Temporary mice movement deterrent

[GON]

Renting a house in the desert southwest for three-six months. The owner is elderly and we discovered she had done very little maintenance for what we estimate is many years. I have been working like a dog day and night fixing things.

In the garage I found a dead rat in a trap, a live mouse, and plentiful rodent droppings. I set many rat traps, using peanut butter as bait, and caught one mouse. One challenge was the outside door to the garage. The frame is shot, and I am not willing to replace the frame. I decided the best COA for this scenario is metal. I am told rodents dislike chewing through metal. One nice thing about this temporary fix, is I can monitor the movement of the steel mesh.

This is NOT the way I like to fix things. I have already put $2k USD out of my own pocket on cleaning and maintenance supplies- I am just not going to replace the door/frame. Looks bad, but I am hopeful this temporary fix will discourage rodents from freely entering the garage.

 

[Zee09]

Try some peppermint spray or get a cheap bag of them at Dollar Tree- DG and drop them around inside and around the frame too.

 

[Nukeman7]

Get one of these electronic traps and the rats and mice will be dispelled within a week. I can attest that it works as advertised (read the reviews).

Rat Zapper

 

[PontiacHO]

I’ve had success using a strobe light in the attic.

 

[BHopkins]

I never thought of the steel scrub pads, but that should be effective.

I have never had to deal with rats, but I have with mice. We had a seasonal problem, each winter, with mice in our house when we first moved in. Once I found their entrance, I stuffed it with steel wool, sandwiched between fiberglass insulation on each side. It seems to have been effective, as we haven't seen a single mouse in the house since.

I have heard others recommend using crinkled up aluminum foil.

For your particular situation, I would stuff the rotted areas with steel wool, and then fill it up with spray foam insulation. You can carve the spray foam to contour with the door frame to some degree, if you care about appearance.

 

[Variant_S]

I too would recommend steel wool, 0000, with something like caulk or the spray foam over it. Look around the rest of the garage exterior at the foundation for additional entry points. I was told that if you can poke a pencil into a hole, a mouse can enter that hole.

 

[GON]

I too would recommend steel wool, 0000, with something like caulk or the spray foam over it. Look around the rest of the garage exterior at the foundation for additional entry points. I was told that if you can poke a pencil into a hole, a mouse can enter that hole.

Thanks, the issue is I am in a very short term rental, so I can't do anything like spray foam. The owner is elderly and I don't know she is concerned about damage to the home from rodents- weird, I know.

 

[BHopkins]

I forgot to mention, an advantage of the steel wool is that you can stuff it in very small spaces, where it may not look like a mouse could enter, but they can.

 

[Jdeere562]

Get a cat or two.

 

[JHZR2]

I’d cap the steel wool with some galvanized thin gauge metal, primed and painted.

 

[researcher]

Critter Ridder works well.. has capsaicin in it. I've heard dryer sheets work well too. plus as mentioned.. peppermint oil..

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

Since you are in a desert area, some sort of water bucket trap might work well to dispatch the remaining/returning rodents.

A 5-gallon bucket with a ramp should work for mice, but rats may require something bigger.

My mother was fighting rats under the slab of a barn last year in Colorado. After a dry spell in the fall, she started finding floaters in a horse's water trough every morning.

 

[Leo99]

Have your landlord hire an exterminator.

 

[GON]

Have your landlord hire an exterminator.

The landlord simply doesn't care. She is very well off, just seems keep her home up is not important to her.

We have scrubbed the home for ten days straight, out in huge amounts of labor and money. We suspect she won't even notice her place was fixed up and cleaned after she returns from her summer home in British Columbia.

We replaced shower heads, toilet seats, I could go on and on. I just suspect at this time in her life, she simply doesn't care.

I think as we agreed almost all of us have diminishing senses in some areas. In the landlord case, I think she is aloof of the conditions of her home. We rented the home sight unseen. This is a condition of a shortage of housing.

 

[jetman]

We do the 5 gal bucket thing.