I need to build a better mouse trap

[Peaches]

I'm having a heck of a problem with field mice getting into my car. I've already spent several hundred dollars replacing the AC filter that they like living in, they've somehow gotten bird food stored into my overhead inside light plate, they've taken Kleenex and shredded it for their nest, and I actually watched one run across the passenger side floorboard the other day.

This means WAR!

So far I've:

Put out pellets. I had to duct tape the tray to the driveway under the car because I was worried another critter would get hold of it. They eat tray after tray after tray - nothing.

Put the "human" traps out. They figured out if you turn it upside down, the flap opens and they got some peanut butter and crackers that night for dinner.

Put out the snapping kill traps (I'm getting desperate....). The peanut butter was gone, the trap was snapped - no mouse. :unsure:

My cat would die w/in minutes if I put her outside. She's old and has never been outdoors. And my dogs of course, are the same so I can't put any of them on sentry duty.

Any brilliant ideas? :(

[Gunni]

Hook up a battery to your car that will send 20.000 volts through the little fuckers, that will solve your problem...... or buy a new car

[sarettah]

Flat board about 3 inches wide by about 12 inches long....

Run two wires parallel to each other down the length of the board centered about 2 inches apart....

Hook a small capacitor to one end of the wires...

Charge the capacitor with a d cell battery (if you want smoke and flames, hook the car battery to the capacitor)

put peanut butter in the center of the board between the 2 wires.....

Mouse comes for snack... Shorts out the 2 wires, capacitor discharges, mouse fries........

Check often, because once the mouse is across the wires, the capacitor will keep on recharging and discharging until the battery is drained or the mouse is removed.....

Works like a charm........... :yowsa:

(capacitors are fun !!!!! For human pests, try the above except hook capacitor to your front screen door instead of the wires and board :okthumb: )

[VooMan]

Peaches,

The snap traps are junk unless you tweak them. You need to bend the end of the tab (where you put the peanut butter) up just a little bit so that the trap has a hair trigger. Once you do that the trap works like a charm.

That's the most humane way to do it. Death is instant... Pellets cause them horrible internal bleeding and a slow death. Go with the snap traps, just make sure they have a metal tab and bend it up with a pair of pliers.

Poor little mice just want a warm place to stay. :cryin:

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by Peaches@Feb 10 2004, 09:30 AM
I'm having a heck of a problem with field mice getting into my car. Any brilliant ideas?
Close the door.

[Peaches]

Originally posted by Colin+Feb 10 2004, 12:02 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Colin @ Feb 10 2004, 12:02 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--Peaches@Feb 10 2004, 09:30 AM
I'm having a heck of a problem with field mice getting into my car. Any brilliant ideas?
Close the door.[/b][/quote]
AND the sunroof too? :zoinks:

Good ideas here. I'll start with Voo's - well, I'll have the kid start with Voo's.

And let me say that I'm pretty lenient as far as mice, spiders, deer, squirrels, bears, crows, etc. But when it start costing me $$$$ to get the car repaired, the mice have to die. :(

[SykkBoy]

Put Alka Seltzer tablets in the traps....so if they do get them, their little bodies will go POOF when the foam builds up

[Peaches]

Originally posted by SykkBoy@Feb 10 2004, 02:45 PM
Put Alka Seltzer tablets in the traps....so if they do get them, their little bodies will go POOF when the foam builds up
That's what I need - exploded mouse in my car. :unsure:

[Bishop]

Get glue traps. Traditional mouse traps don't always work. Poison might have them killing over in your car. Glue traps work very well.. you can get them at Walmart or just about any feed store.. if you have a Southern States store near by I know they have them.

I left one of my cars in the garage under a cover for about 6-8 months .. I would go out and start it from time to time but I was't driving it at all. When I did bring it back out to drive I found that mice had made their way into the trunk and made a bed out of a box of tissue paper. I was not a happy camper.. The car was all clean and detailed and here I have mice living in the trunk. I got rid of their tissue box and started driving the car every day.. I never did see them but I know they must have been there. I guess they moved out once the car started being driven regularly.

You know Peaches that people who don't live in the country are thinking your nuts right now. haha.. Mice love homes sitting in the middle of fields and woods.. haha

[Peaches]

Originally posted by Bishop@Feb 10 2004, 03:29 PM
You know Peaches that people who don't live in the country are thinking your nuts right now. haha.. Mice love homes sitting in the middle of fields and woods.. haha
Amazingly, this is not my first experience with the critters.

We had at least one rat (or a VERY big mouse) in our garage when we lived in East Cobb. It got into both car engines and ate all the water hoses and windshield fluid reservoir to get water. $600+ damage to mine and a few hundred to the kid's. Now, our house backed into the woods and we had rabbits and raccoons, but I have to admit it was my first time dealing with a rodent in the car.

So when it started happening AGAIN 100 miles away.... :angry:

This is bizarre because like I said, it's storing food in the car. I found birdseed in the glove compartment and in my light. I can't figure out how to get the light plate off so every time I get in the car, I get a reminder of my little friend. :ph34r:

There are some of the glue traps at the Walmart - I'll grab some tomorrow (kid has the car).

Thanks!

[Ryan]

I could never get the glue traps to work until I started putting a little dab of peanut butter in the middle of one of the glue panels.

Once I did that they worked great.

Good luck!

:hic:

[Mike AI]

The sticky glue traps work very well!!

[VooMan]

Oh man, glue traps are torture... snap it's neck and be done with it. :cryin:

[Peaches]

Originally posted by VooMan@Feb 10 2004, 11:33 PM
Oh man, glue traps are torture... snap it's neck and be done with it. :cryin:
Look, I feel as guilty as the next person about this, but I can't keep handing out Benjamins to the car dealership. :( If the glue traps will work, then they're going to have to suffer a bit. :(

[VooMan]

:heil:












:barfon:

[Peaches]

Tell ya what - we'll trade cars for a few weeks, OK? :awinky:

[VooMan]

I think Sweet T might not like it... :ph34r:

[alyssa]

Get a new OUTDOOR cat ! Or a couple of them : )

Our older cat brought a mouse up from the basement last week - brought it up to teach the kitten a very important skill - didn't take long ! Kittens are fast learners : )

Now the kitten won't leave the basement - hehehehehe - she keeps waiting and hoping and waiting and hoping for another mouse. So far I have not seen any more. Either we are very lucky and just one got in, or our older fatty catty is putting on weight for a very good reason ; )

[Torone]

May I suggest a .22 pistol and ratshot? :D

[Peaches]

Originally posted by Torone@Feb 11 2004, 11:19 AM
May I suggest a .22 pistol and ratshot? :D
Yeah, that's what I want to do - start shooting underneath and inside my car. :P

Aly - HOA rules keep pets from being outside all the time. Though I remember a friend who lived on Jane St. in NY and had 2 cats he had NEVER fed....and they were the fattest cats I'd ever seen. :barfon:

Voo - when you're willing to sacrifice a car to the mouse, THEN you can criticize the methods of killing the mouse. :awinky:

[Torone]

Originally posted by Peaches+Feb 11 2004, 09:26 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Peaches @ Feb 11 2004, 09:26 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--Torone@Feb 11 2004, 11:19 AM
May I suggest a .22 pistol and ratshot? :D
Yeah, that's what I want to do - start shooting underneath and inside my car. :P
[/b][/quote]
:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh:

You call yourself a redneck?

[Peaches]

Originally posted by Torone+Feb 11 2004, 11:39 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Torone @ Feb 11 2004, 11:39 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Originally posted by -Peaches@Feb 11 2004, 09:26 AM
<!--QuoteBegin--Torone@Feb 11 2004, 11:19 AM
May I suggest a .22 pistol and ratshot? :D
Yeah, that's what I want to do - start shooting underneath and inside my car. :P

:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh:

You call yourself a redneck?[/b][/quote]
I call myself a POOR redneck with one working vehicle and a towing company that charges me double to come to my house. :okthumb:

[Torone]

Originally posted by Peaches+Feb 11 2004, 09:49 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Peaches @ Feb 11 2004, 09:49 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Originally posted by -Torone@Feb 11 2004, 11:39 AM
Originally posted by -Peaches@Feb 11 2004, 09:26 AM
<!--QuoteBegin--Torone@Feb 11 2004, 11:19 AM
May I suggest a .22 pistol and ratshot? :D
Yeah, that's what I want to do - start shooting underneath and inside my car. :P

:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh:

You call yourself a redneck?
I call myself a POOR redneck with one working vehicle and a towing company that charges me double to come to my house. :okthumb:[/b][/quote]
I didn't know there was any other kind of rednecks. :D

Last time I called a towing company, they was diggin' through the tall grass and found 5 cars. I don't know where the other 4 came from... :biglaugh:

[Peaches]

Son of a freaking gun....

Put the glue traps down with some seed on them - I know it's the mouse's favorite food since it's "hiding" it in my overhead car light. Damn if it didn't get the seeds AND leave little mouse footprints all in the sticky stuff. :angry: And of course, it "hid" the seeds again, in my overhead car light. :headwall:

I'm at the point where I should just name it. :(