish of water.  We picked up scads of floaters but never once in all those years did we smell a dead mouse.  I thought everybody did it that way.

John
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Lin on May 05, 2011, 09:21:14 PM
Out here cats are affectionately called coyote food.
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: JohnEd on May 05, 2011, 09:32:40 PM
If there is any cat breed that will live to feed on mice I would expect it to be either a Cougar or Siamese.

I lived in So Cal and I understand exactly what you are saying.  They even took dogs up to 50 pounds and tore hell out of all the others that were bigger.

John
Title: Re: Death to all mice
Post by: Mex-Busnut on May 06, 2011, 08:41:41 AM
You guys could always install a nice snake, like the one I talk about here:

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=17109.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=17109.0)

 ;D :D
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