MICE????

[walleyefisher0990]

Just wondering if you all have any ideas on how to keep these pesty little critters out of your ice house when it is in storage. Is there any way other than traps that i can keep them from eating my ice house. Ive already got a few holes in it. I heard then fabric sheets work, but so far no good. Thanks for any info

[nitrokfa]

you can build a rack with 2x4s or use rope and hang it from your ceiling in your garage no mice problems.

[nytelyter]

i dont think the ceiling in my garage would hold a 3000lb fishhouse. but i have heard that moth balls will work i seal all of my holes up. and lock it up. i do know that they willl not chew thru aluminum foil. maybe get some oven liner foil and cover the holes that way befor storage

[Moose-Hunter]

Quote:

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Just wondering if you all have any ideas on how to keep these pesty little critters out of your ice house when it is in storage. Is there any way other than traps that i can keep them from eating my ice house. Ive already got a few holes in it. I heard then fabric sheets work, but so far no good. Thanks for any info

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Oil of peppermint. Picked mine up from a health food store. I've been storing a car in a dirt floored pole barn for years using this stuff with ZERO pest damage. The key is it has to be OIL of peppermint... Not the peppermint stuff from the supermarket.

[stmichael]

Until this year I have heard of moth balls working and drier sheets, my neighbor had moth balls and drier sheets all over his boat, he found both materials used for nests. I have not heard of aluminum foil sounds promising, the peppermint oil sounds like a good choice. There is the ol' peanut butter on a can suspended over the mouth of a 5 gallon pail with string/wire. Put a few inches of water in the bottom. This method may keep them distracted long enough to keep them out of your fish house.

[Gissert]

I make sure my canvas is fully dry, then I remove it and store it in a rubbermaid container. End of problem.

[Dragonsm]

Moth balls do have a definite odor to them to keep them away.....however, the odor is enough to keep me away! Last weekend we pulled my father's 5th wheel out of storage. It spent the winter in a Quonset on some farm property. A few signs of mice (including a few dead ones from eating the bait) could be seen as it is every year throughout the building.....However, not a single dropping, nest, dead mouse or food stash has been found inside my father's 5th wheel. Every year before we tuck it away, we put bars of Irish spring soap throughout the camper. (I believe we used 6-10 bars) The mice hate the scent...it's actually a pleasant scent that airs out quickly in the spring...and you can use the soap in the shower when it comes out of storage!

As for the dryer sheets....I have heard they work...but I have also heard you need to rotate them out every few weeks or so as they lose their smell.

good luck!

Steve

[SomethingFishy*]

What about bringing your portables to a place that shrink wraps boats for winter storage?

[fishinchicks]

The dryer sheets I would save for the dryer. An in-law has them all over her house, and still had a bad infestation of mice. Yuck! The smell of Bounce and mice isn't very pleasant.

Steel wool is supposed to work as well. We have bait stations all over our seed sheds, which really helps.

[harvey lee]

I store my portable on a cement floor in a shed by a big meadow with alot of weeds and I'm sure field mice.I put 4-6 boxes of mouse poisen around the building and plenty of bounce dryer sheets in the folds of the fabric with some mothballs on the floor and have never had a problem with the fish trap or Mankato style suitcase house in 7 years.Maybe im just lucky,but it works for me.

[eskomo]

Bounce Drier Sheets, only bounce. I put them in my fish house, boat, camper not a problem with mice. Use liberally and it will be good till next year.

[Phred52]

walleyefisher0990, One of my buddies is a former "Orkin Man" and he has SEEN mouse nests MADE of shredded dryer sheets! He said "the guys just laugh when they see all the dryer sheets laying around" and yet they're called in. He did (about 9 years ago) suggest that I use Oil of Peppermint. Put about 3or4 drops on a cotton ball and put it with what you want protected (More, depending on size, I use 5to6 cotton balls for my boat , and up to 18or 20 cotton balls for my cabin). He told me "mice are allergic to mint and will go to extremes to avoid it". Since I switched, I haven't had a problem. As posted previous, I MUST be the true "Oil of Peppermint" from the health food store, NOT the grocery store stuff. It DOES work! Phred52

[Captain B.R.K]

I too use the Irish Spring bars of soap, I put 2 of them in the house and a couple baggies full of moth balls and then just put the cover on and I'm worry free.

Been doing this same procedure for the last 2 years and haven't had any problems with mice.

[Mark Christianson]

I went to go put my Otter away for the summer a couple weeks ago, and the darn mice already chewed 4 holes in it!

Argh.

[76k20]

Throw a cat or two in it...

actually a big step in the right direction is to clean it out real well before storing. candybars, peanuts, and breadcrumbs will bring em in for sure.

[Down Deep]

Oil of Pepperment.... I own a health foods store and we sell cases of the stuff in the fall when people a closing up their cabins and deer shacks. We get lots of repeat business. I use it on my in my Otter which is stored on the floor of my garage and have no mice problems. Just spash it around the inside of the house and on the canvas. Smells a lot better than mothballs.

[The Grebe]

I'm always one that likes to help others in perplexing situations with my on the spot, insightful, pearls of wisdom!

Do all the things that the others have reccomended, mothballs, soap bars, oil of peppermint, etc. and once you have your fishhouse stored and all these fail safes in place, burn the garage down! No more mouse problems!

[Mopad]

I called the local food store the other day. They wanted $9.75 for a 1/3 ounce of organic oil of pepermint. They also had some imitation stuff called pepermint oil that was 3 o4 ounces for about $9. Is the imitation ok to use. Is the organic stuff over priced?? Thanks in advanced.

[fishin789]

I've just used the mint extract from the grocery store and not had a problem.

One of my old jobs I had an office in a warehouse and we would put a stick of double mint gum in the desk drawers. with out it if you had a candy bar in the drawer you would find it chewed on and mouse droppings in the drawer.

[SomethingFishy*]

Hang it from the ceiling. I have an Otter Lodge that I store from my garage ceiling. I bought something called heavy lift and it reals down to about 2 feet of the ground. It will hold about 250 lbs. It is a 4x4 platform. Works pretty sweet.

[hawkeye43]

I have an Otter resort, a cabin and 2 dens, you think it would hold them all???

[SomethingFishy*]

I don't think it would hold them all, you would probably need 2-3 of them as the platform is only 4ft x 4ft. It would also depend on how high your garage ceiling is. I have my auger and all my gear stored in mine and have my Otter Cottage on a different shelf. The companies name is Racor Inc. , check out their HSOforum. it is called the Heavylift, I picked it up at menards. It comes with a hand crank that gets a wee bit tiring so I hooked the end of my cordless drill to it and it is faster and easier.

[hawkeye43]

i did get all of them inside each other and put the cover for the resort over everything, nice but heavy

[SomethingFishy*]

If its under 250 lbs I would try it. It only cost $130. Better than holy canvas.

[picksbigwagon]

SomethingFishy, I have the same thing in my garage, how did you monkey the handle to fit your cordless drill???? That would save me sometime and effort. For a second there I thought I was looking at my own set up