Mouse/mice in my boat, now what?

[JosMN]

Pulled my boat out of the garage and the cover off just to get my lake map book out. Opened the rod locker to find half the book chewed up, and peices of paper everywhere. A few cuss words were used at this point. I did put moth balls, dryer sheets and a couple mouse cakes in the boat before storage. Guess I should have pulled the map book too ! I could not locate the nest if there is one in there, lots of different places it could be I guess that I cant get to. What I want is it out and out now. What is the best way to catch them with out making a mess or having it go off and die somewhere in my boat? Its operation kill mouse week! Thanks for any help.

[leechlake]

I found some mouse evidence in my house last month and finally took the dive and built a mouse "trap" out of a 5 gallon bucket. Look it up on you tube so you can see it.

Basically it is a pail with water (anti freeze in your case since it's outside you may need a smaller pail for your boat assuming it has a cover on it) and a can rigged on a dowel with peanut butter on it. Make a ramp for the mice to walk up to edge of bucket.

So...the mouse walks up the ramp to get to the peanut butter. You put the can near the edge of the bucket, the mouse crawls onto the can, eats some peanut butter and eventually the can spins and the mouse falls into the liquid and drowns. First night I caught two, I was amazed.

It works better than the old snap traps, kills multiple mice without having to re-rig the "trap" and quarantines the dead mice in the bucket for you to dispose of yourself.

[efgh]

CAT or traps with bait near where you think the little critter is.

[Down Deep]

Use the old style snap traps with peanut butter as bait. Keep setting the traps until you quit catching mice. Then put cotton pads with peppermint oil all around the interior of the boat and including all compartments. That will keep the mice out.

[leech~~]

Use the old style snap traps with peanut butter as bait. Keep setting the traps until you quit catching mice. Then put cotton pads with peppermint oil all around the interior of the boat and including all compartments. That will keep the mice out.

Plus 1, just keep trapping. The garage is just like any pond, you can trap them out. Every fall I start and have none after the snow start flying. This year the count was 5 Mice 8 Voles. Have not had another one of either in the last month!

[bobbymalone]

I bought some good ol' fashioned snap traps the other day. Had a bunch of stuff I was carrying in the house so I tossed the unopened package of traps in an empty 5 gallon bucket in garage. Went to go set up them up a week later and there were three dead mice in that bucket.

A little weird, huh?

[leech~~]

I bought some good ol' fashioned snap traps the other day. Had a bunch of stuff I was carrying in the house so I tossed the unopened package of traps in an empty 5 gallon bucket in garage. Went to go set up them up a week later and there were three dead mice in that bucket.

A little weird, huh?

I bet your wife said, they died WAITING for you!

[bobbymalone]

I bet your wife said, they died WAITING for you!

LOL! I'm smart enough to not mention that there are rabid vermin in the garage that might sneak in the house and bite her while she's sleeping. And I'm smart enough to not mention that there are cute little furry creatures hanging out in the garage either.

I got all the bases covered.

[Pat K]

I used to own 3 pole sheds and stored boats. I've seen people use dryer sheets, peppermint oil, moth balls and cab fresh.

The one constant with mice getting into boats was food in the boast. That includes mouse poison. Along with being a poison it is also a bait. Place it outside the boat by the tires and jack.

Forgotten dog food in compartments and baits like Gulp were popular with mice.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Cat decoy

[ClownColor]

Use the old style snap traps with peanut butter as bait. Keep setting the traps until you quit catching mice. Then put cotton pads with peppermint oil all around the interior of the boat and including all compartments. That will keep the mice out.

Same here. If they get out of control, poison works the best and will take them all out fast...though the smell is horrible if you can't get to them and if they die somewhere you can't get to...you could be in trouble.

[leech~~]

Last spring I got the boat on the lift for opener and forgot a bag of Sunflower seeds in it. The next morning, shells everywhere!

Put a trap in over night, no more seed shells after that!

[JosMN]

Have had the bucket trap set up with peanut butter since the day I posted this - nothing caught ...yet.

[solbes]

I had a mouse in my boat once. He decided to say hi when I was making a trolling run. Scurried right up on the gunwale. Slight flick with a finger and he became pike food.

[fasternu]

Last year I pulled my boat out of storage and when I opened my compartments, they were full of acorns. Acorns everywhere! Thank goodness the squirrel was out at the time I pulled the boat home, but I cleaned acorns out of the boat up to the day I put it back in storage this fall! Mice aren't so bad!

[JosMN]

well...its not mice. It's a ****ing squirrel! Didnt catch a good look at him, but went in the garage today at lunch to grab something and he was back in the splashwell, flew through the boat and out the back of the garage. Looked to be either a yearling common squirrel or a red squirrel. Like I said, didnt get a good look at him. Its an old garage and has smaller openings around the old door in back which I have tried to block off, obviously wasnt good enough.

Now what? How do I catch this dang thing.Big rat trap? I dont want to poison him and have him die in the boat. Talking to a buddy at work and he had one chew up his wiring and built two nests in his boat. Any ideas? When I do catch him, he's going to be the first animal to land on the moon. Dang things

[leech~~]

More likely a Red. Big Rat trap and make sure you tie it down to something so he doesn't carry it away and you don't know where he ended up!

[EBass]

Red's are fast and don't stay put for long.

You could offer him said food someplace other than the boat (outside the garage door where it goes in) and then it gets used to being fed. Camp out and take him out with a pellet gun early AM when they make their first run.

Thing is, why is it there? There must be some food in the garage or it's living in there for shelter.

Good luck

[JosMN]

Im sure it's living in there in the back part that was added on the garage probably 30 years ago, no food in there. Its yor basic one stall garage built in the 50's, with an attached smaller shed on the back. I have the boat turned around with the tongue going threw the back door which leads into the small shed area. Only way the boat would fit.

Going to get a couple rat traps like leech said and give it a whirl.

[leech~~]

I'm sure he has a big pile of acorns rat holed some where back there. They do have daily habits like ever thing else to and from shelter and food.

[EBass]

Good luck - I remember reading about the family of squirrels that moved into a guys ice house in his garage. Walnuts were everywhere not to mention chewed up canvas.

[JosMN]

Well, checked the traps today. Both were set off, but nothing caught. I tell you what though, it or one of them is hurtin pretty bad because the trap on the floor of the garage tied to the trailer was full of blood. I guess he pulled himself out of it. Set them again at lunch, so we'll see what we have at the end of the day.

[leech~~]

Blood track him down!

[Hoey]

I too have had mouse problems in the boat during winter storage. Mine started after I switched from a graveled lot to one that is an un-mowed farm lot. I tried mothballs, but the mice ate them too. So now I remove everything they like to chew, drift socks, life jackets, rods (they chew the rubber handle ends and some cork), books, gloves, soft tackle, etc... I also do not let anyone bring sunflower seeds, pistachios, etc... since they seem to find a way to spill them on the boat floor, glove box, rod locker, etc... and I find them for many years to come. This fall mice were are real problem. In one night I got 5 of them in the garage and I had 6 to 8 in one of those multi-trap, cake-pan type traps outside.

[JosMN]

After several attempts to catch these little *****, I'm more than upset! They know how to set these rat traps off with out getting caught. Looks like it will either be a saturday or sunday morning hunt outside the garage with my pellet gun, or I need to get a live trap. Or maybe some type of tight box for the rat trap? Anybody with any other ideas? Like I said, poison is out of the question since I dont want them dieing in a corner of my garage or boat!