Mice

kaydano

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Hey guys, I've been absent a lot lately. Life happens... But I do have a question someone might help me with. Anyone use peppermint essential oil to repel mice over the winter?

I used to use dryer sheets until mice used them to line a nest they made under the rear lounger. They used the box, which had a quarter inch of sheets still in it, as a toilet. There were more turds in the box than the rest of my boat combined.

I added a dozen snap traps last year. Killed a dozen mice. Still turds all over. No serious damage but they did eat a hole in my Bimini top a couple years ago. Now I remove that each winter.

Looking to add peppermint oil this year. Can't hurt. Some people swear mice hate it. I'm also considering an ultrasonic repeller with flashing LEDs, but I'll have to rig up a couple dozen D batteries to run it all winter.
 
Good to see you again. I’m always cautious about those old secret remedies. I heard toothpaste kept barn swallows away when we were in Michigan and they were nesting in our boat lift. All that did was make a damn mess. My suggestion, get a lot of cats.
 
Recently, camping in Colorado, we had a problem with field mice getting in our trailer.

So we tried the white bucket trick outside where we thought they were getting in, and it worked great!

Get a 5 gallon white bucket, fill it about one quarter with soapy water. Put a ring of peanut butter around the inside, about 2 1/2 to 3 inches down from the top.

I used a piece of firewood as a ramp up the outside.

The next morning there was 10 mice in there, all dead. The morning after that there were five (then we decamped and headed home).

My guess is that you would want to get out to the boat and empty the bucket within a few days!

My neighbor said that when they leave their cabin in Michigan, they do the same thing but they put engine oil in the water. That preserves the mice. Yuck.
 
I use moth balls under the hood of our tractor and the seat in our 4-wheelers in the barn. They are the only thing I have found that will keep the mice from eating the wiring.
 
Good to hear from you again Kaydano! We have used peppermint to keep away the spiders but not mice. +1 on Mothballs! Have used them for years since the mice got on my bowrider and chewed up all the dock lines to make nests. I just put them on little foil plates around the boat. It works!
 
I’ve always had success using mothballs also and our boat is stored outside in our yard.
 
Not sure if this will help. Whenever I have mouse problems I try reconnecting it to the USB port if wired, or new batteries if wireless. This has always taken care of any mouse problems for me in the past.

:D :rolleyes: ;)
 
I like the bucket. I'd have to use glycol so it wouldn't freeze, but should work. Problem is first rain and snow freezes the garage door to the gravel and locks it shut for the winter.
 
I'm guessing dead mice bodies should freeze solid, even if they are floating in non-frozen liquid antifreeze...
 
By the way, I've always used mothballs too. Lots of them. With the dryer sheets. The mice still came...

How did you use the peppermint? I'm thinking a heavily soaked cotton ball in a bowl... It has to last a long time, so I'm thinking half a bottle in each of two bowls, one in the main area of the boat and one under the rear lounger since there is some carpet in there.
 
Wouldn't mothballs just chase the mice from one end of the boat to the other?
I'll tell ya... the bucket really works!!! Easy to dispose of them, also.
If you can keep them out until everything freezes, maybe that will pretty much solve the problem for the winter?
 
Winter is the problem. They seek shelter and eat the boat.
 
Found 7 dead mice in traps. All inside the boat. Did not use the bucket idea yet, but it is next on my list.
 
Did you also moth balls and /or dryer sheets ? If you did with 7 mice on board they didnt work .:D
 
Got this problem with my Mothers car. Anything that smells, like dryer sheets or moth balls, ATTRACTs mice. They have about eat it to the ground using both. This from the extermination experts. The bucket process works best. Or better yet, stop what's causing them to begin with...like leaving trash or food sources nearby.
 
So are your boats on trailers and the mice are getting in ? Or sitting on the ground?
 
Trailer.
 
Mine is stored in the yard on blocks. Use mothballs and dryer sheets. Only once did I have problems - the year I got lazy and forgot to take the Bimini top and boot off before storing. Mice got in the boot and chewed holes in the top at both ends where the frame curves. No other damage.
 
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