Mice infestation

[stevasaurus 22,736]

I have had mice in my garage and in my Dad's pole barn, but I have never had to pull off engine shields to get at cleaning out a nest.  I am wondering, is there, or not certain Koehler's, Clintons, Tecumseh's, Oman's, Brigg's that are more susceptible to the infestation??  

   Tecumseh's I have had...5.5hp HT55C, Tecumseh 6 hp.  Tecumseh 10 hp.  No Clinton's, No Onan's. Briggs would be on lawn mowers...not garden tractors....never a mouse nest.  None of my Kohlers also...no mouse nests...K161, 2 X K181, 2 X K241, and a K301.  Just curious...what engines have you had mouse nests in??  

   Is it possible that I might have other places for them to roost, so much that they leave my horses alone??  They do seem to find the grass seed in the plastic bag. 

[ebinmaine 67,474]

Cinnamon Horse 1974 C160-8 with a Kohler engine. 

That's the only TRACTOR that we've ever had a new nest built in. 

 

Other than that we've had nests in 2 different walk behind snowblowers and our Monster Splitter. 

 

We in a constant state of war with several types of rodents. All year. All buildings except the house.  

It gets better for a bit then WHAMMO we're over run again.  

 

[JoeM 7,874]

wonder if these things work? 6 for 20$

[Pullstart 62,851]

2 minutes ago, JoeM said:

wonder if these things work? 6 for 20$

Well worth the $20 to try it out!

[ebinmaine 67,474]

1 minute ago, JoeM said:

wonder if these things work? 6 for 20$

 

 

They're just like any other mouse control. 

Works some place. Not in others.  

My parents had those right on the kitchen counter electric plugs and mice in the drawers just below them. 

They can use dryer sheets for mouse prevention. Here the damn mice use the dryer sheets as bedding.  

 

Fickle creatures, they are.  

 

 

[Rob J. 1,941]

5-gallon bucket works the best for mice that I’ve found. 

[ebinmaine 67,474]

Just now, Rob J. said:

5-gallon bucket works the best for mice that I’ve found. 

Absolutely agreed.  

 

Super effective for us here.  

[rjg854 11,361]

My mouse control consists of snap traps and raisins for bait.

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

The mice seem to like the area right behind the throttle and choke levers.

Got one of the buckets with the swinging top.

Got six right after it put it together and smeared it with peanut butter.

Never had any more after that.  Either I got the whole herd, or they got wise

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, Rob J. said:

5-gallon bucket works the best for mice that I’ve found. 

 

And anti-freeze in the bottom.  Won't freeze and keeps the stink down if you forget or neglect to get the dead ones out!

[Achto 27,570]

7 hours ago, stevasaurus said:

I am wondering, is there, or not certain Koehler's, Clintons, Tecumseh's, Oman's, Brigg's that are more susceptible to the infestation??  

 

Early cast iron Briggs seem to be a popular engine for mice. There is a nice opening for them to build a nest inside the fan shroud and lock the fly wheel up tight.

[kpinnc 12,017]

The wife got a couple rescue "barn cats" a couple years ago. There is a program here where feral cats are trapped, immunized, and fixed. Then they are free to farms and such for rodent control. You can easily identify these cats because they also put a notch on one ear.

 

Worked great for about two weeks. Then my wife started feeding them by the front porch. Now they sit on the porch staring at the door all day, waiting on dinner. 

 

Prior to that, they were mousing machines. It was great while it lasted. If anyone sees a mouse now, it's MY problem.

 

I'm thinking of building an electric mouse trap like an old buddy had. He used a 600 volt transformer and a copper plate. A dab of peanut butter on one lead, plate wired to the other. No mess, no fuss. Just an occasional sound like bubble wrap. 

 

I hate mice. Almost wish we had more snakes...

[ebinmaine 67,474]

5 hours ago, kpinnc said:

Almost wish we had more snakes

Absolutely agreed. 

It's too bad the media feeds us a pile of misinformation and creates a phobia of the wrong thing..... 

[Blasterdad 2,692]

Brought home a couple good ones this summer, always the first thing I check...

K 341 & a Briggs

 

 

 

[TonyToro Jr. 1,415]

I always put dryer sheets in all my pulling tractors over the winter and sometimes like my lawn mower and the C-145 and my 310-8 but usually just the pulling tractors. And never had problems. Also I just put some mouse traps around the tractors too.

 

Just remember to take them out when you go to start it!

[953 nut 55,218]

I always tent my trailer and set off a critter bomb before unloading any parts tractor or engine I've purchased into the shop. If I see signs of mice in the shop the whole shop gets smoked. The Tractor Supply bombs don't cost much and are effective, a couple of them will take care of my shop.

[stevasaurus 22,736]

Last fall I set a couple of your regular mouse traps in my garage, smeared with a little peanut butter.  One trap worked great, but I could not find it...the poor mouse dragged in somewhere under something and is was spring when I actually found it.  The other trap was not as sensitive and they just kept licking off the peanut butter without triggering the trap.  

   I have not seen any yet this year, but I just finished replacing bad wood and weather stripping and staining my garage.  Maybe I closed up all of their entrances??   

[pfrederi 17,739]

KT-17 twice had a nest one time they used the dryer sheets for nesting material .  Got wrapped around the bendix and jammed int the ring gear .  That stuff is tough in one direction...  My mice are equal opportunity nesters had one chew through the cabin air filter and build a nest in the heater blower housing of my Toyotoa Tacoma...

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:51 PM, Pullstart said:

Well worth the $20 to try it out!

@JoeM I did that test.  I have some used ones for sale cheap!

[Southern_Secret 463]

This has been the worst year for mice that I can remember for us. The begging of last winter I brought a round bale of hay home to the horse & when I cut the netting on it the mice scattered like....well....mice. It has been a non-stop battle from that moment, they got in my wifes jeep and eat the main wiring harnesses & it took me a week to get put back together!! 

Luckily they havent destroyed my tractor but I do see little foot prints on it sometimes. I cant seem to make the bucket trick work, as of now the only luck iv had is with snap traps.

[dmoore 785]

 

 

The best mouse control by far.....

 

 

[kpinnc 12,017]

On 11/14/2022 at 4:39 AM, ebinmaine said:

Absolutely agreed. 

 

I should probably elaborate.

 

The pic below is my driveway, and it's about 12 feet wide. The black snake on it is approaching 7 feet, and he thinks he owns the place. When we found a snake skin under the tub in the master bathroom, my wife almost gave him the house...  Then about two years ago, I was bitten by a Copperhead in the back yard. It's like bleeping Australian Outback here during the summer!

 

[ebinmaine 67,474]

2 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

 

I should probably elaborate.

 

The pic below is my driveway, and it's about 12 feet wide. The black snake on it is approaching 7 feet, and he thinks he owns the place. When we found a snake skin under the tub in the master bathroom, my wife almost gave him the house...  Then about two years ago, I was bitten by a Copperhead in the back yard. It's like bleeping Australian Outback here during the summer!

 

 

 

I'll take all the big buggers you want to send North but you can keep the poisonous ones... We don't have any according to State officials and I'm okay with that.  

[ebinmaine 67,474]

29 minutes ago, Southern_Secret said:

I cant seem to make the bucket trick work

What were you using as a setup? Bait? Depth of water?

[ebinmaine 67,474]

14 minutes ago, dmoore said:

 

 

The best mouse control by far.....

 

 

 

 

Absolutely agree with that as long as they are not filled up with other types of food and have a desire to actually go catch something...

 

We've thought quite a few times about getting cats in our yard but we can't because of our deranged canine.