What Now? Mouse inside my boat!

[WayneM1946]

Yesterday morning we were going fishing and I opened the Port rod locker and saw a small mouse nest up near the bow. When we got home yesterday evening, I set out two glue traps, one in each side rod locker. The one on the Port side had some of the sticky stuff on the bottom, so I sat it on a paper towel on the carpet in the floor of the rod locker baited with peanuts.

This morning I went out to check and the little ba----- evidently got caught in the trap but managed to get the paper towel into the glue enough that he was able to get himself out. So he is still in my boat. I sure hope he doesn't chew up the wiring before I can get him out.

I set two glue traps and a snap trap in there this morning and will check tomorrow morning. I hope I get him before he dies in my boat are screws up the wiring.

Any suggestions how I get him out?

Any suggestions how I prevent this in the future?

My boat sets inside my locked garage at all times when it is not in use.

Wayne

[06 SB]

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[mohawkman]

These white tomcat traps work really good... easy to open it and dump the mouse when you get one..

https://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-Press-.../dp/B00N6XKVNY

I take my kids hot glue gun and hot glue a stack of 3 cherrios or other cereal pieces into the center food/bait spot on the trap.... allows you to get one, dump it and just reopen the trap to get the next one the next night.

This is how i got rid of mine in my boat. alot of people talk about laundry sheets.... just get this family out of the boat that is running in there as 1st step

good luck

[WayneM1946]

Well, he avoided the trap last night. There is no other food in the boat except my wiring, so I would have thought hunger would have driven him to get in the trap. There is also no water in the boat except some bottled water in the cooler but there is no evidence he has been able to get in there--yet.

This is the second time I have had this kind of problem. One year ago this month a mouse chewed his way thru the A/C system on the firewall and got inside my wife's 2015 Lexus and chewed up the air bag wiring and it electrocuted his arse under the dash of her car. Car had been setting with window rolled up for about a week because she has dementia and no longer drives. Dealer repaired the wiring and did an ozone treatment to get the dead smell out and I immediately traded the car for a new truck.

They are developing about 40 acres across the County Road from my house and I guess the mice are running for new living quarters. I will have glue trap all over my garage before the end of the day today.

Wayne

[ecoast]

'poison peanuts' ftw

[WayneM1946]

Not sure I want him dead inside my boat if there is any way around that. The smell in my wifes car almost made me throw up when I opened the door.

Wayne

[BILLY]

Get him . Then dab some spearmint oil in a boat that’ll keep them out.

[Casslaw]

I like the big glue traps, and I don’t agree with adding food to the boat that could just attract more or make him want to stay!

I wouldn’t want him dead in my boat either but a poison trap may be the only other option.

Do a search on here, I know this has come up! I think I remember moth balls, dryer sheets, and other home remedies.

[WayneM1946]

I like the Spearmint Oil best if that will work. After having the glue traps and one snap trap in the boat for 4 days and no bites, I am hoping he has gotten out and is gone, There is no rat pee smell or dead animal smell in my boat, so maybe I dodged a bullet. I put a couple of glue traps on the floor of my garage and caught two on one trap the first night. None at all last night.

I know moth balls will work in some cases. A friend puts moth balls out on the outside around his hunting cabin from Labor Day until the end of deer season in January and they seem to work.

Wayne

[R1Peacock]

I had the same problem a few years ago. I tried traditional traps, glue traps, etc. FYI..... if you have one you likely have many as they’re looking for a place to nest and make babies. I went to a health food store and purchased pure Peppermint and Spearmint Oil. I soaked cotton balls and put them throughout the boat deck and in the compartments. Weeks later I was working on my trolling motor and pulled the front panel and found a nest of dead babies. The Mint oil was so intense the adults even left their young. For more than a year afterwards my eyes teared and my nose ran all the time when running the boat on the Potomac or Upper Chesapeake Bay. The mint oil was potent. Since then I cut a milk bottle in half and joined the opposing sides and thread the pieces on an electric cord attached to my charger. So far so good......

[WayneM1946]

Rich, I am not getting the reason for the milk bottle and battery charger. What exactly was that for? How does it work to keep mice out?

Wayne

[R1Peacock]

Sorry, my fault for not explaining. The time I had mice they were using the extension cord leading to the battery charger to climb up into the boat. If you look around a marina you often will see half jugs or “rat shields” on the ropes and power cords leading to the boats. You can purchase the Rat Shields at boating stores or make a similar concept out of adjoining half plastic jugs. The shield or adjoined plastic jug prevents the mice from climbing on the ropes or power cords since they can’t get around the object. You can find the Rat Shield on Amazon (not cheap) whereas a plastic jug is the cheap method.

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[WayneM1946]

Pretty ingenious. I never thought about how they were getting in, but the cord is probably how they were doing it.

I will fix that--RIGHT NOW.

I caught another one in a glue tap on the floor of my garage last night.

I am going to switch to poison traps today, D-Con, Havoc, or something like that, so I don't have food enticing them to come into the garage.

Wayne