I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well. The mice come in for the winter and
have destroyed my cabin air filters.

I have found the droppings each year since installing the electronic unit.

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept the
rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.

tiredofspam wrote:
I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well.

Gee, surprise, surprise.

A friend of mine, now deceased, was one of - if not THE - first
manufacturers and purveyors of those gizmos. Made millions. I mentioned to
him, one time, my doubt about their efficacy. He agreed that they didn't
work, said he gave a moneyback guarantee. I asked him how many had been
returned, he said 700; I then asked how many he had sold, he said 700,000.

Amish mantle, anyone? Maybe a 24k gold "clad" coin?
____________

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept
the rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.

Apparently the camphor in them does...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camphor

They make good targets too. Heat a solid copper wire, string on some
mothballs, hang it up and blast away.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On 1/1/2013 4:09 PM, dadiOH wrote:
tiredofspam wrote:
I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well.

Gee, surprise, surprise.

A friend of mine, now deceased, was one of - if not THE - first
manufacturers and purveyors of those gizmos. Made millions. I mentioned to
him, one time, my doubt about their efficacy. He agreed that they didn't
work, said he gave a moneyback guarantee. I asked him how many had been
returned, he said 700; I then asked how many he had sold, he said 700,000.

Amish mantle, anyone? Maybe a 24k gold "clad" coin?
____________

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept
the rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.

Apparently the camphor in them does...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camphor

They make good targets too. Heat a solid copper wire, string on some
mothballs, hang it up and blast away.

Thanks, turns out these have no camphor, these are traditional
napthalene. My garage stinks after 1 dozen balls were put around. Damn,
don't know how the parents and grandparents used to put up with that in
the closets.

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

On 1/1/2013 3:39 PM, tiredofspam wrote:
I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well. The mice come in for the winter and
have destroyed my cabin air filters.

I have found the droppings each year since installing the electronic unit.

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept the
rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.


I don't mind the smell of mothballs. I use it in the boat to keep
rodents out, it also works for some insects

As for keeping the rust away, I doubt it though have no experience using
it in that way. To keep the rust away it has to be a material that will
absorb water. Mothballs will not.

I use a good silicon auto polish on my tools, table saw, drill press,
etc. I have heard that the silicon will interfere with the finish on
wood cut with the tools, but I have never experienced any problems.

With the table saw, I also have a piece of plywood that covers the
table. This keeps the moist air are from coming in contact with the
cold iron table.

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:39:28 -0500, tiredofspam nospam.nospam.com
wrote:

I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well. The mice come in for the winter and
have destroyed my cabin air filters.

I have found the droppings each year since installing the electronic unit.

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept the
rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.

Similar problem in my garage. Mice were getting under the hood of the
car, nesting and causing issues that resulted in hundreds of dollars
in repair bills. I did a few things that have stopped the critters
99%. First I closed up any gaps I could in the garage doors. Set about
a dozen traps. Shaved Zest deoderant soap and placed on the garage
floor. Finally, I bought a few Ratzappers, which work like a charm.
Took some daily maintenance and trap emptying but after about 10 days
I haven't seen nor caught a mouse. YMMV. Good luck!

On 1/1/2013 2:39 PM, tiredofspam wrote:

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

They do work well for mice. For some reason the little ****s love the
wiring on Corvettes. While I don't mothball the car over the winter
(pun intended) it doesn't get much use. It sits in the garage with a
battery maintainer and a pair of my wife's used panty hose straddling
the engine. In each foot of the hose is a half box of fresh (each year)
mothballs. Works like a charm.


I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept the
rust away. Is this true?

Never heard that ... Active ingredient in mothballs/crystals is
Naptha/Napthalene. The old machinist's trick/tip that I have used in
the past and which I know works well is to buy a block of menthol
(composition is similar to, but a bit denser) than moth crystals. I
managed to find some (haven't seen in recent years) at a pharmacy. It
was a block about 1"x1½"x½" wrapped in clear cellophane. I'd throw it
in the tool box after lightly scoring the cellophane so the vapors could
escape slowly.

Maybe naptha crystals would work as well. Time to DAGSg

On 1/1/2013 8:32 PM, tommyboy wrote:
On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:39:28 -0500, tiredofspam nospam.nospam.com
wrote:

I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well. The mice come in for the winter and
have destroyed my cabin air filters.

I have found the droppings each year since installing the electronic unit.

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept the
rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.

Similar problem in my garage. Mice were getting under the hood of the
car, nesting and causing issues that resulted in hundreds of dollars
in repair bills. I did a few things that have stopped the critters
99%. First I closed up any gaps I could in the garage doors. Set about
a dozen traps. Shaved Zest deoderant soap and placed on the garage
floor. Finally, I bought a few Ratzappers, which work like a charm.
Took some daily maintenance and trap emptying but after about 10 days
I haven't seen nor caught a mouse. YMMV. Good luck!

Living in farm country there is an abundance of them. The electronic
device was on the recommedation of my car dealer after the 4th
replacement and nest.
Zest ???
I have tried the trap routine. I have been clipped by the trap going off
as much as the mice.

ratzapper??? I'll have to check that out.

Thanks, turns out these have no camphor, these are traditional
napthalene. My garage stinks after 1 dozen balls were put around. Damn,
don't know how the parents and grandparents used to put up with that in
the closets.

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Are you sure? I thought naphthalene was banned for that use due to
flammability. Dichlorobenzene was substitued, similar sweet smell.

tiredofspam nospam.nospam.com wrote in
:

On 1/1/2013 4:09 PM, dadiOH wrote:
tiredofspam wrote:
I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well.

Gee, surprise, surprise.

A friend of mine, now deceased, was one of - if not THE - first
manufacturers and purveyors of those gizmos. Made millions. I
mentioned to him, one time, my doubt about their efficacy. He agreed
that they didn't work, said he gave a moneyback guarantee. I asked
him how many had been returned, he said 700; I then asked how many he
had sold, he said 700,000.

Amish mantle, anyone? Maybe a 24k gold "clad" coin?
____________

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them
around the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them,
he backed away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept
the rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can
preseve some tools by throwing a ball in there.

Apparently the camphor in them does...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camphor

They make good targets too. Heat a solid copper wire, string on some
mothballs, hang it up and blast away.

Thanks, turns out these have no camphor, these are traditional
napthalene. My garage stinks after 1 dozen balls were put around.
Damn, don't know how the parents and grandparents used to put up with
that in the closets.

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Other mothballs are paradichlorobenzene, so it's important to know what
flavor you want for a particular off-label application.

I've had very good luck with wind up repeating mouse traps. They get a
bit gross if left unattended too long, but they've definitely cut our
mouse problem WAY down.

http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/ca...ster-clear-top

works well with this bait:

http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/lure/pecan-paste

Doug White

On 1/1/2013 9:29 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:
Thanks, turns out these have no camphor, these are traditional
napthalene. My garage stinks after 1 dozen balls were put around. Damn,
don't know how the parents and grandparents used to put up with that in
the closets.

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Are you sure? I thought naphthalene was banned for that use due to
flammability. Dichlorobenzene was substitued, similar sweet smell.

The ingredients say Napthalene ( I was surprised too because off all
the websites it explained the hazards of napthalene)... got it at
Walmart package says
traditional moth balls

On 1/1/2013 8:20 PM, tiredofspam wrote:

ratzapper??? I'll have to check that out.

Ratzapper's are the, uh, cat's assg

Really work well. We've had great luck containing the rodent population
in the garage/shop area. They go in and they don't come out. Little
pilot light on top tells you when you've killed one and need to dump it
out. No need to touch the mouse or...

Powered by AA batteries they will electrocute even good sized rats.
Friend of mine in San Diego tipped me off to them. They have tree or
roof rats out there. Damn things will hardly fit inside the zapper but
if they try... R.I.P.

Keep it close to the wall and parallel to the baseboard. I usually drop
one or two nuggets of dry dog food in when I set it.

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:52:35 -0600, Unquestionably Confused
wrote:

On 1/1/2013 8:20 PM, tiredofspam wrote:

ratzapper??? I'll have to check that out.

Ratzapper's are the, uh, cat's assg

Really work well. We've had great luck containing the rodent population
in the garage/shop area. They go in and they don't come out. Little
pilot light on top tells you when you've killed one and need to dump it
out. No need to touch the mouse or...

Powered by AA batteries they will electrocute even good sized rats.
Friend of mine in San Diego tipped me off to them. They have tree or
roof rats out there. Damn things will hardly fit inside the zapper but
if they try... R.I.P.

Keep it close to the wall and parallel to the baseboard. I usually drop
one or two nuggets of dry dog food in when I set it.




I just checked out their website. I'm not apposed to killing rats,
but I'm amused they call the traps "humane". I guess they mean "quick
and final"

I use poison. I have some in the shop however I keep plenty outside in the
yard. My preference is to kill them before they get inside.

We used to have a cat that took care of that sort of thing for us. Then she
died. Then the rats came. Lots of traps, sealing the walls, under the
house, etc. For some reason they won't go in my garage. I think that
another cat has claimed that as his territory. Fine with me.

My solution? We got another cat. When we first got him as a kitten, the
rats were unimpressed. But it did not take long for growth and natural born
predator instincts to kick in. Now the little guy plays with our dog all
the time. They are best of buddies and burn up a lot of energy (and
calories). I tell my wife that he is training on the dog to kill rats.
Since he is now about half the size of the dog and much bigger than a rat,
he will do just fine. He will pounce on anything, moving or not. I know it
is old school, but it is the only that has worked for me.

On 1/1/2013 9:02 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:


I just checked out their website. I'm not apposed to killing rats,
but I'm amused they call the traps "humane". I guess they mean "quick
and final"

LOL! Frankly, I don't care if the rat zapper traps them and beats them
to deathg I've seen in the past where a mouse will get caught in a
trap along the side and close to the axis of the trap arm. They can
live a bit if the neck isn't snapped.

Ditto with the wind up multi-mouse trap (galvanized metal contraption
that will store their little corpse until the smell enough to attract
your attentiong

Perhaps by comparison that high voltage with a healthy dose of current
is better.

All I know is that it works. I put two tiny nuggets of dry dog food in
and when I go to empty it I get two nuggets of dry dog food and a dead
mouse coming out.

On 1/1/2013 7:58 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:


Never heard that ... Active ingredient in mothballs/crystals is
Naptha/Napthalene. The old machinist's trick/tip that I have used in
the past and which I know works well is to buy a block of menthol
(composition is similar to, but a bit denser) than moth crystals. I
managed to find some (haven't seen in recent years) at a pharmacy. It
was a block about 1"x1½"x½" wrapped in clear cellophane. I'd throw it
in the tool box after lightly scoring the cellophane so the vapors could
escape slowly.


My error. The machinist's trick involved CAMPHOR blocks. Apparently,
they are used in some aromatherapy situations as well.

At any rate, they are available on Ebay, Amazon, and, I'm told, can be
ordered through the pharmacy at drug stores like WalMart, Walgreens.

Not sure on the drugstores but it's fairly plentiful on Amazon and Ebay.
A pound (16 1oz blocks sealed in cellophane, each containing four
tablets) will run you about $15 or

Sorry for the earlier confusion. If you rushed out and bought some
menthol, you may be able to use it yet this winter if you get a cold

LOL

tiredofspam wrote:

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Not likely but even if it did I wouldn't want them around
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothball

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:20:47 -0600, Unquestionably Confused
wrote:

On 1/1/2013 9:02 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:


I just checked out their website. I'm not apposed to killing rats,
but I'm amused they call the traps "humane". I guess they mean "quick
and final"

LOL! Frankly, I don't care if the rat zapper traps them and beats them
to deathg I've seen in the past where a mouse will get caught in a
trap along the side and close to the axis of the trap arm. They can
live a bit if the neck isn't snapped.

Ditto with the wind up multi-mouse trap (galvanized metal contraption
that will store their little corpse until the smell enough to attract
your attentiong

Perhaps by comparison that high voltage with a healthy dose of current
is better.

All I know is that it works. I put two tiny nuggets of dry dog food in
and when I go to empty it I get two nuggets of dry dog food and a dead
mouse coming out.

In the summer, I use my Ratzappers to keep the chipmunk population
under control.

On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:54:18 -0600, Unquestionably Confused
wrote:

On 1/1/2013 7:58 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:


Never heard that ... Active ingredient in mothballs/crystals is
Naptha/Napthalene. The old machinist's trick/tip that I have used in
the past and which I know works well is to buy a block of menthol
(composition is similar to, but a bit denser) than moth crystals. I
managed to find some (haven't seen in recent years) at a pharmacy. It
was a block about 1"x1½"x½" wrapped in clear cellophane. I'd throw it
in the tool box after lightly scoring the cellophane so the vapors could
escape slowly.


My error. The machinist's trick involved CAMPHOR blocks. Apparently,
they are used in some aromatherapy situations as well.

At any rate, they are available on Ebay, Amazon, and, I'm told, can be
ordered through the pharmacy at drug stores like WalMart, Walgreens.

Not sure on the drugstores but it's fairly plentiful on Amazon and Ebay.
A pound (16 1oz blocks sealed in cellophane, each containing four
tablets) will run you about $15 or

Sorry for the earlier confusion. If you rushed out and bought some
menthol, you may be able to use it yet this winter if you get a cold

LOL
Is this the stuff used in urinals?

tommyboy wrote:
On Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:54:18 -0600, Unquestionably Confused
wrote:

On 1/1/2013 7:58 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:


Never heard that ... Active ingredient in mothballs/crystals is
Naptha/Napthalene. The old machinist's trick/tip that I have used in
the past and which I know works well is to buy a block of menthol
(composition is similar to, but a bit denser) than moth crystals. I
managed to find some (haven't seen in recent years) at a pharmacy. It
was a block about 1"x1½"x½" wrapped in clear cellophane. I'd throw it
in the tool box after lightly scoring the cellophane so the vapors could
escape slowly.


My error. The machinist's trick involved CAMPHOR blocks. Apparently,
they are used in some aromatherapy situations as well.

At any rate, they are available on Ebay, Amazon, and, I'm told, can be
ordered through the pharmacy at drug stores like WalMart, Walgreens.

Not sure on the drugstores but it's fairly plentiful on Amazon and Ebay.
A pound (16 1oz blocks sealed in cellophane, each containing four
tablets) will run you about $15 or

Sorry for the earlier confusion. If you rushed out and bought some
menthol, you may be able to use it yet this winter if you get a cold

LOL
Is this the stuff used in urinals?

No. That is, or used to be, paradichlorobenzene.

--
G.W. Ross

I'm not 70 something, I'm 59.95 plus shipping and handling.

On 1/2/2013 7:03 AM, G. Ross wrote:
tommyboy wrote:

Is this the stuff used in urinals?

No. That is, or used to be, paradichlorobenzene.



Actually, when I DAGS to source the camphor cakes, urinal cakes did come
up. I didn't dig deep enough to find out the ingredients but there are
urinal cakes which they claim have a camphor scent. I strongly suspect
it was just a coincidence as my search term was camphor cakes.

The camphor releases a vapor which then covers the metal (and other
things, I suppose) which are in the same enclosed area. I wonder if
camphor IS present in sufficient quantity in the urinal cakes to have
some effect or if paradichlorobenzene would also "vaporize" and
accomplish the same thing as the camphor.

On 1/2/2013 5:44 AM, tommyboy wrote:


In the summer, I use my Ratzappers to keep the chipmunk population
under control.

Yep, my wife likes that it keeps the population down in her gardens.

As I said, if it'll fit, it'll "Phzzzt!!" g

On 1/1/2013 9:31 PM, Lee Michaels wrote:
We used to have a cat that took care of that sort of thing for us. Then
she died. Then the rats came. Lots of traps, sealing the walls, under
the house, etc. For some reason they won't go in my garage. I think
that another cat has claimed that as his territory. Fine with me.

My solution? We got another cat. When we first got him as a kitten,
the rats were unimpressed. But it did not take long for growth and
natural born predator instincts to kick in. Now the little guy plays
with our dog all the time. They are best of buddies and burn up a lot
of energy (and calories). I tell my wife that he is training on the dog
to kill rats. Since he is now about half the size of the dog and much
bigger than a rat, he will do just fine. He will pounce on anything,
moving or not. I know it is old school, but it is the only that has
worked for me.

Was fixin' to ask that very question ... whatever happened to the
outdoor cat?

Mid last century, dual purpose, multitasking solution: And to keep me
warm, I used to carry our old momma cat, who met me outside the kitchen
door each morning, inside my jacket on the long walk to the barn to feed
on a cold morning before daylight.

We had oak whiskey barrels which stored the horse and cattle feed, and
most mornings there was generally a mouse or two in one of those
barrels. Due to the one weak light bulb in the middle of the feed room
you could never tell which, so reaching in with a feed scoop would
eventually get you a rat/mouse running up your arm.

Enter the country boy solution ... and why god made cats. Cat thrown in
first, out comes cat with mouse. If not, onto the next barrel.

Organic, eco friendly, and no gasp carbon footprint ...

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On 1/1/2013 8:29 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:
Thanks, turns out these have no camphor, these are traditional
napthalene. My garage stinks after 1 dozen balls were put around. Damn,
don't know how the parents and grandparents used to put up with that in
the closets.

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Are you sure? I thought naphthalene was banned for that use due to
flammability. Dichlorobenzene was substitued, similar sweet smell.

Just as an aside, and when I was a kid, those old mothballs containing
napthalene were also used in an old horseman's trick for curing a horse
who was lame from a foot/hoof injury.

Back in my farrier days, I would heat mothballs in a coffee can on the
forge in the back of my truck, pour the temporarily liquified contents
into a freshly cleaned hoof, and hold the hoof up until the melted
mothballs re-hardened. This had an immediate numbing, anesthetic effect.

Most always, by the time you put the foot back on the ground, the horse
could magically walk off as if it had never had a problem, lasting
perhaps for several days. (I used this trick, along with some corrective
shoeing, to keep my prized steer roping horse, who was worth a ton of
money but had chronic laminitis, ready for work).

The problem was that many a lame horse was sold this way, so part of
"Caveat Emptor" when buying a horse in the old days was keeping your
nose out for the smell of mothballs in the sellers stable ... "Oh that
smell? That's for keeping out the rats!"

Yeah, right ...

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On Wed, 02 Jan 2013 02:36:57 GMT, Doug White
wrote:

tiredofspam nospam.nospam.com wrote in
:

On 1/1/2013 4:09 PM, dadiOH wrote:
tiredofspam wrote:
I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well.

Gee, surprise, surprise.

A friend of mine, now deceased, was one of - if not THE - first
manufacturers and purveyors of those gizmos. Made millions. I
mentioned to him, one time, my doubt about their efficacy. He agreed
that they didn't work, said he gave a moneyback guarantee. I asked
him how many had been returned, he said 700; I then asked how many he
had sold, he said 700,000.

Amish mantle, anyone? Maybe a 24k gold "clad" coin?
____________

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them
around the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them,
he backed away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept
the rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can
preseve some tools by throwing a ball in there.

Apparently the camphor in them does...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camphor

They make good targets too. Heat a solid copper wire, string on some
mothballs, hang it up and blast away.

Thanks, turns out these have no camphor, these are traditional
napthalene. My garage stinks after 1 dozen balls were put around.
Damn, don't know how the parents and grandparents used to put up with
that in the closets.

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Other mothballs are paradichlorobenzene, so it's important to know what
flavor you want for a particular off-label application.

I've had very good luck with wind up repeating mouse traps. They get a
bit gross if left unattended too long, but they've definitely cut our
mouse problem WAY down.

http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/ca...ster-clear-top

works well with this bait:

http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/lure/pecan-paste

Peanut butter and garlic is my fave combo, and it doesn't cost $40 a
pound like that stuff. Oy vay!

But unbaited traps have the same luck as baited traps if you set them
properly. Put them against a wall you know mice use as a runway,
trigger toward the wall. Half of them die just running over the trap,
not even going for the bait. I killed a whole family in one day/eve
that way. After a week of no more kills, I put the traps back in a
plastic bag for next time.

--
You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore
the consequences of ignoring reality.
--Ayn Rand

On Tue, 1 Jan 2013 19:30:18 -0800, "Pat" wrote:

I use poison. I have some in the shop however I keep plenty outside in the
yard. My preference is to kill them before they get inside.

Yeah, keep the poison out of the house. I stopped using it after a
mouse died inside my wall. 6 weeks of rotting cadaver in the house
was too much. There was no way to get it out.

--
You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore
the consequences of ignoring reality.
--Ayn Rand

On 1/1/2013 10:31 PM, Lee Michaels wrote:
We used to have a cat that took care of that sort of thing for us. Then
she died. Then the rats came. Lots of traps, sealing the walls, under
the house, etc. For some reason they won't go in my garage. I think
that another cat has claimed that as his territory. Fine with me.

My solution? We got another cat. When we first got him as a kitten,
the rats were unimpressed. But it did not take long for growth and
natural born predator instincts to kick in. Now the little guy plays
with our dog all the time. They are best of buddies and burn up a lot
of energy (and calories). I tell my wife that he is training on the dog
to kill rats. Since he is now about half the size of the dog and much
bigger than a rat, he will do just fine. He will pounce on anything,
moving or not. I know it is old school, but it is the only that has
worked for me.


He may be. We had a lab that our cat taught how to work as a team to
catch what ever was available. The dog would play with anything.
After some time with the cat the cat had trained the dog to cover the
opposite exit while he went in the other. They were a team.

As far as closing up a building to prevent mice from getting in.

I have been told by the pest control people that if you can put a lead
pencil through the hole in the wall a mouse will come through it.

Pencil for the current techies is a piece of wood with a thin center of
graphite, or similar material that is used by some people to write in
cursive on paper or other material. Cursive is the squiggly form of
making letters. They can not be made from a touch table or keyboard. ;-)

Keith Nuttle wrote in news:kc1l6n$85q$1
@speranza.aioe.org:

*snip*

Pencil for the current techies is a piece of wood with a thin center of
graphite, or similar material that is used by some people to write in
cursive on paper or other material. Cursive is the squiggly form of
making letters. They can not be made from a touch table or keyboard. ;-)

There are many styluses that are about the proper size. ;-)

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

On 1/2/2013 4:32 AM, dadiOH wrote:
tiredofspam wrote:

I have not been able to find out whether the napthalene have the same
effect as the camphor.

Not likely but even if it did I wouldn't want them around
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothball


We had a problem with moles and such eating the flowers and bulbs in the
garden. We were told by one lady that when planting flowers and bulb,
to put a coupld of mothballs in the hole, then continue the standard
planting routine.

Rat/Mouse exterminator.

Rent an ozone generator.

Seal room as best you can, place generator in center of room,
and make sure everybody has left the room.

Run the ozone generator for 2-3 days, then shuft off generator,
and allow ozone to completely escape room before attempting to enter.

Does a great job getting rid of critters as well as mold.

Does a great job clearing out a boat interior.

One caveat.

Ozone plays hell with rubber.

Probably have to replace fan belts, hoses, etc.

Lew

I just checked out their website. I'm not apposed to killing rats,
but I'm amused they call the traps "humane". I guess they mean "quick
and final"

LOL! Frankly, I don't care if the rat zapper traps them and beats them
to deathg I've seen in the past where a mouse will get caught in a
trap along the side and close to the axis of the trap arm. They can
live a bit if the neck isn't snapped.

I worked in an office building once that had rats in the space above
the hung ceiling panels. We could hear the rats scurrying around:
"tap tap tap tap... tap tap tap tap". They used sticky pads as pest
control.

Afterwards, it sounded like: "tap tap tap THUNK.... tap tap tap
THUNK."

In article ,
tiredofspam nospam.nospam.com wrote:
I have a mouse problem in my garage, I've tried the electronic
pesticide.. it's not working well. The mice come in for the winter and
have destroyed my cabin air filters.

I have found the droppings each year since installing the electronic unit.

So now I am trying an old remedy of mothballs. I sprinkled them around
the garage perimeter, fortunately my dog won't go near them, he backed
away from the smell. And boy do they stink.

I think I read years ago that throwing one in a draw with tools kept the
rust away. Is this true?

I hate the smell but have a bunch left, and wondered if I can preseve
some tools by throwing a ball in there.


Old fashioned moth balls were made from camphor or napthalene. Camphor
is a natural non-toxic product derived from certain plants. Napthalene
is a petroleum product. Both "sublimate," i.e. evaporate from a solid
directly into a gas, with no liquid phase. The gas in turn condeneses on
other surfaces, like tools, as a waxy or oily substance that does provide
some rust or corrosion protection. Camphor is relatively expensive
and napthalene is flammable so neither are very common as "moth balls"
these days. Most modern moth balls are made from paradichorobenzene, which
is which is effective but also toxic to humans and animals. I don't know if
it has any corrosion resistant properties. I've purchased camphor for
this purpose from Amazon and other sources over the years but never tried
a controlled experiment of any kind to see if it is really effective.



--
There are no stupid questions, but there are lots of stupid answers.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

On 1/2/2013 4:34 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
Rat/Mouse exterminator.

Rent an ozone generator.

Seal room as best you can, place generator in center of room,
and make sure everybody has left the room.

Run the ozone generator for 2-3 days, then shuft off generator,
and allow ozone to completely escape room before attempting to enter.

Does a great job getting rid of critters as well as mold.

Does a great job clearing out a boat interior.

One caveat.

So you are saying the choice is between killing the mice and bad bugs
with ozone and having to replace all of the rubber in your shop; and
letting the mice and bugs eat the rubber and having to replace all of them

"Keith Nuttle" wrote:

So you are saying the choice is between killing the mice and bad
bugs with ozone and having to replace all of the rubber in your
shop; and letting the mice and bugs eat the rubber and having to
replace all of them
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You could always move any rubber items to another area.

Lew

On 1/2/2013 4:34 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
Rat/Mouse exterminator.

Rent an ozone generator.

Seal room as best you can, place generator in center of room,
and make sure everybody has left the room.

Run the ozone generator for 2-3 days, then shuft off generator,
and allow ozone to completely escape room before attempting to enter.

Does a great job getting rid of critters as well as mold.

Does a great job clearing out a boat interior.

One caveat.

Ozone plays hell with rubber.

Probably have to replace fan belts, hoses, etc.

Lew



Think I'll skip that one Lew.

On 1/2/2013 10:54 AM, Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 1/1/2013 10:31 PM, Lee Michaels wrote:
We used to have a cat that took care of that sort of thing for us. Then
she died. Then the rats came. Lots of traps, sealing the walls, under
the house, etc. For some reason they won't go in my garage. I think
that another cat has claimed that as his territory. Fine with me.

My solution? We got another cat. When we first got him as a kitten,
the rats were unimpressed. But it did not take long for growth and
natural born predator instincts to kick in. Now the little guy plays
with our dog all the time. They are best of buddies and burn up a lot
of energy (and calories). I tell my wife that he is training on the dog
to kill rats. Since he is now about half the size of the dog and much
bigger than a rat, he will do just fine. He will pounce on anything,
moving or not. I know it is old school, but it is the only that has
worked for me.


He may be. We had a lab that our cat taught how to work as a team to
catch what ever was available. The dog would play with anything. After
some time with the cat the cat had trained the dog to cover the
opposite exit while he went in the other. They were a team.

As far as closing up a building to prevent mice from getting in.

I have been told by the pest control people that if you can put a lead
pencil through the hole in the wall a mouse will come through it.

Pencil for the current techies is a piece of wood with a thin center of
graphite, or similar material that is used by some people to write in
cursive on paper or other material. Cursive is the squiggly form of
making letters. They can not be made from a touch table or keyboard. ;-)

I though dogs were hunters and knew that already.
Whenever I watch wolves hunt on the tv shows, you always see them
working as a team, a bunch always leave to cover escape routes while the
others push them to the kill zone.

On 1/2/2013 3:34 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
Rat/Mouse exterminator.

Rent an ozone generator.

Seal room as best you can, place generator in center of room,
and make sure everybody has left the room.

Run the ozone generator for 2-3 days, then shuft off generator,
and allow ozone to completely escape room before attempting to enter.

Does a great job getting rid of critters as well as mold.

Other than the obvious downsides you already mentioned, does ozone cause
the mice to line up in a neat row next to the generator or on a dustpan
perhaps?

If not, I'm thinking that the cure could be worse than the disease.
Hide and seek with teeny, tiny corpses? Mickey goes toes up inside the
sofa, underneath the false bottom of the china cabinet, etc.

You'd need to run the ozone generator for a couple more weeks to get rid
of the stench.

Rat Zapper works quite well.

On 1/2/2013 4:11 PM, Zz Yzx wrote:
I just checked out their website. I'm not apposed to killing rats,
but I'm amused they call the traps "humane". I guess they mean "quick
and final"

LOL! Frankly, I don't care if the rat zapper traps them and beats them
to deathg I've seen in the past where a mouse will get caught in a
trap along the side and close to the axis of the trap arm. They can
live a bit if the neck isn't snapped.

I worked in an office building once that had rats in the space above
the hung ceiling panels. We could hear the rats scurrying around:
"tap tap tap tap... tap tap tap tap". They used sticky pads as pest
control.

Afterwards, it sounded like: "tap tap tap THUNK.... tap tap tap
THUNK."


And on Pretend You're a Pirate Day nobody seemed to careg

On 1/1/2013 10:30 PM, Pat wrote:
I use poison. I have some in the shop however I keep plenty outside in
the yard. My preference is to kill them before they get inside.

That won't work here. My dog means more to me than the mice.
He's getting on in years at 13, but still tries to act like a pup.
Anyway he's going to break my heart when he goes, the last thing I want
to do is kill him instead of the mice.

On 1/2/2013 4:14 PM, Larry W wrote:

these days. Most modern moth balls are made from paradichorobenzene, which
is which is effective but also toxic to humans and animals. I don't know if
it has any corrosion resistant properties. I've purchased camphor for
this purpose from Amazon and other sources over the years but never tried
a controlled experiment of any kind to see if it is really effective.

I never tried the moth balls for this purpose (rust preventative)
however I can attest - at least anecdotally that the camphor blocks
worked like a charm for me and, likely would have worked quite well in
their intended environment.

Machinist's chests are a nice closed contained. I placed a block or two
- just as one would for machine tools - inside a short, felt lined,
canvas case - also known as a gun case. The case contained a short
barreled 12 ga Remington 870 with a pistol grip and extended magazine.
It sat, locked and loaded in the trunk of my car 12/7 and I would only
clean and oil it every six months or so. Before the camphor blocks, I
would have to take it out every 3-4 weeks (either that or leave it
slathered in gun oil (and gummy is bad))and work it over with a lightly
oiled cloth. During the change of seasons Fall/Winter and Winter/Spring
where there was a wide variation in temps, I'd have to wipe it down
every weekend. PITA.

Camphor cured that. New blocks every six months and never s spot of
rust and I'd just wipe it down with a silicone impregnated cloth, kept
in the case, after taking it out of the case when needed. It should
work most everywhere elseg