Mice!

[Way north bass guy]

Took the boat out today, and at one point I noticed a bit of water on the rear deck. I hit the bilge switch, and all it did was pump more water onto the deck ( that is not what the bilge pump is supposed to do ?).

Once I got back on the trailer, I had a closer look under the back compartment, and found that a temporary passenger decided to have a snack on some boat parts. 
The little bugger chewed right through the speedo tube, which made it pump water into the boat while underway. On top of that, he chewed right through the bilge hose, effectively making it completely useless. To top it all off, he chewed off some of the cover for the main wiring harness, luckily it did factually chew any wires, so I was able to fix that up fairly easily. 
I don’t need the speedo, as I use the gps speed on the Helix, so I just removed the line from the outboard completely, and I was able to Mcguyver the bilge hose back together so we’re back in business. 
I’ve never had mice issues in this boat, but a couple weeks ago I parked it at my brothers for a week just to get it out of the way while we moved to our new house. I’m pretty sure that’s where the damage was done. 
Dodged a pretty big bullet, but it still is amazing how much damage one of those little buggers can do in such a short time. 

[TnRiver46]

Hey buddy, I know a guy ............

[desmobob]

I have suffered endlessly from the trouble little rodents cause.  I keep some of those little green cube-shaped rodent bait blocks in my boat all year and really load it up with poison bait when it's covered up for the winter.

 

A five cent mouse can do thousands in damage...  ?

[TnRiver46]

7 minutes ago, desmobob said:

I have suffered endlessly from the trouble little rodents cause.  I keep some of those little green cube-shaped rodent bait blocks in my boat all year and really load it up with poison bait when it's covered up for the winter.

 

A five cent mouse can do thousands in damage...  ?

Ok I can kill anyone’s mice but it’s going to cost you more than five cents.......

[Way2slow]

I don't know first hand because I've never had a problem with them, but I've heard moth balls make a good deterrent.  Supposedly, they can't stand the smell, of course not too sure how the fish will react to lures stored in the boat that have picked up the smell either. 

[TnRiver46]

16 minutes ago, Way2slow said:

I don't know first hand because I've never had a problem with them, but I've heard moth balls make a good deterrent.  Supposedly, they can't stand the smell, of course not too sure how the fish will react to lures stored in the boat that have picked up the smell either. 

I’m sure it works about 1 out of 100 times because everyone tries it, but I’ve been to countless jobs where they’ve tried them and failed. And that’s for all creatures, not just mice. My boss couldn’t even deter moths with moth balls when they started damaging furs 

[NHBull]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Ok I can kill anyone’s mice but it’s going to cost you more than five cents.......

Without putting your lively hood in jeperdy ?, and the OP doesn't mind, can you make some suggestions on what we can do to combat  this.  I lot of wives tales out there, thanks 

[hokiehunter373]

13 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m sure it works about 1 out of 100 times because everyone tries it, but I’ve been to countless jobs where they’ve tried them and failed. And that’s for all creatures, not just mice. My boss couldn’t even deter moths with moth balls when they started damaging furs 

My father-in-law tried them out for a major groundhog probably he had under his deck.  They gave 0 f's about the moth balls and just moved them out of the way lol.  I had to go in with the shotgun to take care of it

 

 

Also, this thread is a good reminder to check the potentially life saving features of your boat before getting on the water

[TnRiver46]

30 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Without putting your lively hood in jeperdy ?, and the OP doesn't mind, can you make some suggestions on what we can do to combat  this.  I lot of wives tales out there, thanks 

Wooden snap trap has been on the market for a long time for a reason, they are my favorite. Traps and poison do the same thing, you just have to worry about non targets with poison (although pets shouldn’t get into a boat and usually a cat won’t eat poison). Basically with almost all critter problems, getting rid as many critters as possible is the best solution, yet the last thing anyone ever tries. In summary, the best thing to combat mice is killing mice, which is best done with snap traps and/or poison. 
 

we would rather not even do mouse work but I swear you could make a killing doing exclusively mouse work, it’s a common issue that nobody really wants to deal with 

[Deephaven]

We had a problem with them in my old house.  I forgetfully left a 5 gal bucket in the garage half full of antifreeze over a winter.  In the spring there were over 100 dead mice in it.  Obviously we don't have pets, but shocking how well it worked.

 

[gunsinger]

Snap traps are the best in my opinion.  I don't want to poison a mouse and have it go off and die somewhere.  Sticky paper works too but then you have a live mouse to deal with.

[E-rude dude]

Put a bait trap outside the garage.

They eat the bait walk away and die. Our pest control company did this for us when we found mice in our kitchen wall. No more mice. I found dead mice all winter on the perimeter of the house. The pest control guy said it will kill mice for an entire block. They can smell it that far. 

[Jig Man]

I keep the yellow, not the green bar bait in the barn at the farm.  It will get rid of mice, rats, squirrels, and even racoons.

[GreenPig]

You need a mouse gun. I prefer the 454 Casull as it puts them down with no need for a 2nd $4 shot.

[TOXIC]

I store my boat outside and in the winter months the warm glow of the charger is an attraction.  I also used to own a pest control company and had a specialized license in rat and mouse applications.  The #1 thing to do is to keep them out by baiting around the area.  If they do get in, then my suggestion is sticky boards or snap traps so you can remove the carcasses.  Most modern poisons are safe around pets and do not have a secondary kill if they eat a dead mouse but I would prefer to avoid it.  I had a lot of methods to kill rodents but that’s my suggestion.  All of the home remedies are marginal at best.  Dryer sheets, moth balls, peppermint/spearmint/cinnamon oil, etc. are not that effective.  

[slonezp]

On 6/23/2021 at 6:52 AM, Way2slow said:

I don't know first hand because I've never had a problem with them, but I've heard moth balls make a good deterrent.  Supposedly, they can't stand the smell, of course not too sure how the fish will react to lures stored in the boat that have picked up the smell either. 

You've smelled moth balls?

 

How'd you get their tiny legs apart? 

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

You need a mouse gun. I prefer the 454 Casull as it puts them down with no need for a 2nd $4 shot.

Sold my Super Redhawk Alaskan last year. the 454 Casull packs one hell of a punch.

[gim]

On 6/22/2021 at 8:19 PM, Way north bass guy said:

I’ve never had mice issues in this boat, but a couple weeks ago I parked it at my brothers for a week just to get it out of the way while we moved to our new house. I’m pretty sure that’s where the damage was done. 

Did you park it outside over there? There seems to be more critter problems when people leave their rigs outside. Also, keeping the rig on a concrete floor is better than a dirt floor in the shed. My Grandfather had a big metal pole shed and the floor was only gravel/dirt. He constantly had problems until he put some concrete in and then most of that went away.

[WRB]

Mice will get into your tow vehicle wire harness just as fast as the boat.

The old Victor snap traps are the most reliable and safest to use. Poison baits kills everything that eats it including predators like hawks, owls, cats, dogs,  etc, eating the s l o  o w l y dieting rodents.

Tom

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Mice will get into your tow vehicle wire harness just as fast as the boat.

The old Victor snap traps are the most reliable and safest to use. Poison baits kills everything that eats it including predators like hawks, owls, cats, dogs,  etc, eating the s l o  o w l y dieting rodents.

Tom

We have issues with squirrels eating wiring harnesses around these parts. They got a buddy of mines truck 3 times and his wife's car twice. He drives a work vehicle daily so his pickup sits. He recently bought coyote urine to see if that will deter them.

[TcRoc]

Just had to replace my tractor because of mice this week.. now have a brand new zero turn in the shed and freaking out. Put a bait block outside the shed and gonna add another.. put a bunch of traps In shed as well.. 

[12poundbass]

5 hours ago, slonezp said:

You've smelled moth balls?

 

How'd you get their tiny legs apart? 

Somebody update the dad joke thread. ?

[TnRiver46]

19 hours ago, slonezp said:

We have issues with squirrels eating wiring harnesses around these parts. They got a buddy of mines truck 3 times and his wife's car twice. He drives a work vehicle daily so his pickup sits. He recently bought coyote urine to see if that will deter them.

A dead squirrel won’t chew through very much.......

[WVU-SCPA]

They would chew up my cull tags and the spare TP when the boat was stored adjunct to a field.  

 

It's now in a mouse free home and the TP can sleep easy.  

[TOXIC]

Just so everyone knows, any rodenticide you can buy over the counter does not have a “secondary kill” factor.  Can you imagine the lawsuits from idiot John B. Consumer putting out decon and killing his dog or cat? You might have a problem if you put it out in the house and your kids hamster gets into it or if your small dog eats an entire package of it.  Even then more than likely it would just make them sick.  The products I could get as a licensed PCO were much more potent and why you have to be licensed to buy and put them out.  We used locked bait boxes etc.  I had liquid products, grain bait products, powdered products they licked off their feet.  My bait products were designed to keep the rodents going outside looking for water and if they did die in the house or barn or any inside structure, they decomposed from the inside out so there was no smell.  Now I did have some that was more potent and had an immediate kill and a high second and third kill component.  When I used that, I had to stay on site and retrieve all the bait and the dead rodents.  Usually that was an overnight thing.  But I just wanted to make clear that the over the counter rodenticides will not kill any other animal that may eat the dead rodent or the bait itself.  

[TnRiver46]

57 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Just so everyone knows, any rodenticide you can buy over the counter does not have a “secondary kill” factor.  Can you imagine the lawsuits from idiot John B. Consumer putting out decon and killing his dog or cat? You might have a problem if you put it out in the house and your kids hamster gets into it or if your small dog eats an entire package of it.  Even then more than likely it would just make them sick.  The products I could get as a licensed PCO were much more potent and why you have to be licensed to buy and put them out.  We used locked bait boxes etc.  I had liquid products, grain bait products, powdered products they licked off their feet.  My bait products were designed to keep the rodents going outside looking for water and if they did die in the house or barn or any inside structure, they decomposed from the inside out so there was no smell.  Now I did have some that was more potent and had an immediate kill and a high second and third kill component.  When I used that, I had to stay on site and retrieve all the bait and the dead rodents.  Usually that was an overnight thing.  But I just wanted to make clear that the over the counter rodenticides will not kill any other animal that may eat the dead rodent or the bait itself.  

The problem you run into is that people won’t believe what you just said!!