# Mice in the woodpile



## Wood Scrounge (Dec 12, 2007)

If I put 3 pieces of wood together near the ground it seems mice move in within just a few hours (slight exaggeration). I seem to always get mice any one have any tips or tricks to keep them out? Can’t stand having mouse poop all over my wood pile.


----------



## hammer0419 (Dec 12, 2007)

Brought in about 5 loads of wood tonight and I think I came across 3 mice nests! I just knock them to the side and keep hauling. Nothing I worry about as long as they stay outside!


----------



## Ole Farmerbuck (Dec 12, 2007)

Wood Scrounge said:


> If I put 3 pieces of wood together near the ground it seems mice move in within just a few hours (slight exaggeration). I seem to always get mice any one have any tips or tricks to keep them out? Can’t stand having mouse poop all over my wood pile.


I've heard fabric dryer sheets. Dont know for sure but we're gonna try them in our vehicles we keep shedded. Mice dont bother them outside but when they're inside....look out!!


----------



## Bowtie (Dec 12, 2007)

Ole Farmerbuck said:


> I've heard fabric dryer sheets. Dont know for sure but we're gonna try them in our vehicles we keep shedded. Mice dont bother them outside but when they're inside....look out!!



I have heard that works as well.


----------



## Mkarlson (Dec 13, 2007)

For years when we parked our application equipment, nurse, and tender trucks for the winter we threw half dozen moth balls on the floorboards to keep mice away. It seemed to work, but thats inside a closed up vehicle. Company wont let us do it now cause of the health risk of humans inhaling that stuff.

If you have no pets or desired animals to worry about antifreeze works wonders. Yes its a bit cruel but it works great on rats who dont put a second thought to how much it cost rewire a $200,000 spray rig.:monkey:


----------



## bassman (Dec 13, 2007)

I have used (in cars) irish spring soap, moth balls, dryer sheets, and poison.
they all let me down!!!!
I now use 5 traps in every car with peanut butter and a little cheese and I will trap 4 to 9 mice in the late fall then nothing and in spring my car has no nests and poop to deal with.
wood pile .... I say traps or poison but with poison you run the risk of killing other critters.
antifreez I have never tried .
way I see it is mice are always looking for a place outside so you are fighting a loosing battle .


----------



## Mkarlson (Dec 13, 2007)

If interested in the antifreeze placing a small amount in a large lid that allows easy access for mice and rats while not providing enough to do much harm to a dog or cat is best the bet. As most people know most all mammals crave salt and sweets and antifreeze provides both.


----------



## cunrya (Dec 13, 2007)

Coke and Blue streak Fly bait (cover the bottom of pan with bait, just enough coke to cover). Be carefull though this stuff will kill anything that drinks it. A coon generally dies in the pan but never makes it more than 5 ft from it. Most effective legal concoction I know of, But BE CAREFUL IT KILLS EVERYTHING!


----------



## frogman296 (Dec 13, 2007)

get a weasel..


----------



## mga (Dec 13, 2007)

TreeCo said:


> Not much of a mouse problem around here. LOL.



man...i had an all black cat just like those. what a holy terror he was! i could write 10 pages of quirks, trouble, mischief, broken items, late night attacks, prowling like a panther, attacking the dog, turing on lights....it was endless.

fortunately, for this household, when my son moved out, he took satan's son with him.


----------



## Al Smith (Dec 13, 2007)

frogman296 said:


> get a weasel..


 Ah yes,my daughter's feret "stinky" was the worlds best mouser.He was like a souped up weasel
on steroids. Had he have been as large as a cat I do believe he would have been a match for a grizzley bear.A little bad azz was he.

Moth balls work pretty well in case you don't have a feret or weasel handy.One smells about as bad as the other.You don't have to feed mothballs if they don't catch mice.On the other hand ferets don't do much for moths in your clothing.


----------



## FishZapper (Dec 13, 2007)

Pellet gun and a little patience.


----------



## JackD_ME (Dec 13, 2007)

Try some PURE (100%) peppermint oil dribbled around your wood pile. I don't care if they're in my wood, I just hate starting the wife's lawn tractor in the spring and smelling ground up & burning flesh & hair!
This won't bother rats at all though!


----------



## triptester (Dec 13, 2007)

cunrya said:


> Coke and Blue streak Fly bait (cover the bottom of pan with bait, just enough coke to cover). Be carefull though this stuff will kill anything that drinks it. A coon generally dies in the pan but never makes it more than 5 ft from it. Most effective legal concoction I know of, But BE CAREFUL IT KILLS EVERYTHING!





The fly bait works great. Around here it's called Golden Mulrin but it only works with classic Coke not diet or other colas. Beware this stuff could kill a horse.


----------



## cunrya (Dec 13, 2007)

Coke and Blue streak Fly bait (cover the bottom of pan with bait, just enough coke to cover). Be carefull though this stuff will kill anything that drinks it. A coon generally dies in the pan but never makes it more than 5 ft from it. Most effective legal concoction I know of, But BE CAREFUL IT KILLS EVERYTHING!


----------



## computeruser (Dec 13, 2007)

My solution: let the neighbor's cats do it for me! I occasionally hook them up with a bit of catfood, too, to keep them coming around. It seems to be working - I only found one mouse nest in the 2 face cords I've burned or moved so far this year. I also put the garage door up when I get home, and they come over and police the garage, too.


----------



## ericjeeper (Dec 13, 2007)

*Careful with auto antifreeze*

one teaspoon full of it will kill a small dog.. Most horrible way to ever watch your pet die too. Shuts down their kidneys...


----------



## Vibes (Dec 13, 2007)

*Fly bait and antifreeze*

Putting either one down for its nonintended purpose is totally illegal, and if you get caught can get you into alot of trouble if a neighbors pet were to come across it.


----------



## Cannery (Dec 13, 2007)

I have found that glue boards work best for me with a small piece of broccoli in the middle. Not to big of a piece. For the wood rats I shingle nail the board to a piece of 2x6 about 24 inchs long otherwise they roll around with it and it is a real mess.


----------



## beerman6 (Dec 13, 2007)

blow guns are cheap and lots of fun.


----------



## EastwoodGang4 (Dec 13, 2007)

*osage balls*

My grandfather used to use Osage Orange balls a.k.a. hedge apples, monkey balls (you've seen them Grapefruit size bright green balls from Osage trees) to keep mice out of his trucks and equipment. He'd cut one in half and stick it under the seat. seemed to work as far as i can recall. maybe try a few by the woodpile?? :monkey: did someone say monkey balls!


----------



## Al Smith (Dec 14, 2007)

Just a comment about the "Blue streak". It will kill anything,including humans so be darned carefull if you use the stuff.

I'm plagued with chipmonks myself,tried everything I could think of.Aha says I ,genius of the cornfield,a little Decon might work. I must have fed those little rascals a bushel of it. No dead chipmonks,seems they multiplied or something.

Well,chipmonks being chipmonks kind of hid their goodies in various places.One of them was the breather of my wifes Cadillac.Luckily Decon won't kill an automobile.

I'm kind of thinking I wish old Stinky the feret was still among us because I have a little task he would have been more than happy to do.


----------



## goof008 (Dec 14, 2007)

I've heard that spreading your ashes can keep critters out, could try that.


----------



## cunrya (Dec 14, 2007)

Al Smith said:


> Just a comment about the "Blue streak". It will kill anything,including humans so be darned carefull if you use the stuff.
> 
> Your right Al, probably shouldn't have mentioned it, Like my original warning said it will kill anything (including humans).
> 
> Actually that is an old poultry farm trick we use for rodents in the barn and around the bird pens. Always extremely cautious where its put, and never left out during the day. Neighbors and Neighbors pets are not a concern here as closest neighbor is a half mile away. They'd be shot if they were in the area where poison is out anyway so.....


----------



## Cannery (Dec 14, 2007)

Al Smith said:


> Just a comment about the "Blue streak". It will kill anything,including humans so be darned carefull if you use the stuff.
> 
> I'm plagued with chipmonks myself,tried everything I could think of.Aha says I ,genius of the cornfield,a little Decon might work. I must have fed those little rascals a bushel of it. No dead chipmonks,seems they multiplied or something.
> 
> ...



I cover the air intake on all our vehicles with a small piece of screen door material and secure with duct tape or rubber bands. I had a mouse chew through the air filter in my truck and build a nest with the fuzz.


----------



## rb_in_va (Dec 14, 2007)

Glue traps. Good for more than one mouse too! I once caught 4 in 1 glue trap.


----------



## Al Smith (Dec 14, 2007)

Cannery said:


> I cover the air intake on all our vehicles with a small piece of screen door material and secure with duct tape or rubber bands. I had a mouse chew through the air filter in my truck and build a nest with the fuzz.


 Oh I could tell rodent stories 'till the cows come home.Here's another.

In a former life with a former wife I used to park my dozers under an open metal roof shed.In the spring when I fired up that old D4 Cat it would blow out walnuts like machine gun rounds and ricocet them off the roof.I ran for my life.It seems the squirrels thought the exhaust stack was a dandy place to store nuts for some reason or another.


----------



## hammer0419 (Dec 14, 2007)

Grow some mint plants and then put some in your wood pile. Mint/peppermint they seem to hate.


----------



## blackdoggy (Dec 14, 2007)

When you go to move your wood pile just have my dogs around they will cleanly and swiftly dispatch any mice or rats that happen to pop out :hmm3grin2orange:


----------



## TonyG (Dec 15, 2007)

*Mice,*

mice = BTU's...what's the problem?


----------



## Al Smith (Dec 15, 2007)

TonyG said:


> mice = BTU's...what's the problem?


Mice equals protien,ask your favorite cat.So,what the diff between a mouse and a rabbit,other that the size.Ponder that mind bender for a short time.Ah,mouse ala king,what a treat,not to be confused with rat atta toui,on toast.Yum.


----------



## kevinj (Dec 15, 2007)

Usually, you can free cats from your local paper.
Just get 1 or 2 cats for a week or so to rid the mice,
when the mice are gone,
sell the cats to a local Chinese restaraunt.

You win both ways !!!


----------



## Uncle Stashu (Dec 16, 2007)

Al Smith said:


> Oh I could tell rodent stories 'till the cows come home.Here's another.
> 
> In a former life with a former wife I used to park my dozers under an open metal roof shed.In the spring when I fired up that old D4 Cat it would blow out walnuts like machine gun rounds and ricocet them off the roof.I ran for my life.It seems the squirrels thought the exhaust stack was a dandy place to store nuts for some reason or another.



I had the same thing happen once but it was with my street bike.....was shooting kibble a good 15 ft behind the bike when I'd gas it.....


----------



## drmiller100 (Dec 17, 2007)

Al Smith said:


> Mice equals protien,ask your favorite cat.So,what the diff between a mouse and a rabbit,other that the size.Ponder that mind bender for a short time.Ah,mouse ala king,what a treat,not to be confused with rat atta toui,on toast.Yum.



i don't care who you are, that is some funny stuff!!!!


----------



## Mad Professor (Dec 17, 2007)

One of these traps will take care of many mice. Bait with peanut butter. Have the dowel/stick next to something the mice can climb up on, center the bottle over the bucket Dump out the water and refill before the drowned mice start to stink. 

I've taken 15 mice out in one night in a barn using one of these. None of them got to the peanut butter before the bottle spun and they got dumped into the water. I keep two in my basement. 

 :hmm3grin2orange:


----------



## Mkarlson (Dec 17, 2007)

I had a guy who was a pipefitter up around Gary Indiana tell me that they would use the set-up below to kill dozens of rats every night. I think he said they would wet everything down good and leave some lunch left overs on top of metal plate. Anyway might give you welders a idea. But I guess all animals would be at risk here too.


----------



## michael j (Dec 17, 2007)

Mad Professor said:


> One of these traps will take care of many mice. Bait with peanut butter. Have the dowel/stick next to something the mice can climb up on, center the bottle over the bucket Dump out the water and refill before the drowned mice start to stink.
> :hmm3grin2orange:



That's pretty good. I'm gonna build one tomorrow. Where are ya puttin' the bait?

Mike


----------



## Mad Professor (Dec 17, 2007)

michael j said:


> That's pretty good. I'm gonna build one tomorrow. Where are ya puttin' the bait?
> 
> Mike



Hi Mike, 

Use a 1-L plastic gatoraid or juice bottle. Drill holes (3/8-7/16 works well) dead center in the cap and the bottom. Get a dowel or straight stick just undersize of the holes, it needs to spin freely. Put about a gallon and a half of water in the 5-gal bucket. Smear a couple of dabs of peanut butter on the middle of the bottle 180 degrees apart, about the same amount so you can have the bait "balance the bottle". Center the bottle over the bucket. To let the mice get to the stick/dowel I put a 2 X 4 from the ground/floor to the edge of the bucket. Alternatively, you can put the bucket next to a pile of wood and rest one end of the dowel/stick on the woodpile (I do this on a pile of stacked stickered lumber I have in my barn).

I just checked the one I have in my barn, 4 mice , but the water is frozen as we've had cold weather.

Happy trapping!!!!


----------



## kevinj (Dec 17, 2007)

Mad Professor said:


> Hi Mike,
> 
> Use a 1-L plastic gatoraid or juice bottle. Drill holes (3/8-7/16 works well) dead center in the cap and the bottom. Get a dowel or straight stick just undersize of the holes, it needs to spin freely. Put about a gallon and a half of water in the 5-gal bucket. Smear a couple of dabs of peanut butter on the middle of the bottle 180 degrees apart, about the same amount so you can have the bait "balance the bottle". Center the bottle over the bucket. To let the mice get to the stick/dowel I put a 2 X 4 from the ground/floor to the edge of the bucket. Alternatively, you can put the bucket next to a pile of wood and rest one end of the dowel/stick on the woodpile (I do this on a pile of stacked stickered lumber I have in my barn).
> 
> ...



To solve this problem,
all you have to do is add antifreeze to the water !!!

Works great !!!


----------



## Mad Professor (Dec 17, 2007)

kevinj said:


> To solve this problem,
> all you have to do is add antifreeze to the water !!!
> 
> Works great !!!



I know but a dog has access to the barn too,and I don't have any of the newer non-toxic antifreeze.

A friend uses drain motor oil and just dumps the mice into a big recycle barrel with the rest of the oil. In this case the mice don't decompose (stink) either as they sink and the oil preserves them. He's had dozens caught in his barn before he does an "oil change". 

Wonder what the recycler thinks when he empties those barrels.......


----------



## Ken05 (Dec 20, 2007)

Ditto on the dog - my guy here will swallow the whole nest- mom,dad,babies and anything nearby in one gulp.


----------



## charlesfarm (Dec 23, 2007)

You can take a 5-gallon bucket and fill it with about 4 1/2 gallons of water. Put a layer of oats floating on top of the water (not rolled oats, but the whole grains) Leave a board walkway from the woodpile to the bucket. The mice will jump right into the bucket after the oats, not realizing that there's water underneath. I have killed dozens of mice this way.

If you do put out poison, you'd be best to put it into a bait station so that only really small critters can get to the poison. Make sure that you secure the station to a wall, heavy board, etc so that a cat or dog can't tip it over and spill the poison out. Something like this would work great for mice:
http://hogslat.stores.yahoo.net/lt83810.html
Be sure to check the station(s) every morning and add more pellets if they're all gone. It can take more than one feeding to kill rodents.

I bought a larger bait station for rats that were eating more feed than my chickens in the coop. I put the paraffinized pellets and once they got over their fear of something new in their surroundings, they ate nothing but the poison. It took over a week of putting out two packages of pellets every day, but it finally got rid of all of them.

Hope this helps!

God bless,
Chris


----------



## Blazin (Dec 23, 2007)

TonyG said:


> mice = BTU's...what's the problem?



My theory also....Just gotta figure out the BTU rating on a rodent


----------

