Checking my oil level following a recent change I find about a 2” area of exposed yellow insulation along the back of the engine compartment!!! FREAKIN MICE!!! It appears they too like the heat produced by my block heater. No way is some diseased riddled rodent going to take up residence in my truck! I don’t live in the country but I do have some nursery stock planted around our lot and have seen a mice but they belong in the field not my truck! I have seen no further evidence in or around the truck since my first discovery.

There are plenty of things that they can get into in my garage and I would be annoyed but not my truck! (Truck doesn’t fit in the garage yet ultimate truck mod coming this year)

War has been waged and to date the cat and I have bagged about ten, all in the garage and outside, winged one by the truck didn’t leave enough blood to track! Got a twofer this morning! I am not yet wearing camouflage and worrying the wife but I am getting close the Bill Murry Caddy Shack obsession.

So this isn’t just a complaining session I provide a recommended protective procedure.

1 Park truck and plug in
2 Place traps near all access points (recommend inside front tires)
3 Place traps in other areas in garage etc. they like to run along base of walls etc.
4 Use chunky peanut butter “They come for the peanut butter and stick around for the nuts!!”
5 With area secured for the night, rest easy
6 Check trap line first thing in the morning and replenish traps as necessary
7 Repeat process until satisfied ….. I’m thinking spring!!

One other step I will be adding when not brutally cold is “the hungry cat” in the garage at night!


I am glad it was fiberglass insulation and not a wiring harness!! It could have bee

Ants..........
When I got home from my 14 day trip my kitchen was full of ants. I went on a "mother of all RAID spraying trips". I sprayed a trail of ants from my kitchen to a trail of them about 100 feet away. I killed them all. Im sure they will be back but it felt good to kill them anyway.

Had a friend in Tucson have to have his wiring harness replaced at 1200 miles on his new truck. Pack rats got into.


Not fun!





cmc

Those sticky glue boards work slick too! Except yesterday we caught a mouse in cupboard. Dog heard it, got the door open. Glueboard and mouse stuck to dog! Fortunatly wife was home when this happened and she got to clean up the dog!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif

This is some funny Sh!t .....

Mike I was laughing real hard but nearly wet myself reading Picks' dilemma ..... The visual picture in my mind I got ..... Glue trap stuck to dog ,squealing mouse, wife, you get the PIC .....

Bwahahahahahahaaaaa

I'm a little worried about ProblemChild ..... "I killed them all. Im sure they will be back but it felt good to kill them anyway." EEEEK ???

Mac http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif Edited by: Mackin

I've got about 25 traps set around my two Gold Wings in the pole barn. Them d--- rodents still get around the traps and I don't catch as many as I would like to. The final straw last winter was opening the Gold Wing trunk and finding evidence of one in there. I live in a newer home that is quite tight. I've caught 7 in the basement in the past month. What tipped me off was finding one of the cats sleeping downstairs at night. Poor pudder tat ain't caught a thing. I have become the head mouser!

I see you're suggesting the best mouse bait ever - chunky peanut butter!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif That stuff is like "mouse cocaine" and is the best bait I've ever used on a trap.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif If you have particularly wary rodents - dunk the traps briefly in boiling water to get the oil and human odors off and bait with a fresh gob of chunky trying to minimize handling. Last time I did that, the trap went off behind me before I'd gotten ten feet and I thought it had "misfired" - Nope, scratch one nibbler!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gif

I wish I had a belly jiggler, but this is a true story. About 6 months ago went the the garage and tryed to start my wifes car. Crank but no fire. Tryed diagnosing the thing myself over the weekend but finally had to tow it to the repair shop. My cell phone rings about an hour later. The service writer tells me I owe him 70.00 bucks for cleaning a massive mouse nest out of my air box. Never even thought to check the filter, had just changed it 2 weeks earlier.

MACKIN---------You're not the only one worried about PROBLEMCHILD---http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif--LOL!!!!!!!!-----Phil

Good luck with the mice, know what you're going through! A few years ago in the Spring, went to start up my motorcycle after the long Winter nap and it cranked slow, put the charger on it, finally fired...KA-POWW.... blew dog food all over the garage from the exhaust pipe! Mice had packed it full. Had to pull the whole exhaust and dump it out. Checked the air box, yep, it was packed too. Lucky they didn't eat through the filter and get it into the motor. Next over to the 69 Camaro to wake it up, same story, slow crank, battery charger, KA_POWW..... dog food all over the driveway ... both pipes! Air cleaner packed too on it! All told, there was probably 15lbs of dog food packed in both! No damage to either, got some good laughs out of it though. The following year I started keeping the dog food in the house during the Winter, and traps were added to the garage. Edited by: srode

srode,


Thanks man! I just finished wiping away the tears I was laughing so hard!! I think it was the KA-POWW.. and the visual of 15 LBS of dog food LOL. These little rodents are insidious!!!


Mac, CRUSHER I guess I won't mention why I like the glue trap idea or the Hav-a-Heart trap. I guess it would be more of a HALF a heart trap....


None bagged today but that doesn't stop the relentless persuit or vermin!!!

problemchild,


Don't worry about the peanut gallery. some of us understand you have to kill something every day just to maintain profencency (sp?)

I park outdoors still to this day since for whatever reason i just never get around to dropping off my bike at my mom-in-laws for winter storage(always want that one last day of riding). Anyhow my 2000 Silverado was victimized under the fuse panel in the hood taking out my speedometer.


This time of the year we always have a rodent problem(DNR river land across the street). I could always hear them messing with the dog food. I have 1 wife 2 daughters that made me use a humane trap the first year we were here. When we got suprised with our little boy 18 months ago the thought of mice in the house drove me nuts(on occasion I'd see them upstairs in my office). So away went the humane trap and got a real trap. I also have a 3yr old golden that loves to catch and release to catch again. Shame I can't get her to kill them for me, she prefers catching a rabbit here and there, eating half of it and throwing up on the carpeting in our great room.


Man life is good http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

You guy's make me laughhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif.Made me think of a story in one of my farm mag's about the hav- a- heart traps.Man was having a lot of problems with raccon's in the chicken coop and wanted to deal with them humanely.It was real long so I will give the short version"How to catch raccoon's at the chicken coop".Set hav-a-heart trap by front door in late evening directly in route of raccoon going to the coop,make sure bait, latches,catch etc all working proper.In morning all things working proper you should have raccoon.Take raccoon "in trap" to back of field behind farm release than beat him to death with a stickhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif.Got to love them hav-a-heart traps http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gifEveryone wins almosthttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Ermm.gif

I use a combo of a Jack Russell Terrier, glue traps in the house & garage and I use poison in the attic to take care of the field mice in the winter. I start my bike(and usually ride it a few miles) at least once a week in the winter to keep the pipes clear of nests. I do have to clean out the saddlebags every now and then. I also keep the bike on a lift during the winter. A couple of years ago we received a call for a structure fire @ about 0300 in the middle of January. Since it was pretty cold, I figured I would put on my bunker gear prior to leaving. Mother mouse had chewed holes in my gear bag, coat, pants, hood, and one glove and made a nest to have her babies. Needless to say, I had to use my backup gear. When I got back home, I sealed the hole in my gear bag and removed all my gear. I then put the terrier in the bag with the mice and closed it up. She had a blast with them.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Evil Smile.gifhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

This is the best thread on the whole site. Who needs comedy central!

flhrciblueice, we use the same method at our place, we have 2 JRT's. Since the weather got cold we have been putting glue traps in the lower cupboards. If we catch a mouse the Russell's will tell us, they will start sniffing the cabinet door, going nutso. The trick is to get the glueboard out of the cupboard with out the dog getting it. They have jumped 3 feet and torn the mouse off of the board before I knew what happened. Last week my wife called me at work and told me my "son" got the pantry door open. He had a glue board and mouse stuck to his side, he was going beserk, because he could not reach the mouse on the glueboard. How he got it stuck to his side is anyone's guess. That glue on those glueboards is really tough stuff to get off anything.

Life is never dull with a Russell or two in the househttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif Edited by: Pick

I had to trap a Cardinal once, the son-of-bitch would flap himself to death every friggen day in the big mirrors and black stripe of my ol Ford. I could not shoot it because I did not want to hurt the truck....everytime I would open the door he was off into the woods...and could never find him. The truck would even be gone for days when it was parked at the airport..but once I was home he was flapping and attacking himself in the mirrors all over again!!!! This went on for about six months....he distroyed my mirrors and this had to STOP! So I got the real big glue traps and placed them all along my steps...and sure enough 5 minutes after doing that I had my bird.


I really felt bad, but I was really tired of the scratches and poop all over the place. The little fellow put up a fight to the every end.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif Edited by: NoWake200

Life is never dull with a Russell or two in the househttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif


Amen to that!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Thumbs Up.gif The JRT has two speeds: WFO and asleep.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif The only problem is her speeds tend to coincide with my 17 month old's(yes, baby girl has the same two speeds).http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif Never a dull moment!

Came home from a horse show and parked the 1991 350 gaser in the barn with the horse trailer. One week later got in to start it and to pull it out of the barn and it would hardly run, smelled real rich in fuel, stalled alot. So after getting it out of the barn I opened the hood and the intake manifold was covered with hickory nuts and leaves. got out the shop vac and cleaned it all up. Don't know what made me open the air cleaner and woh! it was full of hickory nuts and leaves, packed full. When I got done I nearly filled the shop vac with nuts and leaves. The truck ran ok after that, but a week later same problem, recleaned truck and moved it up to the garage and no problems after that. That was 10 years ago and just recently I was under the truck and found some old blackened hickory nuts in a frame pocket/hole. - freakin chip & dale the chipmonks


Engr. BillEdited by: EngineerBill

I had that problem....


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/F4B_real.jpg





I got one of these...



http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/EE8_claymore3.jpg





Now when a rodent gets near the truck...



http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/EE6_truckexploding1.jpgEdited by: JohnnyO

JohnnyO


Not there yet but a strong consideration if any further damage is done. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif


Mike

OK guys---This is a true story from about 25 yrs. ago. One night me and my good friend Bobby were sitting around discussing our deer hunting trip for the next day. I heard a noise in the kitchen and went to check it out. When I opened a cabnet door I was face to face with one of the most bad ass mice I had ever seen! My instincts took over and I grabbed the critter and threw him across the room bouncing him off the far wall. This caused some kind of internal damage to the rodent. He simply walked around in circles. Wouldn't stop! Bobby and I had a few more beers and thought about our friend Danny. Danny had a new house with some of the ugliest yellow carpet in the den you ever laid your eyes on. We decided to go visit. I happened to have a can of yellow paint ---yep, you guessed it--We spray painted the critter yellow. We showed up at Danny's. Danny had already consumed several beers himself. When he went to get a fresh brew, I reached in my coat pocket and turned the yellow mouse loose on the yellow carpet. Danny got back--took one look at that yellow mouse cutting cart wheels on his yellow carpet and simply went to bed! Danny hasn't had another beer in 25 yrs.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif-----Phil

Just got home from work after working on trucks all night long and happen to check out this thread.Can't stop laughing..almost in tears...and the visual's.Nice way to end a hard day at work


Tomslick24

I just changed the rear end fluid and dropped the spare tire to make it easier. Add that to the list of places mice like to nest...


Jim

Crusher





I was laughing ,wifey said what's so funny ....


Sooooooo


I let my wife read that and I think she's packing for a trip to Alabama and she aint happy ....





Mac http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

Mac





I don't blame her. If I had to go to Alabama I wouldn't be happy either. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif

Crusher wrote:


OK guys---This is a true story from about 25 yrs. ago. One night me and my good friend Bobby were sitting around discussing our deer hunting trip for the next day. I heard a noise in the kitchen and went to check it out. When I opened a cabnet door I was face to face with one of the most bad ass mice I had ever seen! My instincts took over and I grabbed the critter and threw him across the room bouncing him off the far wall. This caused some kind of internal damage to the rodent. He simply walked around in circles. Wouldn't stop! Bobby and I had a few more beers and thought about our friend Danny. Danny had a new house with some of the ugliest yellow carpet in the den you ever laid your eyes on. We decided to go visit. I happened to have a can of yellow paint ---yep, you guessed it--We spray painted the critter yellow. We showed up at Danny's. Danny had already consumed several beers himself. When he went to get a fresh brew, I reached in my coat pocket and turned the yellow mouse loose on the yellow carpet. Danny got back--took one look at that yellow mouse cutting cart wheels on his yellow carpet and simply went to bed! Danny hasn't had another beer in 25 yrs.http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif-----Phil


I first thought this post might be a little inhumane but the laughter tears running down my cheeks tell me other wise.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifEdited by: Bronco

When I first bought my truck last year, a couple of months went by and a buddy at work was walking out the same time I was and wanted to check out my truck, so we went over, I started it up and lifted the hood. We were checkin it all out, and then he said "What's all the yellow insulation there?" I said holy $hit, what happened? I, at first, blamed it on a cat, but after a little time, I realized it was the squirrels that tore up my firewall insulation. I asked the dealer how to fix it, cause it looked like crap, and they basically said it wasn't possible since the firewall insulation is put in before the engine. :-( So I just wrapped it up with some pretty black duck tape, and it seems to be just fine.


But, the problem was that I couldn't fit my truck in the garage, it was 3" too long. So the solution was to spend about 2 months (afterwork time) moving the wall between the garage and the utility room so the truck would fit into the garage. What a project, in that wall was the main water manifold to the entire house, a gas line, drains, W&D hookup, secondary electrical panel (and associated wires), and the dryer ductwork. All in all, I moved a 32" section of wall back 8", just so I could keep my new truck in the garage and away from the hungry squirrels...


Tim

If there is a topic of the month award... This one has my vote.


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif

Funny stuff!!!!!


Had a bird experience myself once. This bird wasn't after my truck but my wifes car. Darn thing would sit on the edge of the window sill and look at itself in the mirror! It would alternate this with sitting on top of the mirror. Dang bird pooped all over the mirror window and side of the car. I told my wife I could solve the problem but she declined as my fixes are generally accomplished with high velocity lead poisining of the offending creature. She finally got so fed up with her car being a mess all the time she said "kill that **** bird" just had to wait for him to hop on top of the mirror and poof, problem solved.


I'd tell you about our ground squirrel problem sometime but I think you guys can guess how it ended.

All,


Had a mouse colony in the wife's 02 Altima. Tech said we were lucky they didn't party on the main harness. It was a long day at the grind, and I really wanted to check the Total Power post to see if anyone had threatened to whip butt, but this is awesome. I have a friend in Texas who's wife has tea cup Jack Russels, and I may have to get me one. Got a Catahoula Cur, and a Pit in the house, and a cornucopia of Hog Dogs out back, but nothing beats a Jack Russell mousing. Thanks for the humor for toight, but I do need to check the Total Power thread, and the secondary fuel filter thread authored by Murray the Cop on the page. I am an admitted newbie, I love my truck, and am having a hell of a time trying to decide on a filter system.


I admittedly at times have wondered if ignorance is bliss, but hell its not. Thanks to those of you Mackin, Victory Red, RatDoc, Turbine Doc, John Kennedy, and others for your continued help for a guy that only changed his own oil until a month ago. http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif Every new adventure really adds to my self satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif Tackled the rear diff fluid change yesterday, and was going for the front, but couldn't find the damn place for the white vent cap, and where to put the Mobil 1 in.


Damn, now I found the faces. Better go. My thanks to all of you, and I hope to meet some of you in the future.


Mark (silatman)

Having grown up on a farm in PA, we of course, had all the usual problems with mice and all our rolling stock. The old Farmall had so many splices in the harnesses it was ridiculous.


However, I have TWO really memorable and absolutely horrible incidents:


First one: A big rat got killed, died, whatever, right on top of the intake manifold, but behind the air cleaner and carb where it could not be seen. When the smell really, really got bad, I had to borrow a gas mask to clean up the mess.


Second one: Simultaneously with a start of the engine there was this most god awful blood curdling scream, kinda like a cat getting its tail caught in the fan belt. Well, it wasn't kinda, IT WAS. Cat apparently decided that the engine compartment was a nice warm place to spend the night. What a mess. Apparently got caught in the belt, fan blade really made a mess out of it. I must add though that cleaning up fresh, dead, mangled cat was not as difficult as that damned rat! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Dead.gif

If there is a topic of the month award... This one has my vote.


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif





Ditto!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Thumbs Up.gif


JRT's are also great squirrel hunters!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

Some funny ones here!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gif Have to post two stories on this subject. We don't have mice here in the NW, we have RATS and possums. Possums here are about 10-12" long PLUS the tail. Fun to hit with a car. Splotch!!!


First story: In the house 12 years now. Bought new. Went down in the crawl space a couple years ago and the insulation is destroyed and there is rat AND possum nuggets everywhere.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif Built an addition the following summer and cleaned everything up, checked everywhere for holes and access with none to be found. At least I have 3-1/2 feet of clearance so I can get around down there. Two months after the addition is complete, possum nuggets starting to appear again after I hear scratching under the house.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif Turns out the builder daylighted the footing drain in the crawl space to take care of any surface water.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Dead.gif A 29 cent cap and piece of concrete and it's still clean down there.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif


Last week we had an ice storm (yes, it happens in Seattle, too), and I noticed the hot tub was cold. The rat scurried up the electrical chase, into the control area, chewed through acrylic and burrowed through the insulation around the tub. Insulation repaired, control panel on order and electrical pipe plugged.


Just wish I had spotted it when I had my shotgun out!!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

OK it took a week of reading the stories to break down and tell you mine.


I had squirrels in the attic (no wise remarks.) So I placed a Havahart trap to catch them.


Caught one.


Put it, in the cage in the back of the pick up.


Drove 6 miles into town to do some shopping.


I let it out in the mall parking lot.


Wouldn't you know it... It runs about 50 feet


Stops and turns around and looks at me.


Then proceeds in the exact direction to get back to my house.


Two days later. I could swear it's the same squirrel sitting in my front yard looking right at me...


... If he fliped me the high sign I would have freaked out.

.Edited by: JohnnyO