Mouse repellant

[w.a.nelson]

Anyone have any comments about the effectiveness of electronic mouse repellants?

Any other thoughts on protection from pesky/costly rodents? ( no, cats need not apply )

As usual, Internet has a million comments/products of which you don't know which to believe.

Site is approx 1000 sq ft garage.

 

[extrap]

Hopefully there's something better than what's available in the deer repellent realm. Deer have decimated my landscaping, so I've done a lot of searching, but the conclusion is that the only thing that works reliably, long-term is a physical barrier. My university research neighbor who spent a few years at work testing deer repellents told me there's a reason the deer repellent products say "University Tested" rather than "University Approved" ... cuz none of them work

I wish you good luck ...

 

[twobjshelbys]

moth balls but then the garage smells like a closet.

 

[PeteK]

Traps and poison bait work. You have to keep resetting, rebaiting and replenishing, but I have suppressed the critters in my garage and shop. If they got inside the walls or other parts of the structure (and they usually do), you have to be aggressive over 6 months or so to get rid of them. Then seal all the openings and cracks you can find to keep them from getting back inside and nesting. Drive your cars regularly, as that deters them from setting up nests in your vehicles.

 

[JWZ]

Got a couple of these. Haven’t spotted any mice afterwards

 

[Tipo874]

Got a couple of these. Haven’t spotted any mice afterwards

I will have to try it. No electronic unit has worked for me. Me being in the garage constantly seems to work best!

 

[Stef]

I usually use the old fashioned traps baited with a little Peanut Butter.

However I am considering this system. Works on Mice and Rats.
And when you hear the vac kick on you know you got one of the little suckers!

 

[Tipo874]

One could smear peanut butter on metal balls and use a strong magnet. I remember it almost working in a roadrunner documentary.

 

[Nafod]

Living in northern NY, in very wooded areas, rodents are a part of life.

Things we found that "helped". Note: There is a never ending supply of rodents. We have try/used almost everything mentioned.

1. Cats work, but they don't work full time (we had 3). They are also part of the larger food chain where we lived.
2. Moth ball worked ( we would put them in used sliced meat tubs, with holes cut in the tops. (Placed them on our snowmobiles during summer) Just have to keep them full. if we didn't use them or kept them full, we would have wiring damage inside the sleds. It would take a lot of buckets to protect a garage. Smell is very localized.
3. Have a well sealed garage. Our new(8 years old)build garage hasn't seen any rodents that we can see.. Very well insulated/ tight seal garage doors, etc. Our garages are cedar sided. So almost every place on the building could allow access. They just climb up the walls to find holes in like the roof vents, etc.
Have been told that mice can enter through 1/4" opening.
4. Currently trying/using the ultra sonic- plug in the wall outlet units. Think my wife got them at Home Depot. Will find out when we go back next spring how they worked, but we also finish sealing up the back garage last summer. New windows/garage doors/ foam sealant.
It's a never ending battle.
5. The vacuum trap seems like a good setup. But it has to be maintained, needs a vacuum and a power supply. ( we lose power up here)
We used to great success a similar trap, that requires none of the above except maintaining (cleaning out and maybe new PB)

Start with a 5 gallon plastic "paint" bucket. (HD/Lowes/Ace) . 1 inch diameter wood rod(closet rod). (2) nails. about 1 1/2 long. (2) 1x3 or 4 wood boards long enough to allow a path from the ground to the rim of the bucket.( about 2 feet each).
Drill two holes opposite each other about 1/2 inch down from the rim(slightly larger than the nail diameter) for the nails to go through. Cut the wood rod to fit inside the bucket, and then secure the wood rod with the nails through the holes drilled. This makes a spinning rod that has its top level with the top of the bucket. Attach the two 1x3 boards to the sides of the bucket at the top next to the rod ends. We use duck tape(I think). don't interfere with the rod being able to spin. Next coat the middle of the rod with peanut butter.
Next , fill the bucket about half full with water, and if it gets cold(freezing) in your location, use RV anti freeze(which is not toxic) so it doesn't become an ice block. Mice can jump out of the empty bucket.

There are probably video's out there if you google/you tube Paint bucket mouse trap.

My .02. Sorry for the book.. good luck.

 

[fjpikul]

I actually have a carpet strip with a pile of dog poop on it. Since the GTs are at the far end of the garage, you don't get any whiffs of it. I put it closer to the garage door and has worked great for years. I don't have any dogs, but neighbors don't mind contributing. I do leave both front hoods up though which seems to keep them out of the car. StormCat has some trick laser killing beam with motion detectors (think Andromeda Strain movie). He just has to keep some of his girlfriends out of the Batcave cause some of them can be pretty mousey.

 

[roketman]

I use mothballs by the garage doors. Never had a problem.

 

[Specracer]

Hire a professional Independent pest company (indy as they tend to not have their hands as tied by "rules" that the national outlets adhere to), they have access to bait that you cant buy.