New situation – built a golf simulator in the garage this summer. Boat will NOT “safely” fit anymore.
Storing in BIL’s pole barn with cover on and batteries out.
Mice are a concern.
Will set up a couple 5 gallon bucket mouse traps but was thinking of “used” cat litter on plastic around the boat to deter them. Thinking the “predator” scent will help deter them……….?
Anyone else do something “foolproof” ?
moth balls and bounce dryer sheets is what I used and was always lucky!! good luck!!
Original Bounce sheets have worked decent enough in the past for me…be sure to load them up everywhere in the boat. I heard recently that leaving a radio on worked well.
When we had a hobby farm we stored boats. Make sure that all food, anything that may have contained food or anything that could be mistaken for food is out of the boat. The 2 times over 19 years that people had a mouse problem in our sheds, once it was a subway bag full of subway bags for picking up after their dog that the mice tore into and the other was a bag of assorted Gulp baits the owner had picked up on sale and had just thrown them on the floor of the boat when he stored it. The mice really liked the Gulp, there were plastic turds all over the carpet.
Cab fresh and Grandpa Gus’s Rodent Repellent packets work well in stored cars and tractor cabs. They don’t smell as bad as moth balls and I’ve heard stories of mice shredding dryer sheets for nests.
if you use mouth balls put them in a open plastic container like a cool whip bowl. That way the smell will not absorb in to the carpet if you have it.
Poison and lots of it , especially if there’s cats … dogs might want to reconsider. .
Mice are smart and cunning; doubt dryer sheets or cat sh*t will help much. Bucket traps are your best bet IMO
P.s. moth balls are another wives tale if you ask me.
The last 5 years bounce dryer sheets work great no issues. I do clean out the boat so nothing in there that would be something to draw them in. Put anything I do not want chewed on into a container. Open all doors and stuff the sheets in those compartments. I also use these scented bags made by Victor and those also work. We hang them on the wheeler and tractor at the farm no mouse nest anymore in the tractor. I put the sheets around the outside rail of the boat also.
Bounce sheets here too. Also recently sprinkled that fabric softener pellet stuff on the entire floor, quick vacuum in spring and whole thing smells fresh.
It doesn’t stop them from getting in, but imo it stops them from hanging around.
Dryer sheets here too. Never had a mouse but had something really big get in last year. Cant ID it for the life of me based on the light tan fur I found all over but it was as big as a badger or large racoon based on the ‘droppings’ it left right in my battery compartment. My dad’s boat was right next to mine and had moth balls in it so I’d support using both. A photo for your enjoyment.
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Poison and lots of it
X2
Years ago when I stored mine in a shed that’s what I used too. I use my own garage now instead.
I store my Ice Castle outside, so not in a building. However it sits in a wooded area I have been using Irish Spring soap bars, I cut them into pieces and put them in small bowls all around inside. So far so good.
Sticky Traps, Bucket Traps, Poison and Cab Fresh.
Skip the cat litter idea. Don’t think that would help.
-J.
I’ve had good luck with the dryer sheets. I also clean my boat out and remove anything that would attract or keep mice in there. If you use poison don’t use the decon pellets in the little boxes. We tried that at my FIL’s cabin and all that did was make us clean the decon and mouse poop out of the beds and elsewhere in the cabin.
Sticky Traps
I would avoid the sticky traps as the amount of work you’ll be in for next spring if the mouse flips it over on your carpet is cringeworthy…
Mothballs in small plastic butter containers with holes poked into the lid have always worked for me, the more the better…
If you have a pet that sheds, give it a good brushing and put the hair all over in the boat. I had mice under the seat in my Bearcat and put my son’s husky hair in there and no mice since.
I store my Ice Castle outside, so not in a building. However it sits in a wooded area I have been using Irish Spring soap bars, I cut them into pieces and put them in small bowls all around inside. So far so good.
John, the Irish Spring technique can actually attract mice because they like to eat the lard that the soap bar is made of. It does kill them if they eat enough then you may have some carcasses laying around rotting too. If it seems the soap is keeping them away they probably haven’t found a way in yet which is good of course!
One thing I always did in addition to what others have already said, is leave something in the boat that if all else fails they want to create their nest with. Something they can chew on that isn’t part of your boat. I always used small scraps of pine and a roll of toilet paper or paper towels.
In the spring sometimes I found that they had built a nest on the floor with the paper towels, ate the poison and died in the paper towel nest.
John, the Irish Spring technique can actually attract mice because they like to eat the lard that the soap bar is made of. It does kill them if they eat enough then you may have some carcasses laying around rotting too. If it seems the soap is keeping them away they probably haven’t found a way in yet which is good of course!
Interesting, never heard of that. Thanks yeah I guess I have just been lucky.
Poison and lots of it , especially if there’s cats … dogs might want to reconsider. .
Agreed…poison and more poison. We bought bait boxes off the Plunket guy and then just pay him to drop some poison baits off every other month and handle it all ourselves. I think between my place, the buildings, and the in-laws we have 35 of the industrial bait boxes that we numbered and have a list for that can be rebaited in under 2 hours. We’ve never had an issue with pets since switching to the good boxes and not messing with cheap poison methods from the store.
Dryer sheets have worked for me for the past 10yrs, probably spread 20 sheets out around the boat and in the compartments
Yeah, John. Seen it in action first hand in our one building that isn’t sealed up as well. Wife was using Irish Spring thinking it kept them out, but we later read that it was actually the opposite. They gobbled about a bar a month for a bit there. Killed quite a few, but several croaked in the building only to rot and stink until we found them of course… 
Put a bunch of food in your BIL’s boat so they stay out if yours
The 5 gallon bucket doesn’t really work in the winter since the water freezes. I’ve tried adding RV antifreeze and that stuff just turns to slush..
The 5 gallon bucket doesn’t really work in the winter since the water freezes. I’ve tried adding RV antifreeze and that stuff just turns to slush..
Drain oil works. Or regular car anti freeze.
-J.
I’ve never had them do any damage in the boat while using uncle Gus’s peppermint pouches. I stack them on all of the batteries and wiring harnesses. The garage smells like a candy cane for the next month.
Where they have gotten me is inside the trailer tubing. That’s happened twice in the last four years. I need to find a way to pack the pouches in there to where I can get them back out in the spring.
Also visit the pole barn through out the winter to refill/reset the traps and poison.
The 5 gallon bucket doesn’t really work in the winter since the water freezes. I’ve tried adding RV antifreeze and that stuff just turns to slush..
You have to use the RV antifreeze straight not diluted.
If you have a pet that sheds, give it a good brushing and put the hair all over in the boat. I had mice under the seat in my Bearcat and put my son’s husky hair in there and no mice since.
This. Guys scoff at this idea but mice navigate by scent and they won’t go anywhere near an area where there is cat scent.
You don’t have to make a huge mess of this. I would just have my wife save the cat hair from the brush and I would lay a big ball of it in a tupperware right in the middle of the boat. Never had mice problems even when storing boats outside.
I’m not a fan of poison because guys forget the mouse has to go somewhere to die. Usually that involves crawling into a deep dark recess somewhere in the boat. Then you’ve got that nice whiff of dead mouse forever in a place that is very hard to get at. Awesome.
Grouse using poison then a cat or something else could eat the poisoned mouse and who knows how much that would hurt them.
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