Winter storage ,keep the critters out of the cab.

[phantomjeep]

Keep the critters out of the cab and boxes with peppermint oil from the drug store( not a Walgreens type store,but the older downtown style stores) about a buck a bottle (its a little bottle ,1 dram) it lasts all winter. My father-in-law showed me this trick, he uses on his model T ,car cabs (leather and horse hair seats) to keep the mice and other critters out. Just open the bottle and fill the cap up and set the cap and open bottle on the floor. Whole cab in a few hours has a strong peppermint smell that last all winter as the oil evaporaties from the bottle, the mice and critters do not like it. I put a bottle in the back of my M109A3 too.

Post other storage tips on keeping the critters out you have too. It all helps.

 

[wsucougarx]

Dual purpose..Keep the critters away and add that nice holiday festive smell. Hmm wonder how poupouri might work

 

[scooter01922]

Rodents hate peppermint but its got to be the REAL peppermint oil not fake stuff. Somehow never thought to do this with my trucks, good idea and it might improve the in cab aroma.

 

[phantomjeep]

scooter you are right it has to be the real oil, not the fake stuff. I will try to post a photo of the bottle label soon.

 

[50shooter]

Instant mash potato flakes. Buy generic and they are cheap. Fill an ashtray or something low and heavy. They will eat it and that's the end of the mousie. Not sure it is the most humane way but I don't like mice so oh well.

Long story short, the flakes swell up faster than the mouse can process and get rid of it. Kind of like Alka-Seltzer and seagulls...of which I'm not an advocate b/c that is just cruel.

 

[mdmorgan]

What about ants? not so much this winter cause they seem to have gone cause of the cold, but this past summer it was an all out war just to keep them from nesting in the cab. I opened the door one day to find about 3 or 4 piles, each 2 tablespoons worth, of eggs and babies in different stages of development under my seat. And i also found where they made a home out of my right front wheel, inside, between the tire and tube. I noticed that after about a 150 mile trip one day, i stopped and noticed there were ants covering the whole wheel and tire, then i saw where they were coming from. Do you think ants get dizzy, or throw up?

 

[firebuilder]

This is pure peppermint and spearmint oil (no alcohol or other cutting agents) and things made with mint oil from Michigan farms. Good company that I have dealt with before. Pure Mint Oil

In my cars, I used to use moth balls to keep out mice and other critters, but the smell takes half the summer to air out. Now I use bars of Irish Spring Soap on the recommendation of an uncle who collects cars. Takes about a week after you remove the bars for the smell to leave, but it is sure better than moth balls for that week. I've used it for 3 miceless years.

 

[ida34]

I have used Irish spring with all my storage and it works great. I used it for years in my travel trailer and my cars in storage. My travel trailer was in an area that was a field a few years before and we have a lot of field mice in the area. Never had a problem with Irish Spring and I use it so I always have some on hand. My wife gets it in large quantities at Sam's Club.

 

[stumps]

.... Now I use bars of Irish Spring Soap on the recommendation of an uncle who collects cars. Takes about a week after you remove the bars for the smell to leave, but it is sure better than moth balls for that week. I've used it for 3 miceless years.

Now I have to decide if the cure is better or worse than the problem.... Hmmm?
Shush! I'm thinking, I'm thinking...

-Chuck

 

[Coal Cracker]

I've tried dryer sheets, all kinds and the mice seem to like it as a poo mat.

I've also tried the irish spring, and they just eat it.

The moth balls seem to work the best, but they stink, and are actually hazardus to your health.

I've also heard fox urine is a good deterrent, havent tried it yet.


For now in my deuce, I've located every hole in the cab, and siliconed them shut, I found a little bugger in there last week, and while chasing him out he slipped rather quickly through the hole in the floor for the throttle rod, so I siliconed around the rod, and so far no tenants.

Now to tackle the little buggers leaving nuts on top of the air cleaner, and the tops of the heads.

 

[acmunro]

How many bars of Irish Spring should one use for the cab of a truck to keep mice out ?

 

[Srjeeper]

Snuggle dryer sheets in the tool box and under the box seat, plus plenty of moth balls in the cab seems to work.

The moth balls have kept the wasps out of the cab during the summer months also, but mine is stored inside.

I do like the pepermint oil idea.....

 

[stumps]

Snuggle dryer sheets in the tool box and under the box seat, plus plenty of moth balls in the cab seems to work.

The moth balls have kept the wasps out of the cab during the summer months also, but mine is stored inside.

I do like the pepermint oil idea.....

The problem with moth balls is I am one of the critters they keep out. I'd rather have the mice.

I have found that those plug in ultrasonic mouse repellers work if they are in a very small enclosure. For instance, put one in the cab of your truck, and the mice will stay out of the cab. Put one in your garage, and it won't do much of anything.

I hang one over the air cooled mouse hotel... I mean engine... in my Bobcat to keep the mice out of the engine, and it works very well. When I forget to hang it for a period of time, the mice come back.

-Chuck

 

[GoHot229]

Ants..... oh boy do we have ants here............. or did.. My Brother got some stuff shipped out here to the farm where we have ALOT of fire ants. The stuff he got WAS expensive, about $90-100 for a bottle of I'm guessing 20 or so ounces, but it's concentrate. It probably makes 20 gallons total, but with a small pump-sprayer, he hit all the hive/mounds he could find. Usually you and I go down to Walmart or Lowes and get that orange bag of ant killer and use that, but they seem to pop up somewhere near-by, nothing solved, but this stuff kills them dead, PERIOD, no second re-imfestation, I mean this stuff works, and honestly, we had probably 30-40 hills here on the lawn and common areas, and were always getting stung......well no more ......pm me and I'll find out just what this stuff is called this weekend when he's around....

What about ants? not so much this winter cause they seem to have gone cause of the cold, but this past summer it was an all out war just to keep them from nesting in the cab. I opened the door one day to find about 3 or 4 piles, each 2 tablespoons worth, of eggs and babies in different stages of development under my seat. And i also found where they made a home out of my right front wheel, inside, between the tire and tube. I noticed that after about a 150 mile trip one day, i stopped and noticed there were ants covering the whole wheel and tire, then i saw where they were coming from. Do you think ants get dizzy, or throw up?

I'll second the urine thing. It sounds unpleasant, but it works, so does coyote, and truth be known 'human' will keep all the larger carnivores at bay....really. I used to leak here and there traffic'd by cyotes up in the mountains where I lived, and it kept them from close-up prowling.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Ants.....

My Brother got some stuff shipped out here to the farm .....

Does this STUFF have a name Here in west Texas, the fire ants are moving in. I need to do some serious CHEMICAL WARFARE on the little devils

Thanks in advance.

BTW - I have a coworker with a Applicator's License/Permit (whatever?) if it's an Goober-mint/EPA Regulated substance.

 

[Yohan]

A friend of mine has quite an extensive old car/truck/mv collection. He opens a box of DeCon and sets it on the floorboard inside the car in winter. He has never had a mouse problem in his vehicles. I guess this line of thinking is that they're gonna get in, so the plan is to eliminate them.

 

[820jeep]

I've also heard fox urine is a good deterrent, havent tried it yet.

How do you get them to pee in the cab? Sorry just kidding
Is there a place to buy, feedstore on line, ect.?

 

[mdmorgan]

I mean this stuff works, and honestly, we had probably 30-40 hills here on the lawn and common areas, and were always getting stung.

Well thats the thing, i think they prefer my vehicles over the ground cause there are no ant hills, anywhere, but god forbid i have a soda can open and run into wally world or something, come back and there all over it with a trail going to who knows where. And they don't bite, well, rarely, but if they do it doesn't really hurt.

 

[cten]

I have tried every which way from Sunday for the past 25 plus years. If they want to get in they are going to get in. Hit them with a barage of things like moth balls, peppermint, dryer sheets and decon and see what happens. IMHO-Decon. Even if they do get in they will not be back.............

 

[dcwilkie]

Pic 1 Mousie

Pic 2 Mousie Dung

Think I'll try the peppermint oil thingie.