how do the mice get in?

[BobCat]

Ok, this is embarrassing but maybe y'all will have an answer.I've caught, in regular wood/spring mouse traps, a few mice in the cab over the years. Never understood how they got in.When I replaced the A/C evaporator and heater core, they were full of shredded paper napkins and signs of mice. I cleaned it all up and glued (5-minute epoxy) aluminum screen over the air inlet to the box, where it meets the cab sheetmetal under the windshield. And everywhere else that anything could get into the box. I guess they could chew through the screen but there is nothing in the cab so attractive to prompt that, except it is warm and out of the weather.I caught another mouse in a trap the other day, so they are still getting in. I dread taking the dashboard out again.Any ideas how / where they are getting in? This morning the trap was sprung, bait gone, no dead mouse - so they are getting too smart for me. I feel like Elmer Fudd.Any and all ideas are welcome. Thanks.Regards,Andrew

[flagmanruss]

Hi,I live in the woods and we have mice problems in all our vehicles, equipment & stuff stored outside.I use hardware cloth or expanded metal gutter guard to screen air filter entrances on several vehicles... but could not find a place for the cabin air in the Dodge. I had mice in my cab. The mice come in through the outside air inlet which is through the cowel vent. The cowel area has drains... you can't see them but they are behind the hood hinges. I used a chunk of SS pot scrubber (SS Steel Wool) to pack behind the hinges. Water still drains adequately but mice can not get in.

[BobCat]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!I'll stuff stainless steel wool behind the hinges, and into any other possible spots I can find.Your tip about "where" is exactly what I was looking for.Thanks again and I'll post a report on new mice or not, after this has had a week or so to work. Need to go buy the stainless wool, don't have any right now.Regards,Andrew

[dobienut]

How ironic I see this post literally 10 minutes after I came in from setting two mouse traps in my Subaru. I noticed some kleenex shredded about a month ago, thought it was gone but i found another bag today with the side chewed out of it. Hopefully they like the taste of peanut butter or pineapple! I also had i'm guessing a mouse in my truck, had the glove box filled with a nest of kleenex. When I stored it a few weeks ago I put a bar of Irish Spring soap in it, I was told that would keep kritters out

[Mopar1973Man]

For long term stoarge for like RV's I'm hearing that mothballs will keep them out too... Just make sure you put the mothballs in a dish or poreous container. The odor is suppose to be enough to keep mice out... Matter of fact I need to pick up box of them for the other rigs sitting around the yard...

[BobCat]

Yes, they like peanut butter. Nailed another one this morning. Three traps, only caught one mouse.Got the stainless steel wool, but the configuration of my '95 is different from flagmanruss's later model. I'm still looking to see where to put the steel wool.Mothballs are a good tip! I considered a cloth bag of used cat litter (cloth so the smell would get loose, unlike plastic), but I don't need to be smelling it on the way to and from work.I'm not against killing mice, but it would be cleaner to keep them out in the first place. I thought of a tank of nitrogen... but bleeding it through the cab overnight to make it un-livable would run me broke. I also thought of locking one of my cats in the cab overnight, but she'd shred the seats sharpening her claws. Maybe mice don't like rap music? An MP3 would draw just enough current to keep the battery warm... mothballs are a better idea...

[Mopar1973Man]

I've got a set of ultrasonic boxes with 3 levels or audio... Total Ultrasonic you can't here, Low which includes lower freq humans can hear, and LOUD which amps up the low and ultrasonic for long distance coverage. So far there has been nothing in the 2 vehicles. mice can't stand the loud random noises and can't get any sleep so they move on... Don't get me wrong I'll find a turd now and then on the floor or somewhere but they are NOT building nest or living in the vehicles. Before I used to find big piles of shred seat foam, etc. Then big piles of seed, etc... Don't happen now... As for the box I'm using it no longer produced...

[flagmanruss]

Before I started screening... I got my old tow vehicle (C30, built 454, camper special) fired up for our Spring Rendezvous Camp. I drove it around, gassed it up, checked fluids.Departure day, I was all hooked up, loaded the cooler & horses. Our road is a steep downhill, across a brook & up the other side (about a 45 degree angle). Half way up, it was blowing black smoke but no power. It had a manual choke but it was just like it wasn't getting air. I checked the choke, cable was fine, put the air cleaner back on. Tried again. Third try (third time checking) I found a few bits of paper town in the filter. I pulled the corrigated hose & there was a whole roll in there... mouse nest. I was pretty disgusted & throw the junk on the ground, just as the neighbor whose house I was in front of, came out. He was understanding, I picked up the paper off the ground. I have used moth balls in a camper... place in dixie cups so when they shrink, they can be collected. I've heard dryer sheets work well. But smell does not keep them out, just gets them to leave. No help for open air like under the hood. On a couple of vehicles I've done... the intake was under a plastic shield in the cowel area & I was able to screen. On your earlier Dodge... try pouring some water in the cowel & see where it drains out... screen or steel wool the opening.

[dracozny]

not to be insulting to anyone but another good tip is keep your truck free of food, clean it regularly and especially if your kids eat in your truck. even a ketchup packet is an enticement for mice.if its free of food its less likely to be a nesting ground.

[Mopar1973Man]

not to be insulting to anyone but another good tip is keep your truck free of food, clean it regularly and especially if your kids eat in your truck. even a ketchup packet is an enticement for mice. if its free of food its less likely to be a nesting ground.

Very valid point... I'll admit that I eat my my truck seen every where I go is long distance. But Normally I do vacuum and wash the truck once a week if the weather allows for it. In the time I've been working on vehicle in Idaho (21 years) I've seen a few rigs (no names) that are rather gross on the interior and the parents allow the kids to eat and make a huge mess. Strangely enough that vehicle last I knew was starting to have mice problems...

[BobCat]

Not insulting at all. It is true that food crumbs draw vermin.I eat breakfast in the truck (let me know if you want my no-salt fire-hot burrito recipe) but do try to keep it clean, and vacuum it periodically.I had three regular traps and one sticky-patch in it last night, baited with peanut butter. Didn't catch any mice but found droppings, so they are in there but ignoring the bait.

[flagmanruss]

Not to discourage keeping your truck clean but in my experience it is rarely about a food source in vehicles... My neighbor's car, we were screening the cabin air (New car, dealer refused to warentee rodent damage when the heater motor burned up on his New Saturn. Motor jammed, then fried.) I suggested we check the air cleaner box while we were there... which was 3/4 full of acorns. I used some maleable gutter guard to form a intake screen & a couple of self tapping screws to secure it.I'm finding acorns under my hood, in fact. I wish I could keep them out from my vehicles entirely but I live in the woods. In my experience, mice are looking for a warm protected nesting spot. I have found that blocking entrance is the only way. Mice can chew things you don't want chewed. I had a friend started up his motorhome one spring & it caught fire. Mice had chewed the wires behind the dash.My Cirus... the hood insulation (now removed in the Cirus & CTD) was splendid mouse habitat)... the mice chewed through the windshield washer hose.

[BobCat]

Well, I think you're right, they want to nest more than they want food. They left the peanut butter alone but I know they're in there.You know the plastic organizer tray behind the seats? I'm thinking they might be living in underneath it. Found shredded paper in the cab corner, and when I had the dash out I purged all paper from the cab after vacuuming, in response to paper shreds in the A/C evaporator core. So the paper I just found came from somewhere - probably where they're nesting.Am I right that there are not openings in the cab in the back, near the bed? Other than the rear window, it is steel, right?

[Mopar1973Man]

Unless your missing body plug in the floor or walls...

[flagmanruss]

Is there a rear air vent (exit) on the trucks? I know my Cirus has one in the trunk (driver's side behind the side carpet). There's a flapper valve on it. If you bring in outside air, it has to go somewhere or the cab would be pressurized. The flapper could be damaged. http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diyma-member-build-logs/13527-dodge-ram-install-thread.html They are mentioned in this electronics install thread. To exclude the critters, EVERY entrance must be screened.

[dracozny]

might also depend on your area, over here the mice get into the pathfinder which my ex let the kids eat and make a mess of things for years, they also love my house 2 times a year... my truck which I never let them eat in is still untouched by rodents.air box full of acorns, uhm i suspect squirrels more likely in that case.

[Bugman123]

Peanut butter is licked off by the rodent, I like to use pecans halves held on to the trap with a little rubber band. When the tug on the nut it will be set off. Keep trap clean and replace them when they get messy. if they get wise, leave trap unset for a day or two and they will get use to the trap again as food. Don't use bait in your case because they might die in the cab somewhere.

[Mopar1973Man]

Don't use bait in your case because they might die in the cab somewhere.

I learned that fact quickly... I had a pack rat living on the engine for a short while so I got a box of DeCon and left it on the PDC fuse box. Well he was eating the bait and took 4 days for him to die. Yes 4 days! But you don't want to know where I found him... You know the large hole in the bottom of the tailgate.... He got his head into there and died... Then proceeded to swell up in the hole... I got my buddy Taz to grab ahold and pull him out... Trust me he just about tore in half... Ewwww... (Yuck!)

[flagmanruss]

A friend had a business... I helped him run it from several outbuildings... Place was over run with mice. He added new Decon as it disappeared about daily. Mice sign still all over. Eventually, we moved a big machine... discovered the base was packed with Decon. The problem was the mice could get in & out... had a food supply so they never ATE the Decon. But thought it was food & stored it in case of need.The house is a historic colonial... mice can occasionally get into the walls. If they die there, they stink for quite some time. Either they can not have another food source, or prevented from getting in & out. I had a red squirrel in the attic... He avoided the traps until I closed the hole in the louver screen. Then I got him in a big rat trap. (I wired a peanut to the trip.) I also have had rat traps disappear & after that use a length of wire or small chain to secure them to something.

[little white yj 622]

If I see mice around my house I stop feeding my cats. When I moved in my house a long time ago some one left a contaner 1/2 full of antifreeze open it was full of mice, We have kids and cats so i dont want to try this again.