The weather and road conditions have been less than favorable the past couple and weeks. She has been tucked safely away in the garage during this time. Last night we had some friends over and was showing off our new Mini to friends, popped the bonnet and.........WE HAD A MOUSE MAKE A NEST IN HER!!!!!!!!!!! The F'd up part, nest was made out of the poison bait WTF. (do not hate on me PETA )

I guess two German Shepherds are good at keeping the people away but are really useless against mice.

 

What you need is a good garage cat. Don't feed him too much. Hungry cats are better hunters.

 

I know an MCS owner near me who had mice chew up his wiring, cost him $1300 in non-warranty repairs to get it fixed. The last time my 03 MC was at Roadshow the service tech showed me mouse droppings under the bonnet and warned of the damage that could happen. I declared war on the mice in my garage, with traps, and later sonic devices, to keep them away. After exterminating around 10 or so I haven't seen or caught another one in a couple of months.....IT"S WAR!!!

 

In the past I've used Bounce fabric softener sheets. Worked for me.

 

Eek

There is another thread on just this subject

You need one of these ...

 

Mice like to stow away the poison bait food (like squirrels and nuts) where they think it is convenient and safe. I found a nest once right inside an opened box of d-con. The poison will work it just takes a little time.

 

Keep one of these under your hood.





we keep a few of these in the Austin A-30

 

I keep an old Ford in the driveway to keep the mice out of the good cars. Mice love Fords.

 

Living in the country, its a constant battle with "critters". The best way I can think of to keep mice out of the Mini, is never let it cool off completely! Keep on Motorin'!!!!! lol

 

See theres always a simple solution to even the most distressing problems. Im thinking of LOSING the cat & getting the Ford myself.

 

Easy with the Ford comments.

 

I have a bunch of old Ford's around, and diesel MBZ's and Jeeps but the only place I've ever gotten Mice is in the GMC Suburban. I keep my Mini's moving ;}

 

Ok, behind all that ABS valving & control unit is a hole for the fresh air vent. The way i figure it you could put some cheese inside the passenger compartment. Now the next morning quietly open the door turn the key (don't start) & turn the blower to high.

 

That must be because they're so cheesy.

 

That makes sense Pendergast. I found another batch of the poison bait in my leaf blower this afternoon. I also found their nest....so what I found in the Mini was their stash.

 

I have nothing against Fords, owned a bunch of them, but having lived out here in the woods for 20 years, mice have never bothered my Chevys, VW's, Honda's, or the MINI. Just the Fords. I figured there was something in Ford wiring insulation that was tasty.

 

I had (have) the same problems in my garage. What seems to work for me is the super-duper glue boards. I buy them at Home Depot. I placed several of them around the garage along the base of the walls. Don't buy the cheepo one from Walmart...the mice use them to build nests.

 

Cat, good idea.
Snake, no good if the weather turns cool.
Honorable mention: terrier or daschund.

 

Sorry to hear about your unwanted guests, Mr. Pepper!

Chows4us has a point. We used to have mice especially during cold weather, but then just when we started seeing shed snake skin on our back porch, the mice were gone.

Our daughter has since seen the snake---probably a black rat snake. I told her it is our friend.

 

We have a rat snake that lives in our garage. It scares my dog, but no more mice! The snake is actually rather friendly, and keeps me company when I'm working out there. Maybe that's why my wife won't drive the MINI.............

 

Can't blame the little critters. After all, if you were a mouse, wouldn't you choose a MINI for your home ??

Okay, I'd be pissed if it were my MINI that became Rodent Ramada. Cats can be just as bad though... if they sleep on your bonnet, which they are likely to do because of the warmth, the oils in their fur are like acid to your paint. So I'd go with the poison and the traps. Lots of each.

 

Hence the reason for a dust/car cover even in the garage!

 

We did the glue traps and really had no success with them just a bunch o' bugs. It cought a skink a few springs ago and it made us feel realy bad about that. Skinks are great...mice are bad.

We also have a few snakes around our house, but they are sleeping now.

The funny thing.....an owl was hooting really early this morning that woke me up. The first thing I thought was, did he get some mice durning his stop over?

 

We also need one of those. On the list.

 

Since you mentioned it twice, it must not be a misspelling, but I'm afraid I never heard of a skink. Do they only have those in your area? lol