Vintage vehicle winter storage

[aj.lec]

Double dose of spider bombs work well on just about anything in area it is misting .
Spiders ,cockroaches ,mice and snakes .
Do that every month , in conjunction with a few baits and that should minimise damage

[Phil Waterman]

Yup it is that time of year to seal things up and protect them, remember my experiences last year with something crawling all the way in to the valve ports through the manifold http://orbit.dnsrouter.com/~mlu/foru...ad.php?t=14498. What really bother me about that was along with the acorns the critter hauled in it carried in enough rat poison pellets to take out a lot of mice, rates and anything else but it still got into the engine and did damage.

So remember to seal up exhaust pipes, soda cans seem to work well.

If you want to do a quality check of your cats work on keeping the critters down, a friend of mine Dr. Duce has a critter early detection system he uses. Steve saves toilet paper tubes with the last one or two squares of TP still attached he carefully tears the end sheet so that he has a clean square edge he then leaves these around his shop and vehicles. If he sees a ragged edge he knows the critters are in the area.

Personally I have two methods I'm using one plain hold mouse and rat traps peanut butter seems to be the best bate. The other is one that I have used for years on my HUP. For some reason mice like to build nest in the rear seat tool box tried various the things the best one is antifreeze I leave an open gallon jug with a couple of table spoons of fresh antifreeze still in the jug. Lay the jug on it side without the cap. No more mice nests in the seat box.

But thanks for bringing this issue up again. Did several things one went and covered all the exhaust pipes, refreshed the moth ball pans in all the hardware cabinets. Baited the traps. And made a note to put a tech tip reminder club newsletter.

Cheers Phil

[mike mckinley]

in addition to the above mentioned methods of rodent control, here is one that works pretty decent. get a plastic bucket..say 3 gallon, dump in about 2 gallons of used engine oil. take a piece of wood strapping and set it up so that the mice can crawl up to the top of the bucket and dive in. there is something about oil that attracts the mice, and once they get in the drink, they can't get out, and end up drowning.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Rot-tawa is feeling the effects of a resurgent rat population. Mild winter, wet and humid summer, new city-sponsored curbside compost pickup, low price street drugs, the return of Parliament, etc. Added together, we have more critters than even last year. I have gray and black squirrels in my immediate area, a skunk fell in a window well, and ... a family of raccoons that prowl the garbage cans. The mono-coloured beggars get killed in traffic and avoid the Jeep shelter. But the stripey ones have free run of the yard, to the point one crapped on the back porch right beside the back door.

Before I have to argue with a raccoon for drivers' seat privileges, any suggestions on how to 'deal' with them? A fresh pan of anti-freeze and a half-dozen apples? A few bricks of mouse or rat poison?

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

Before I have to argue with a raccoon for drivers' seat privileges, any suggestions on how to 'deal' with them? A fresh pan of anti-freeze and a half-dozen apples? A few bricks of mouse or rat poison?

Don't call the city's pest control organization (easily found by calling the number in the city directory and being transferred at least seven times). Some politically correct dingbat will inform you that you will have to "humanely" trap the offending beast(s) and transport them one kilometer away from your home where they should be released. Now, if you live in a built up area, the release point for pepe lepew will be in someone's neighbourhood...When I trapped a racoon, I called the animal control knobs and spoke with a pablum-puking save-the-whale type. She gave me firm directions as mentioned above. I indicated that I would only be transporting the critter to someone else's yard, and that made no sense. It replied (in a snotty, talking down to an idiot voice): "Sir! They were here first." I replied that I didn't think the racoon was 50 years old, but who am I to argue with an "expert". After some polite thank yous, Jesse and I loaded the less-than-pleased racoon into the trunk of the car and headed out of town. I looked for the first liberal election campaign sign and released the racoon in their yard.

Now I have a skunk residing under my shed. The next trick is to get the bastard out without getting sprayed, and keeping him out. Can't poision him, can't shoot him, don't want to transport a stinking skunk in the car, so I will have to wait until he comes out at night and seal off his front door. Hopefully the neighbours won't call the tactical squad out while I tackle the lil runt...

[Bob Carriere]

You can catch a skunk quite eaily with left over chicken meat/bones using a Coon trap...... the trick in moving the trap is to cover the trap carefully with a heavy blanket or tarp........ pick up gently..... don't trip on the way to the car.... put him gently down the back section...... if you wish you can drive with the rear hatch open...... nearest city ball park..... again remove gently the blanket and fromone end only and open the trap....... you will no doubt have to coax the little sucker out of the cage by big lifting one end to slide him out...... once inside a darkened area they will be slow to move out........

If that does not work or backfires don't come to the barn for a few days...

Boob

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

You can catch a skunk quite eaily with left over chicken meat/bones using a Coon trap...... the trick in moving the trap is to cover the trap carefully with a heavy blanket or tarp........ pick up gently..... don't trip on the way to the car.... put him gently down the back section...... if you wish you can drive with the rear hatch open...... nearest city ball park..... again remove gently the blanket and fromone end only and open the trap....... you will no doubt have to coax the little sucker out of the cage by big lifting one end to slide him out...... once inside a darkened area they will be slow to move out........If that does not work or backfires don't come to the barn for a few days...Boob

All rightee then, will do. May I borrow your "humane" critter trap? I will follow your instructions, but be aware, if the striped rat farts, I will be residing at the barn until the persistent agents disperse...Not to worry, you get use to the stench after a few days...