keeping rodents out of garage??

chaos254

Founding Member
Jul 27, 2002
467
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NJ
anybody know of humane ways to keep chipmunks/mice out of my garage? I never had a problem out in CA but its a different story here in PA. I just noticed yesterday that they have started eating the fabric off my sunvisors!! :bang:(convertible top is down since I've been working on the interior). I'm worried they are going to get into my wiring. I really don't want to use any rat poison, etc. Any suggestions?
 
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My parents had a rodent problem and they bought one of those little ultrasonic electronic box gizmos that they keep plugged in and it has worked for years.
 
Get a female cat...then get it fixed...then make sure it knows it can go in the garage, and let it go in there...

Downy dryer sheets work good for inside the car. I put a couple under the seats, in the trunk, in the glove box, in the engine bay...basically anywhere that looks like a spot a mouse would like to hang out and nibble on stuff...that seems to keep them out of the car while it is parked during the winter. Of course, the mice still ransack the rest of the garage...but the first solution will address that...

You will never eliminate mice...in my experience, the best bet is to pick a area that you want to be mouse free and work on just that area. If you are worried about the whole garage, then the electric thing or the cat. If you are just worried about the car, then just focus on keeping them out of the car. The smaller the area you are trying to keep them out of, the more effective your efforts will likely be.
 
Get a female cat...then get it fixed...then make sure it knows it can go in the garage, and let it go in there...

+1, nothing like nature's solution. I have a 20lb Mainecoone female that goes out at night. No one on my block has a rodent problem anymore. Back on the farm in Norway they had about 4 cats patrolling the 400 or so acres. My family never used anything else.

Kurt
 
I must have mutant mice. I lined my entire trunk and under seats with drier sheets, no go. I bought the electronic repleller thing and put it in the car with windows rolled up, no go. I still gets nests under the back seat and under the console. Car starting to smell like urine now! I'd like to know how they are getting into the car in the first place. I could put a black snake in the car, but I is scurd of snakes.
 
D-Con and traps are probably your best solution. All D-Con is, is flavored Warfarin (Coumadin), so they eat it and bleed out internally. Just make sure to thoroughly search for them afterward, because they'll start to stink and you don't want that in your car, obviously! The worst I got was mice nesting under my upper intake and chewing on my injector wiring. One start of the car took care of that. They took off and one was running down my brake caliper just as the spoke of the wheel came by and decapitated it. Little thing never knew what hit it, but it didn't chew on my wiring any more, so I didn't care. :)
 
To hell with humane! If we get too "humane" these things will be out of control! Just look back at the plagues in Europe in medieval times! Rats and mice are disgusting creatures that must be killed. I recently killed one that got into our house with a frying pan! I hate the little bustards!!
 
I killed an entire family of mice by accident when I mowed the lawn one day. I pushed the mower under one of our big hasta's and when I pulled it back there were like 10 mice w/ missing heads. Kinda impressed me how clean the cut was... almost looked like I used a meat cleaver :shrug:
 
I killed an entire family of mice by accident when I mowed the lawn one day. I pushed the mower under one of our big hasta's and when I pulled it back there were like 10 mice w/ missing heads. Kinda impressed me how clean the cut was... almost looked like I used a meat cleaver :shrug:

You just made my day! A whole family of those little ****ers taken out in one swipe! :nice:
 
I must have mutant mice. I lined my entire trunk and under seats with drier sheets, no go. I bought the electronic repleller thing and put it in the car with windows rolled up, no go. I still gets nests under the back seat and under the console. Car starting to smell like urine now! I'd like to know how they are getting into the car in the first place. I could put a black snake in the car, but I is scurd of snakes.

You have some other problem leading to this. Figure out where they are all coming from and focus on that first. Do you store animal feed of any sort outside? Any piles of corn laying about like for a corn-burning stove? Woodpiles?

I have no idea why they are so attracted to your car...do you notice them predominately in the car, or is this more of a whole garage infestation? How long is the car sitting before you "get nests under the back seat and console"?

As for them getting in, they can fit through a hole the size of a dime or smaller. They will find a way...

To me, this sounds like a situation where there is too much food readily available, which supports too large of a population, which leads to mice being everywhere. I would try to figure out what all these bastards are eating...

Don't discount the fact that you may have to get a female cat...
 
Others are correct, in that you need to find out how they're getting in, and resolve this issue first. Also mentioned, keep food sources/trash or anything they may like away from the garage. I had a very similar problem where mice housed themselves in my car, in the trunk, glove box, under the rear seat, and even crawled through the rear seat belt holes in the roof of the car, and got under the material. The car was a mess!
I simply set a few spring traps in the car, and then purchased some Irish Spring soap and fabric softener sheets. I spread them all through the car and placed chunks of the Irish Spring throughout the interior and exterior of the car. Caught a few mice in the traps, but never had mice inside the car again.
 
I do store dog food out in the garage but it is in a sealed heavy plastic container. The trash is stored out there too, but it is also sealed heavy plastic can. My new house is on old farm fields and the mouse problem was pretty bad when we first bought the house. I rarely catch one in the house after sealing every hole I could find with stealwool and RTV. I'm going to try the Irish Spring next. I guess I could bring the cats up from the basement appartment and let them loose in the garage for a few nights. Wife will love that idea...not.