Mice In Pole Barn

Ohio_Pawpaw_Grower

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Hoping someone on this forum had found a way to keep these little buggers out of your barn.

A few weeks ago, my Wife fired up the RTV and a field mouse ran up her leg and under the dash. After making all the racket and commotion we could, the mouse did not show his mug again. We then towed the vehicle 130 miles to the dealer for service.

I immediately put down large sticky traps.

When we arrived this weekend, one mouse was KIA in the trap. The other traps were clean.

I got on the tractor to back it out and as soon as I fired it up, two mice shot out from under the hood and oddly, instead of running for the hills, they ran to the back of the barn. More traps deployed.

My Wife said she had read if you open the hood on your equipment, the mice might stay out of it. So I dutifully raised the hoods on everything including the 9N which had mouse nuggets on the batter. GRRRRRRR

Please tell me that someone on this forum has a trick for keeping this guys from eating your wiring. We have two Aussies but they are not always with us at the farm so poison wasn't my first choice.

I feel so dirty.

Thanks
 

bordercollie

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I know what you mean. We finally got some cats and now the mice are practically gone. Our cats stay at the barn and don't come to the house. We give them some extra dry food when the mice are in short supply and do provide some even when they have a few mice. The dogs know they are allowed at the barn but not the house.
We really had to do something because we store ground corn tons at a time - now no permanent mice and no rat pee smells. We always have newbies show up ..but not for long.
I've heard that moth balls work and strong smelling fabric softener towels work too. but.. the cats (we had them fixed) are the best.
There are also a few traps using a 5 gallon bucket with soapy water in 1/3 of it with a dowel rod across the top onto which a rotatable piece of pvc has been placed in center about half size of bucket width. smear with peanut butter . Put next to something they can use to get to the dowel rod . They will rotate and fall in = drown . I drilled a snug hole for my dowel rod to slid thru so they could walk to the pvc confidently before getting on the rotating pvc.
Don't use antifreeze as a drinking lure because it will kill other things including the pups. collie

edit: mice like darkness so opening hood will help if the wind won't mess with it. I found this out when I used a dark tarp to cover the minerals (before cats) .
 

avantiguy

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I use Tomcat green bricks as poison and they have containers to minimize exposure to other animals. Works OK but what I use are Victor traps like these with peanut butter on them. Effective a all heck if you live near the barn and can empty the traps within a day or two.
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/fb...th=undefined&odnHeight=undefined&odnBg=ffffff Use these yellow plastic triggered ones, they can eat the PB off the metal triggers or are fast enough to get away from the metal ones.

If chipmunks are a problem use Jawz rat traps with corn wired to the trigger. Deadly! If you are worried about larger animals getting at the traps, put them under heavy containers.
https://www.jteaton.com/product/jawz-plastic-rat-and-chipmunk-traps/
 

bczoom

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I use the Tomcat bait as well as the bucket trick BC mentioned. Both work well but I normally use the Tomcat bait since I can put it in several places (multiple buildings) without the bulk of the bucket.
 

Big O

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Tomcat Poison, Hobo Bag and the Expanded Bait Station

I had mice/rodents do a job on my A/C wiring in the 1100C. Tomcat rodenticide supposed to work well. A neighbor of my mine who works at Tractor Supply said this Poison is what the commercial exterminators buy exclusively. I like the suggestion of opening the hood. Victor traps work well until you run into a smart hombre. Some suggestions to catch him include:
1. Use peanut butter in small fabric similar to your handkerchief. Make a small hobo like bag and tie it down to the bait station. Probably floss or something similar may work to secure it.
2. Most of the time the hobo trick works but sometimes you can file on the bait catch to make it like a hair trigger but be careful not to file to much off.
3. Another measure that works includes cutting out a small piece of cardboard and glueing it to the bait receptacle. This in essence makes a larger footprint that will trigger the trap when the rodent makes contact. Some of these animals are smart but you will eventually catch them. Traps must be placed perpendicular to the wall so you catch them coming and going. Hopes this helps everybody a bit.
 
Rat Zapper and/or rodent repellent

I have used a rat zapper (Rat Zapper Ultra Rodent Trap - No touch, No see disposal - Rat Trap RZU001-4) in my barn/garage and it electrocutes the mice and rats. Quicker and more humane than the sticky traps. Too small for a larger animal to get in. Between the traps and sealing up a hole that I drilled and forgot about in the metal wall, I no longer have any rodent problems. The building is left closed up most of the time, making the problem easier to solve.

I have also just added a Angveirt Under Hood Animal Repeller Mice Rodent Repellent for Cars Auto Rodent Repellent Keep Mice Out of Car Wire Protection Rodent Repellent Ultrasonic for 12V 24V Car Battery. This is for a truck that is parked outside. My neighbors reported good luck with the repeller, but I have not had it long enough to know how well it works.

Lee
 

bordercollie

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i tolerate a skunk in my barn. he knows me and leaves me alone and no mice. stink kitty is it's nickname.
Hahaha I like that Arthuritis. You won't have any ground living- yellow jackets with Stink Kitty around neither. They love them.

Thought I'd mention as a side note .. don't use bait if there are kitties at the barn or home - some brands will kill the eater of the dead rat/mice. There are a few brands that don't do the " hand me down" kill of pets, but I don't know the names. collie
 

aurthuritis

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ya know,i don't think the skunk eats as many as his presence just deters the mice from setting up shop. i wounder if you got some trappers scent skunk urine and just put a few cotton balls around the vicinity would work? and i have a real nice bull snake that stays around too.
 

geohorn

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Skunks and snakes aren’t going to work for me... they remind me too much of ex-wives... :myopinion:
 

aurthuritis

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it may be that mice would chase off an ex wife,but would an ex wife chase off the mice???

i'll keep the skunk.
 

D&D Farm

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Yes, barn cats, for us, are the life-savers in the various sheds. Snakes, owls, and hawks are great around here for the chipmunk populations. Anytime we are out and see a snake, we catch it and bring it home to put out. lol...one lives under the house someplace cause we found a "nest" of little wrigglers. These were captured and put down in a barn.

For the Airstream, over the years, the mice come in this time of year looking for a winter home. We put out D-con in various places and the disappear. No, they dont die in the walls, etc. We often find a carcass in the middle of the floor where they were probably wandering when it finally caught up with him. Yes, I guess that if they are chased into hiding on a constant basis they can die there and STINK...…...
 

aurthuritis

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i noticed once there were fewer gopher mounds next to the edge of the pasture where the utility lines ran so i got some tall poles and scattered a few around the land so the owls could use them to hunt from. it significantly reduced the gopher population.
 

bordercollie

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Hawks and owls are good predators . I once saw a hawk with a snake dangling flying across the field. I also see them flying around the clipper waiting for the mice to run.
Owls are great mouse eaters also. I know that as I helped rehab some years ago.
 

BiffNH

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Two years ago we had a massive mast year with beech nuts and acorns in tremendous supply and all rodent populations exploded. Mice even got into the steering column of a Toyota van and caused the air bag light to go on - it cost $3000 to get it fixed (insurance covered it!). We had mice everywhere - every building and vehicle. I purchased a bunch of these, https://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/ez-snap-mouse, and found them to be highly effective and super easy to use. They are a bit expensive, but worthy of consideration. Mice can quickly mutate to tolerate some of the chemical poisons so most professionals say it is good to alternate types of poison.
 

jimr63

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Sorry, resuscitating an old thread I know. But, no one mentioned moth balls. I put them in my combine and grain truck and it seems to keep the mice away.
 

BiffNH

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I "Moth Ball" all my vehicles when I put them in storage for the winter. It does seem to help more than anything else. I collect what is left of them in the spring and use them again next fall. A few on the seats and on the floor are all I use. The smell lingers for a few weeks, but only once have I had evidence of mice in one van. Hope I haven't "jinxed" myself!!
 

bczoom

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Welcome to the forum!
I tried moth balls but can't stand the smell.
I think I'm going to try the ultrasonic pest repeller again.
 

bczoom

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My mouse issues are primarily in the insulation in the building. Don't want to smell moth balls throughout the shop so besides using the TomCat bait, I'll install several of the ultrasonic thingys.
 
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