do you park in a garage? Mice are a huge problem in garages in the winter here where I am. I've seen them run right under the door pushing the rubber bumper up to get in. I've filled in two knot holes and they remove the filling. Ugh. They chew on the wood siding to try to get in.

I have those glue traps set around the garage to catch them. I guess when I catch a couple critters more just move in, but at least they don't get too comfortable. I would suggest getting glue traps.

My car now has an electrical problem and the mechanic suggested a mouse chewed on a wire and he can find the problem. I did find a short piece of orange yarn on top in my engine block when I was filling the wiper fluid so I know they have been around the engine for warmth. My neighbor had them get up into the car and put a nest in his upholstery, another neighbor found a nest in the glove compartment. If there is an electrical problem from a chew wire the car is ruined.

Poison bait does not seem to work - they are too smart. Snap traps don't work either. Get glue traps for the garage.

A friend had some mice build nests in the air cleaner on his car. They can make a real mess and yes, will chew up anything.

My girlfriend had the same problem with squirrels. She wasn't able to trap them and she couldn't poison them so after her car cooled she'd put an aluminum lasagna pan with dirty cat litter on top of her air filter. Pain in the a*s but it worked.

Then she cleaned out the garage so that she could park inside and the little buggers found their way in. She had to go back to the cat litter. trick.

I'd try the peppermint oil (it needs to be the actual oil and not extract)... a google seach brings up a LOT of hits when I search for "peppermint oil" and mice.

Please don't use the glue traps... if you must kill the mice do it quickly with a snap trap.

I hate to admit it, but I recently got a new car (used but new to me) because mice entered my Subaru Outback and it cost me hundred's to get it fixed---TWICE.

Snap traps don't necessarily kill either. Sometimes the mice just are trapped with a broken leg or neck. My mother uses them in her garage. My mice avoid the traps totally and sometimes steal the bait without getting trapped. Glue traps work.

I've tried to repel them with moth balls and that doesn't work. It just made my garage stink with toxic fumes.

I tried the peppermint oil in cotton balls and they stole them to made a nest with them under my lawn mower. They never even left me a 'Thank You' note. LOL.

Advice to fill holes with steel wool "because they won't chew through it" is false. They do. Filling the holes with Great Stuff doesn't work either they just chew through it. They even chew through Rubbermaid tubs and plastic garbage containers to get at goodies. I've tried hanging my grass seed and fertilizer I buy in large bags on hooks on the wall but they climb the walls and get in the bags and then chew right through the plastic seed and fertilizer containers in the bags.

Chipmunks are another problem too. They chew through cement patches to live under my door stoop. We will never win over nature.

Some of the things suggested may work for some rodents but none of the idea are 'never fail' methods. I guess one has to just keep trying and wage a never ending battle.

Once again... please do not use glue traps. If the peppermint oil doesn't work.. get a humane trap so that you can let the offending mouse go free in the country.

From the link below:
Because of the cruelty of glue traps, many veterinarians have issued affidavits opposing their use. In one such document, Dr. Robert M. Lynn stated, "In my estimation, there is much suffering by the entrapped animals. It is not a sudden or merciful death, but one brought on by starvation and thirst." Dr. Dianne Ferris added, "Because all mammals have similar nervous systems, they are capable of experiencing the same type of pain and suffering. Thus, rodents suffer as much as any other mammal and are capable of being traumatized and abused."

Here is a link that might be useful: Glue board facts

I used decon around the garage up high where pets and kids can't get them. When we left the car for the winter and traveling i put them all over. Yes some got in but not as many. Also watch the intake for the AC and heater. Sometimes the whole dash has to be pulled.

I won't use a sticky trap, either. Too cruel. Snap traps do work, if you use the right bait and change it around, not always using the same thing. And live traps work well, too. I keep one set in the house at all times.

A nice deep, straight-sided garbage can, with a smooth interior can trap a lot of mice or rats. Put some yummy stuff in it, put it next to something they can climb up and they'll jump in and be trapped. I've caught so many mice like that, it's not funny. You'll have to drive them off somewhere to get rid of them, but at least they'll be away from your car.

Woody had a pack rat get inside his big air filter and the car guy was laughing his butt off at the sheer quantity of stuff that he pulled out, almost a half of a WalMart bag full of corn, dog cookies, rat poison, insulation, fluff from the woods, etc. He was shocked that the car would even run, it was so packed. Car guy took a photo for his Wall of Weird.

We don't have as many problems as we used to, now that we have 4 cats.

DD had her car parked on the street while workmen were using her garage for their supplies and work area. A skunk built a partial nest under the hood right next to the windshield. Really stunk it up!

Snap traps do work. The bait is critical. One sure fire bait: Put a small piece of bread in your mouth and chew it a bit, just enough to mix it with salvia. Remove from mouth and roll a small ball about the width of the trap's tredle. Stick the ball of bait into the little hole on the tredle. Set the trap and place in a likely place. The ball of bait will dry and harden and stick to the tredle. It can not be removed without moving the tredle.

The saliva acting on the starches in the bread begins the digestive process by breaking down starch into simple sugars. Mice are very attacted to it.

We use decon in the garage and it works good. I am sorry but a dead mouse is the best mouse. LOL I hate them. They are dirty little rodents. I will not go near them so a live trap won't work for me.

I put mouse poison in our garage in water bottles. Cut a flap in the side, slip in the cube of poison, tape the flap shut. Be sure there is no lid on the bottle. Lay the bottle up high, on its side, where pets and children can not get to them. Mice go in the top and eat and go back out and die someplace.

Sue

Thanks for all your suggestions. Unfortunately I don't have a garage so no kind of trap will work.

A friend of mine had rats chew up the wires on a brand new
Tundra pick up. They did the same thing on her neighbor's new truck. I house sat for her for a month and I dreaded having my truck there...for fear the same thing would happen to it.
It didn't...maybe they like new wires better than those a few years old.

Sorry I can't agree with the non-use of sticky traps.If a mouse is eating the wires in my car I would use whatever I could find that worked.
I have no suggestions on how to get rid of them especially if you live in a rural area and have no place to put your car.For every one you eliminate there are a hundred more to take it's place.Maybe you could surround your car with sticky traps or snap traps every night?LOL I hope you solve the problem soo before anything worse happens to your car.

I have spent hundreds of dollars because of mice. Bummer is my insurance won't pay for rodent damage! I've never heard of cotton balls to keep them away. They have distroyed my wiring/AC/heater wiring etc. many times!
I got more cats.

No doubt these little critters can do some damage but I'm also one of those that would like to see them 'done in' humanely. My old boss used to place those glue traps in the schools kitchen. We found a few trapped inside some traps. It was horrible to watch them struggle to get free. One of them had attempted to chew himself free. I know they're dirty and carry diseases but they still feel pain and get scared. I know, I know... I'm a sap but can't help feeling sorry for them. They don't know any better and are just trying to survive. We set traps when we get them. Sometimes they do steal the bait but within a couple of days we end up with a mouse in the trap. Dead.

For the snap trap I use peanut butter and for hard to catch ones,I use peanut butter with a little bit of chocolate. I've always caught them with that.

But one thing we do for our camper when we put it away for the winter is we put bounce sheets and irish spring bar soap all over the place on the inside and even some on the outside of the camper. This is the first year that this camper has been put away for the winter. We used to do this all the time before we stored away our boat also. There was only onetime that a mouse or other rodent took a bite of the soap. It must have left because there were no signs of droppings, nothing else chewed and no live or dead rodents. Not sure if it will work for you, but it may be something you want to try. Can't hurt.

Woody says that putting a lamp/lightbulb/illumination of some sort under the hood will also keep them away. Could you run a cord out there and plug in a cheapie lamp? I'd say it's worth a try.

If you use a sticky trap, please have the decency and the guts to kill the trapped mouse and not just leave it to scream and starve itself to death. Personally, I couldn't do it, so that's one reason I won't use them. I'm not killing anything that small and cute if I don't have to.

You might try this.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mouse eliminator

This reminds me of an incident we had in the 70's in brutally cold NE OH where we lived. We turned the station wagon heater on & there was a horrible smell. It was so bad, we had to drive with the windows open. Took the wagon for servicing and they had to pull the dashboard out to remove the dog food that squirrels had dropped into the hood/windshield vents. The dog food was "roasting" when the heater was on. DANG rodents!