Rodents in my boat!!!!

[harpoon]

Hi all, I hope you all had a great holiday.

I properly winterized my boat, I even bought a carport to put it in to keep the snow and rain off of it. So I cleaned it and tucked it away a couple months ago. Well I went out last weekend to trickle charge the batteries and saw a ton on styrofoam in a few of the storage compartments. they are eating the crap our of it.

What do you guys do to keep rodents out of your boat in the off season?

Thanks for  your help

harpoon

[TommyBass]

If you tarp it, an open box of moth balls under the tarp seems to help me (tarp needs to be tight to keep the smell in).  I've also put hedge apples by the tires and that seems to work as well (no idea why).  Other than that, the classic poisen and traps in nearby areas always helps somewhat (assuming you dont have any kids or pets with access).

[Jig Man]

Bar Bait

[Hot Rod]

I usually put a few of the poision blocks out around the boat/trailer in the fall where only the mice can get at the blocks.    I'd say put them right in to the boat since the mice are alredy there.  Just keep 'em out of reach of kids/pets/non-target animals.

Fortunately I've never had mice in my boat cause they can cause major issues.   But I have trapped them close by.

[harpoon]

Well thanks all for your advice. I got some MothBalls and i heard dryer sheets help so i got some of them. i will put them in then put my boat cover on. Now is this going to make them run for the hills? 

Jig Man, I do not know what Bar bait is but will look it up.

Hot Rod, I like you idea about puting poison in the boat but affraid if they die in the boat it will smell and I may never find the corpse.

As for them causing major damage I hear ya there. I have lost sooo much styrofoam I hope the thing still floats.

Thanks everyone

Harpoon

[Hot Rod]

Supposedly once a mouse eats the poison it makes them thirsty so they head for water, where they die.  Now if there is water in you boat from the last trip, they probably won't leave.

I have found some "casualties" in glue traps that I use in my garage/basement.  They didn't get ripe.  They pretty much just dried up, so no smell.  Not sure if the same would hold for the ones that die from the poison or not.  Especially considering the moisture/water in a boat.

[harpoon]

Thanks for the explanation Hot Rod, I will give it a shot.

Take Care

Harpoon

[reo]

You gotta kill them before they do major damage (carpet and wiring). Corpse disposal would be the least of my worries at this point and as was stated they will most likely just dry up. I tried drier sheets under the hood of my riding mower where they like to build for the winter.....They used the drier sheets as part of their winter home. I have found poison and moth balls the best option.

[Jig Man]

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=2&pf_id=16222

I always kept it in my barn around the bull feed and in my wifes deck boat as it only got used in the summer.  It will take out anything from a racoon down to a field mouse.

[harpoon]

Hey all, I thought I would give you an update. I went out and got some d-Con, put about 4 in and around the boat. I saw it being eaten within a day. So hopefull this will get rid of them. Funny story: The other morning my wife saw a slow rolling mouse moving across the backyard on top of the snow when all of a sudden a large bird came down, chowed it then flew off with it leaving a round circle of blood. Pretty crazy ha?

Anyway thank you all for your help and advise.

[Nitro 882]

Take a few old socks and put about a hand full of   moth balls in each one. Spread the socks around the boat, in each compartment, under the console, and a couple back in the battery compartment.

Works for me.

[pennyankees]

30.06   

[Hammer 4]

Lol..kinda "overkill" dontcha think..?  ;D

30.06

[Al Wolbach]

I hate the use of poisons, who knows you may have killed the bird that flew away with the mouse. But I realize sometimes that is all that works.

I read somewhere that Peppermint Oil poured on cotton balls will work as a repellent but I have not tried it yet. You can get peppermint oil at health food stores for about five dollars if you want to try it...............Al

[gatorblazer]

Our cat sleeps in the boat on the front deck.  We dont have mice issues in the boat.

Funny story though, I was taking dad's ski boat to the marina to put gas in it one 4th of July.  Halfway across the chanel at Logan Martin, something runs up the windshield, down my arm, and turns and hisses at me from the back of the boat.  It was a racoon that had taken up residence under the bow cushions.  There was an intense standoff between he and I, weapons of choice were his claws and my slalom ski.  After two whacks to the head, he jumped on the gunnel, where I attempted to knock him off.  Right before he hit the water, he managed to grab the rub rail with one finger.  I beat the #$%# out of that finger until he fell in the water and began swimming to shore.  Scared the crap out of me.

[Thai]

Our cat sleeps in the boat on the front deck. We dont have mice issues in the boat.

Funny story though, I was taking dad's ski boat to the marina to put gas in it one 4th of July. Halfway across the chanel at Logan Martin, something runs up the windshield, down my arm, and turns and hisses at me from the back of the boat. It was a racoon that had taken up residence under the bow cushions. There was an intense standoff between he and I, weapons of choice were his claws and my slalom ski. After two whacks to the head, he jumped on the gunnel, where I attempted to knock him off. Right before he hit the water, he managed to grab the rub rail with one finger. I beat the #$%# out of that finger until he fell in the water and began swimming to shore. Scared the crap out of me.

Raccoons are no joke, they are super aggressive esp in close quarters...You're lucky he didnt decide to take a chunk our or scratch you when he ran up your arm. A few years back a buddy of mine was fishing in a creek with a friend of his and they head a hiss behind them, they turned around to see a posse of 3 coons had snuck up behind them and they were now backed to the water with not much of an escape plan except bolting pass one and hopes it didnt grab ya. Well little did he know that scenario was playing in his friends head before he had a change to say anything. Well when his friend bolted, all three decided to give chase and my buddy was never so relieved in his life...

Lesson learned dont leave your buddies high and dry like that

;D

[riverfisher]

Whatever you do dont bait your traps with Nolan's Cheddar Cheese!! Check out the link it a good'en!! ;D

[harpoon]

Hey Al, I hear you on the poison but I WAS at my last resort and I was definately worried about the bird as well.

Now Gatorblazer..... that was a funny *** story and MUST have scared the crap out of you.. dude I can't stop laughing picturing the whole thing..