Mouse damage Kubota digger

[Robotstar5]

I find them in consumer units, electrical panels and trunking, lofts, sheds. There was one living in the air box on the car!

One of the control panels at my last place was near an outside wall and suffered mouse damage, we put electronic rodent repellant units in each bay of the panel, no more damage

 

[Kj1123]

Send them a snotty solicitors letter ?

 

[Smallfry]

Thanks. I've had some other hellish mouse damage. Two different motorcycle air filters, one of which they filled with peanuts as well as mouse droppings, the other their urine corroded the throttle bodies.

By the way I don't think it's rats. We do have them from time to time but typically we find them where there's a food supply. Do rats do that sort of random pointless gnawing damage? I did once find half a rat under the bonnet of the MG. But I haven't seen rat droppings in the buildings for years.

The saying locally here, is that if you have rats, you don't have mice. and vice versa. We have both. We find mouse nests when moving stuff about in the garden, but have not had them indoors, apart from the ones our cat used to bring in live, and let them go.
The rats come and visit the bird table, and are around, as I see them, but again, none indoors, and I never see droppings either. Neither have been a problem with any of the vehicles, yet, but it does pay to move stuff around frequently.

Rats like a food and water source too. If they, or mice for that matter are a problem, you should not touch things after eating anything like pies and sausage rolls etc.

 

[prepman]

Our little KX41 digger has to go under the knife again, a coolant leak due to a mouse eating the bottom radiator hose. To be fair partly my fault as it happened a year ago, the mouse took out two other coolant hoses and several Diesel lines as well. At the time I could see the bottom hose was damaged but it wasn't leaking so I left it, mostly because it looks an absolute bear to access. On the bright side at least it was spotted before I blew the engine.

So this leads me to ask, any ideas for preventing stupid mouse damage?

Wiping out the population in a country property with chickens and stuff doesn’t seem possible. You'd think the smelly engine compartment would wouldn’t appeal to a mouse, nor Diesel and antifreeze. On the other hand I've known them to eat cement, and once ate their way into a pack of mouse poison.

Spray with WD40??? Only had robins nesting in mine by the radiator. No mouse nibbling....yet. They do like the touring caravan gas compartment.....must pack some steel wool in gaps.....reminder to self.

 

[minimutly]

I've lost count of how much of my stuff the little bar studs have destroyed over the years.

Does anything put them off? Sprinkle the engine bay with cat pizz maybe? Or is that a case of the cure being worse than the disease?

Where do you buy cats pizz?

 

[jmp49]

6 cats 4 of which actively hunt not so much of a mouse/rodent problem. But I did have one nesting in the chassis of my van a while back when it was offroad and parked in the garden, that ate the trailer wiring and nested inside the frame rail. Fearing worse damage on parked up stuff, we got some little 12v boxes that you wire in that run when the vehicle is parked, and they emit a ultrasonic pulse that rodents/marten's etc are repelled by. Havent had any since, but haven't parked anything in the garden again.

 

[Hotstuff]

Where do you buy cats pizz?

Google is your friend.

 

[500e]

I’m going to invent and sell a rat poison impregnated cable wrap and make a fortune!

To late

 

[fizzy]

Glad it isn't just me they target. Wrecked my 2 mowers. Chewed through the spark plug leads, pull start cords and fuel lines. We get wood mice and voles around here. I use live traps and take hem about 3 miles away. They home any closer!

 

[aesmith]

Spray with WD40???

That's the thing, I can't imagine a much less appealing place than the smelly oil engine compartment of a mini digger. I wouldn't be surprised if WD40 attracted them.

 

[aesmith]

Or did you mean spray the mice?

 

[prepman]

Glad it isn't just me they target. Wrecked my 2 mowers. Chewed through the spark plug leads, pull start cords and fuel lines. We get wood mice and voles around here. I use live traps and take hem about 3 miles away. They home any closer!

Used to use rapseed oil as chainsaw lube, until rats gnawed through thick hard plastic to get at it. So less enviro' friendly stuff now.

 

[aesmith]

Mouse hoses for your amusement. Mouse had to chew through quite thick coating of grotty gritty gease first. I can't quite see why the one on the right was leaking, but there's no arguing with the solid jet that was coming out.