Mice in vehicles

[treeroot]

My vehicle has been invaded by mice this year. I've owned it for 4 years now and its never had a mice problem until this year. I've killed about 7 in traps inside the car since last spring.

I've removed all crumbs, food etc..

I've bleached the entire inside of the vehicle

I park it away from tall grass and garbage bins

I have a outdoor cat.

I put a battery powered ultrasonic rodent repeller last week

And today I killed a 8th mouse.


I have a second vehicle that parks right next to this SUV which has never gotten a mouse inside it.


What else can I do? I don't think its possible to stop mice from getting inside . Too many ways in I think.

I have searched for a mouse nest and found one in the engine compartment, vacumed it out right away.

One mouse was chopped up in the blower fan, but no nest in there to my knowledge.

There's never been a mouse in the back storage area. In general I catch them in traps under the front two seats.


Any suggestions?

[treeroot]

I also tried putting Irish spring soap bars under the seats as I read that will keep them out. The mice chewed on them.

[amosfella]

I've hear that mice don't like mothballs. Also, I heard that they don't like a car flooded with argon... :P

[Half Pickereled]

If you want to scrub your hands free of the vehicle and are insured accordingly, you may want to use insurance for rodent infestation. Weekly in Nisku they have insurance wrote off vehicles that go through and it’s amazing how many are labeled wrote off for because of mice.

[riden]

I have had fair luck with mice repellers I get at the RV dealership. They come in a little bag, looks a lot like potpourri. If it were me I would try that first.

I have caught 2 mice in my new truck. Bugs me.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by Half Pickereled

If you want to scrub your hands free of the vehicle and are insured accordingly, you may want to use insurance for rodent infestation. Weekly in Nisku they have insurance wrote off vehicles that go through and it’s amazing how many are labeled wrote off for because of mice.

Are you sure it is Nisku? Is it impact or Copart? Impact moved to Acheson two years ago, but this week there are 5 with mice infestations and one or two are biohazard.

[Capt. awesome]

Call the insurance company. Reason being, a family member had mice in one of his vehicles . He brought it to get professionally cleaned and they did quite the detailed job. A few weeks later , mice were back again . Insurance said it happens more often than people think so it was a write off .

[HunterDave]

There has to be products on the market specifically for this.....maybe a spray or something. Some vehicles have soy based insulation on the wiring and mice will eat it. I looked into it when I found that a mouse had made a nest out of a roll of toilet paper in my glove compartment. My old F150 didn’t have that type of insulation so it wasn’t a huge concern for me. I never did catch that mouse so I figure that it just left on its own.

[reddeerguy2015]

Our Camry was written off due to mice.

Nothing for years, then one summer they found their way in and were relentless. Wouldn't stop coming.

Chewed right through the leather seats. Tunneled into them.

The last straw was when my wife was driving and felt something moving underneath her butt... Was a mouse tunneling around in the seat underneath her. She left that car on the side of the road and that's the last time I seen it.

Damn shame too, that was a good car. Insurance paid out far more than I thought it was worth.

Goodluck.

[Stormc1oak]

Dryer sheets are supposed to work very well, I know someone who stores a pop up trailer in an old dairy barn all winter with no problems. places about a box worth inside it, worth a shot anyway

[Redrider]

Get more cats, I think we have nine cats right now. Yes there all out side cats, haven’t seen a mouse in years.

[bear crossing]

Have had great success by using charcoal bricketts

[nast70]

Irish Spring soap. Use it in the cook tent. Cut up a couple bars and spread them out around the sod cloth. Not a hit of a mouse in the week last time I was out. Now I use it around the RV at the storage lot too. Place pieces on the tire tops and axles, zip tie a piece on the front landing gear, basically anywhere it touches or is close to the ground.

[Taiga]

Dryer sheets. Those things are toxic. The mice will leave. You don’t want to smell them too long yourself though, seriously they are toxic.
I would get rid of that vehicle though if it were mine.

[reddeerguy2015]

Originally Posted by Taiga

Dryer sheets. Those things are toxic. The mice will leave. You don’t want to smell them too long yourself though, seriously they are toxic.
I would get rid of that vehicle though if it were mine.

I had to google toxic dryer sheets...crazy. Had no idea.

I agree with getting rid of the vehicle (insurance). Hanta virus is not to be messed with - it's often a death sentence for those unlucky enough who come in contact with it. Coughing to death doesn't sound that fun. Especially over something as stupid as mouse s*&t.

Let your insurance company know it's become a biohazard risk and you should get a decent pay cheque.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Taiga

Dryer sheets. Those things are toxic. The mice will leave. You don’t want to smell them too long yourself though, seriously they are toxic.
I would get rid of that vehicle though if it were mine.

Dryer sheets, nasty business, I have no idea how people can wear clothes with it on. Toxic out the ying yang.

[artie]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Dryer sheets, nasty business, I have no idea how people can wear clothes with it on. Toxic out the ying yang.

I was wondering if liquid fabric softener is just as bad for you. I spray liquid fabric softener in my truck as it makes it easier to vacuum the dog hair.

[bat119]

Originally Posted by treeroot

I also tried putting Irish spring soap bars under the seats as I read that will keep them out. The mice chewed on them.

Yep I tried those with the same result and the mice used the dryer sheets for a nest keep trapping or write the car off.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by artie

I was wondering if liquid fabric softener is just as bad for you. I spray liquid fabric softener in my truck as it makes it easier to vacuum the dog hair.

Yup, both are basically scented oil. Don't know whats worse for you the scent or the oil.

[Half Pickereled]

Originally Posted by gloszz

Are you sure it is Nisku? Is it impact or Copart? Impact moved to Acheson two years ago, but this week there are 5 with mice infestations and one or two are biohazard.

Yes Acheson, that’s what I should have typed. I knew they moved but my brain must have been stuck on their old location.

https://impactauto.ca/Search/Search?auction=3474.

Uhhhhh biohazard I just couldn’t do it.

[Grizzly Adams]

Must be holes they access through. I live in the country and haven't had any problems with newer vehicles. Older ones, a different story.

Grizz

[treeroot]

Thanks for the advice.

Id rather not write the car off, the insurance company will get their money back from me in the end if I do that.

I don't want to pawn my problem on someone else by selling it. I'd be up front about the issue. And because of that, I'd loose money on the vehicle. Don't want to do that either.

So far its not caused damage to the car.

To the person who suggestion Irish spring bar soap, I put some in the car and the mice chew on it. It's still there, but it's not deterring them.

I'll see about getting another outdoor cat, but I have my suspicions that the mice are getting in the SUV from other places it's parked. If that's the case, more cat's won't help.

As far as I can tell, they must be getting in through the firewall somewhere or the duct's.

Can I screen off the intake for the heating system? Where would the fresh air intake be?

[skidderman]

If you can find the holes stuff with steel wool. I think you can get stainless steel wool otherwise they will rust like crazy. Did that with my 5th wheel a few yrs ago and no mice since.

[Ken07AOVette]

Go through an automatic car was that washes the underside. Several times. Mice drop urine with every step then follow the trail. If you parked it a hundred feet away they would find their own urine.
A REAL good underbody wash or 5 may deter the problem.

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by riden

I have had fair luck with mice repellers I get at the RV dealership. They come in a little bag, looks a lot like potpourri. If it were me I would try that first. I have caught 2 mice in my new truck. Bugs me.

They say that usually, if you suspect a given number of mice, that there are usually about 10x more... not sure who "they" are.

[tbiddy]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Dryer sheets, nasty business, I have no idea how people can wear clothes with it on. Toxic out the ying yang.

According to this, that’s mostly false:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dr...xic-chemicals/

For the mouse problem, trying using Cab Fresh. We get it from the UFA and seems to work. We sprayed under our 5th wheel with a product that smells like peppermint and supposedly it’s very slick so the mice can’t climb anything. Seemed to work. But the only real deterrent is finding where they are coming in and closing it off. If you take a black light you should be able to see there urine. Can trace back to where they might be coming in.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by reddeerguy2015

Our Camry was written off due to mice.

Nothing for years, then one summer they found their way in and were relentless. Wouldn't stop coming.

Chewed right through the leather seats. Tunneled into them.

The last straw was when my wife was driving and felt something moving underneath her butt... Was a mouse tunneling around in the seat underneath her. She left that car on the side of the road and that's the last time I seen it.

Damn shame too, that was a good car. Insurance paid out far more than I thought it was worth.

Goodluck.

Disgusting. Yikes.

[6.5 shooter]

Leave some antifreeze in a shallow dish in the car...mice will come in but may not make it back out

[treeroot]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Go through an automatic car was that washes the underside. Several times. Mice drop urine with every step then follow the trail. If you parked it a hundred feet away they would find their own urine.
A REAL good underbody wash or 5 may deter the problem.

thank you sir... This seems something new I can try.

I also thought of spraying fox urine all around where the car is parked. My dog and cats might go nuts for a bit, but might work.

[treeroot]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

Leave some antifreeze in a shallow dish in the car...mice will come in but may not make it back out

Than I have rotting mice in little crevises inside the car.

I thought about poison, but decided against it for that reason.