cleaning up after mouse infestation

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chryslercruiser

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What do you use?

I found a mouse nest the size of a basket ball in the trunk.. much less trouble and cleaning to do in the passenger area but planning on removing the rug and giving everything a shampoo..
 
I had evidence of mouse and/or chipmunk activity in my car. I vacuumed all the carpets and noticed stuff blowing out of the heater ducts on start up. I pulled the blower motor and found this. While it was out, I reached in with a long extension on my shop vac and vacuumed out the heater box.

blower motor.jpg
 
qkcuda said:
I had evidence of mouse and/or chipmunk activity in my car. I vacuumed all the carpets and noticed stuff blowing out of the heater ducts on start up. I pulled the blower motor and found this. While it was out, I reached in with a long extension on my shop vac and vacuumed out the heater box.

View attachment 1716250106
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Ok, I will investigate the blower motor for evidence..
 
If you haven't dealt with this before, be sure to wear at least a painter's mask and gloves when cleaning up the bulk of this mess - it's nasty stuff and can hurt you.

I would physically remove what can be seen, and it's a good idea to look around for more. I've found 2-3 nests in the same car before. For hard surfaces once the crud is gone, I wash with hot soapy water then spray with Lysol. When that dries I spray with some stuff called Angry Orange Odor Eliminator and let that dry. It may take a dose or two to kill the smell.

For the carpet, taking it out is a good idea to clean and treat underneath. To get the smell out of the carpet, I went to a commercial janitorial supply store and got some stuff called Urine Digester. You can mix it up and soak the carpet in it, then rinse it out. It may take more than one shot to get all the stink out.
 
Thanks Halfafish, just what I was looking for!

I got the majority of the nest out of the trunk by holding my breath, and doing the work outside.. I will put on a respirator when I go to sticking my head in the truck and removing the floor mat. Off to find urine digester, and Angry Orange Oder Eliminator..
 
Set a couple of traps with peanut butter to make sure there gone. I pulled a car from storage in my garage. Set traps and got 3 of them.
 
Scott_ 69HemiDart said:
Also check under the cowl..................I had to vacuum everything out of there as well.
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Help me understand what might commonly be known as the cowl.. Is this the area below the wiper blades, including down to the heat blower motor area? How do I get good access to the cowl?
 
chryslercruiser said:
Help me understand what might commonly be known as the cowl.. Is this the area below the wiper blades, including down to the heat blower motor area? How do I get good access to the cowl?
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That is correct. I went through the heater box assembly on each side and was able to insert a flexible vacuum hose to suck everything out of there. My situation was a little different since the car was sitting in a garage for more than 50 years.
 
Scott_ 69HemiDart said:
That is correct. I went through the heater box assembly on each side and was able to insert a flexible vacuum hose to suck everything out of there. My situation was a little different since the car was sitting in a garage for more than 50 years.
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Thank You. Not much fun, but I will be relieved to get it done, and know it is clean!
 
I take a sticky trap with a dab of peanut butter on it and put it in a plastic Skippy pb jar.
You have to bend the sticky trap to put it in, so the mice can't get stuck and drag it all over the place.
Put the cap on and toss it.

I also keep a small piece of 2x4 cedar from the kid's swingset in the car, best deterrent I have ever come across.
The key is to sand it once a year to keep it smelling, for some reason they hate it.
 
I like sticky traps had mice running a rave party in the attic every nite making a racket I got 3 in one night on a single trap.
 
I used Resolve Urine Destroyer, in a spray bottle. Worked pretty good. Still required lots of cleaning/wiping.
 
halfafish said:
If you haven't dealt with this before, be sure to wear at least a painter's mask and gloves when cleaning up the bulk of this mess - it's nasty stuff and can hurt you.
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ABSOLUTELY. That is GOOD advice. I have seen many car shows on TV where they clean out mouse mess without masks or gloves. That is not very smart.
 
matthon said:
I take a sticky trap with a dab of peanut butter on it

I also keep a small piece of 2x4 cedar from the kid's swingset in the car, best deterrent I have ever come across.
The key is to sand it once a year to keep it smelling, for some reason they hate it.
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I now have a 4 gallon bucket swimming pool with 1" aluminum dowel, and Peanut butter on two pop rivets opposed in the middle, and cheese stuck on the ends and PB on the cheese.. so I can catch multiples of the suckers..

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I am going to put a whole TREE WORTH of Cedar in all of my vehicles.. Ive played with dryer sheets, and moth balls, and not been too satisfied with the results or the smell..
 
My buddy kept getting mice in his camper when stored for the winter. They were eating his cushions. I told him to put a bowl of (green) anti-freeze with a plank (ramp) in there for the winter. Come spring he had about ten dead mice in it. No damage.
 
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