It's that time of the year

[Donald]

Started my lawn tractor and ran it for a few minutes. Stopped it to clear the chute. Smelled a little smoke like burning leaves. Lifted the hood to see a mouse climbing out of the flywheel and looking at me. After a minute or so he ran back into the engine. Started engine hoping his nest was not fully constructed yet. Saw him run out the bottom the the engine and into the grass.

So mouses are looking for their winter homes in your OPE, your house and your car.

I will say, have seen mice in both of the Subaru vehicles but never in Ford pickup.

 

[Brian123]

Sounds like you need to get a cat or a shed.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

They love to nest on top of that flat boxer engine under the intake. Can we put mothballs in pantyhose tied up somewher under the hood? Do they dislike that?
Also mothball in the air filter box?

 

[Touring5]

They love to nest on top of that flat boxer engine under the intake. Can we put mothballs in pantyhose tied up somewher under the hood? Do they dislike that?
Also mothball in the air filter box?

Well, I believe naptha (napthalene) is commonly used in fuel cleaners so it may be beneficial?

 

[tnt_motorsports]

mothballs have a harsh smell. We prefer to use Bounce sheets in our camper. It works for us and we haven't had a problem in our 5 years of ownership...

Just my $0.02

 

[Donald]

Sounds like you need to get a cat or a shed.

We have 8x12 she'd. But my Mastiff uses it as his dog house.

We had a cat but he stopped going out when he about 10 yr old.

Both cars have a Mouse Blocker Pro to deter mice.

 

[Astro_Guy]

I've had a lot of mice set up camp on my JD140 lawn tractor. I honestly can't say that this ended well for any of them.

 

[Donald]

I've had a lot of mice set up camp on my JD140 lawn tractor. I honestly can't say that this ended well for any of them.

The mice in the past have built nests between the engine and the shroud around the engine. I am most worried about a fire from the mouse nest burning.

 

[repairman54]

Mouse nest in the motor blocking cooling air and overheats the motor. Probably would warp or burn a exhaust valve before it catches fire.
I regularly toss some mouse blocks under my shed, too small for the dog to get under and use a kid / pet safe feeding station in the yard to kill'em outside before they try to get in.

 

[RyanY]

I see that the OP is in NY so options may be limited, but we encourage snakes and other predators to inhabit the surroundings. The vermin don't stand a chance against copperheads and garter snakes! Some of the neighbors are not snake friendly and constantly bi+ch about mice and roof rats. We have no vermin except the GDamn squirrels dropping acorns on my cars...

 

[jeepman3071]

I see a ton of engine issues with customer OPE from mice. What usually happens is the machine overheats and either blows the head gasket, pops a valve seat out of the cylinder head, or in extreme cases burns all of it's oil up and seizes.

I've had good luck using the strong smelling dryer sheets (not the store brand) and keeping them around the fans of the engines, but I change them every 3 months or so, and my equipment is stored in a shed full of mouse traps. Mint extract and other strong smelling essential oils work well to keep them away. I have dryer sheets in my vehicles' glove boxes too.

 

[dlundblad]

My pole barn isn’t 100% tight. I do have the hoods up on all my stuff. Never an issue mouse wise.