2020 POTD Thread Archive

hman said:
I hate them meeces ... to pieces! Used to live in the woods in Oregon, and had frequent encounters with those messy critters.
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A squirrel is second cousin to a mouse, I think. I have had problems for years with them (darned fuzzy tailed rats) getting into my shop. The shop being a once fire damaged dwelling, there are more squirrel access holes than there are squirrels out in the pecan trees. I've stopped up those that I can find, but the beady eyed little buzzards can see better than me. The dogs keep 'em down but not gone. All I can say is that I'm glad I live where there ain't no snow. When it gets too cold, I just go in the house.

Something that seems to help for squirrels is a fox "urine" compound from a vendor "Predator Pee";

Original Predator Pee Predator Urine Since 1986

Get rid of rodents, deer, bear, feral cats, porcupines, skunks, birds and more with real predator urine! Predator pee is a natural animal repellent product.
www.predatorpeestore.com
It has to be renewed regularly, but seems be quite effective. He probably has a compound more suited for mice and rats. But if not, the fox urine should do the trick.

The link works at least to the "splash" page, I'm not sure how much is left after the Kung Flu.

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Heee-Yaaaa! Rumor had it where I lived in Oregon that you could get lion whiz from the Portland Zoo, to use as a deer repellent. I kinda liked the deer, myself. So I never worried about keeping them away. Loved the deer, wild turkeys, quail, even the occasional coyote. Hated mice, and got real tired of raccoons coming in through the cat door and stealing cat food. All in all, though, I still kinda miss living out in the woods.
 
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A couple of tank bushings for my motorcycle. Drilled the hole, turned the profile, parted, and countersunk the long one with a half-inch endmill.

This is exciting because it’s not just making parts to help make more parts, and because buying them new would have cost more than the raw materials I used to make them. Plus the store was closed for a couple days so I could get the bike back together and go ride.

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Bi11Hudson said:
A squirrel is second cousin to a mouse, I think. I have had problems for years with them (darned fuzzy tailed rats) getting into my shop. The shop being a once fire damaged dwelling, there are more squirrel access holes than there are squirrels out in the pecan trees. I've stopped up those that I can find, but the beady eyed little buzzards can see better than me. The dogs keep 'em down but not gone. All I can say is that I'm glad I live where there ain't no snow. When it gets too cold, I just go in the house.

Something that seems to help for squirrels is a fox "urine" compound from a vendor "Predator Pee";

Original Predator Pee Predator Urine Since 1986

Get rid of rodents, deer, bear, feral cats, porcupines, skunks, birds and more with real predator urine! Predator pee is a natural animal repellent product.
www.predatorpeestore.com
It has to be renewed regularly, but seems be quite effective. He probably has a compound more suited for mice and rats. But if not, the fox urine should do the trick.

The link works at least to the "splash" page, I'm not sure how much is left after the Kung Flu.

.
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I was having gopher or was it mole problem:chagrin:. So I took the cat box full of its ripe remains and filled the holes. Got rid of the creature:clapping:. A couple of weeks later, I was talking to my neighbor. He mentioned that a couple of weeks ago this (dirty word:cussing: ) gopher showed up in his yard. Hmm :dunno:
 
extropic said:
Bruce,
Excellent write-up on the heater install.

Please elucidate what you have in mind regarding a "mouse guard". I hate those little SOBs and will do whatever I can to encourage them to exist (or not) elsewhere. Looking at your pictures, I'm wondering if the bottom edge of the rigid Styrofoam panel is exposed to the exterior. So the mice chew an access hole from the exterior of the building. Is that right?

I Googled "mouse guard strip" and find stainless steel wool strips and copper mesh strips. Are one of those what you have in mind?

If the mice are entering the walls from the outside, I'm thinking you'll patch in new Styrofoam where it has been damaged and wrap the bottom of the Styrofoam with a metal wool or mesh.

"The Long Ranger" product line is new to me also and goes on the "must have" list. Thanks again.
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The barn is 40' x 96'. It started out as a 40' x 56' x 10'; added an additional 40' x 40' x 12' around 10 years ago. The barn has the customary two 2 x 6 tongue and grooved at the bottom (skirt board). The original 40 x 56 had 1/2" foil-backed styrofoam stapled to the perlins, then steel siding nailed on top of that. The ribs in the siding are about 3/4" tall by 1" wide, mice can easily climb up the skirt board through that area.

The barn addition was done by another fella who used a steel J-channel at the bottom of the siding. That was nailed to the skirt boards, then the steel siding set on top and screwed to the perlins with grommeted screws. I recall paying around $12,000 for the original barn and about $16,000 for the addition; you get what you pay for. Nothing against the original builder, I was inexperienced and didn't know about some of the variations in construction.

My solution for the original barn was to rip 1" wide strips from pressure treated 2 x 6's. Butted those up to the bottom of the siding and screwed them to the skirt board.

Here's a link to the 110V and 220V versions of the Long Ranger from Grizzly.

www.grizzly.com

110V Remote Control - Grizzly Industrial

The Long Ranger wireless control can turn your dust collector on or off from as far away as 75 feet - even through wood and concrete floors, walls and ceilings. The Long Ranger uses RF signals. Includes transmitter. For 1-1/2 HP dust collectors at 110V.
www.grizzly.com www.grizzly.com
www.grizzly.com

220V Dust Collector Switch - Grizzly Industrial

<h1>G4700 220V Dust Collector Switch</h1><p>This 220V wireless remote control and receiver can turn your 2-1/2 HP dust collector on and off from as far as 75 feet away. <p>Grounded with a 16A reset button, this remote uses RF signal, which is not affected by outside interference by large TV's...
www.grizzly.com www.grizzly.com

Bruce

There's lots of "theories" about mouse prevention: dryer sheets, peppermint oil on cotton balls, moth balls, etc. I've tried them all over the year and none of them worked for me. Two things that have worked are poison and traps.

One theory is mice are prey animals and know it. They are after food and shelter, take away either and it helps with the problem. The theory about dryer sheets, peppermint oil, etc. is to change their comfortable shelter to uncomfortable. Mice live in nests that smells of their own urine; think the "disgusting odor" of a dryer sheet will drive them away? Theory is they get used to an environment; lighting, smells, sounds, etc. Change something up and they get nervous. Anyway, hoping I can keep them out of the walls!
 
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Well if it's not one thing it's another one, today i had real plan, to get home early, so i can prepare my small garage for digging. I've been needing a inspection pit for a while, i don't like 2 post lifts because of the fear of getting crashed by my own car, here we do not have quality lifts. But bad driver put a spanner in my plans or should i say send a loaded tractor trailer directly at me. In short, BMW with bold back tires in the rain on a straight road spin out in the opposing lane, and sent a loaded tractor trailer jackknifing directly at me. I don't know how fast it was going but at that second looked like he was going million miles an hour, split second decision i went hard right and full throttle, the 605 managed to jump a very big crab, down i went the embankment, hitting couple of big stones on the way down and just as i straighten it i got jerked forward car stops quickly the tires dug in the soft ground and the front bumper acted like a plow. Got out couple of steps towards the road i was knee deep in mud and then i heard the crashes, seen one more car close to me go down the embankment and i quickly know i'm in a bad spot. Got up on the road, seen a car half way under the trailer that has stopped sideways and screaming from it. The driver was pin down, thinkfully the door opened, by this time there was one more person next to me and we maned go bent the door enough and i got in there to adjust his seat and the other person that turn out to be the truck driver quickly got a knife to puntion the tires on the car that made enough space to get the person out, he stood up and i quickly noticed his white shirt turning red, i reacted, he had couple of cuts, they won't too deep i placed his hand to keep them shut. Then i looked around didn't see any more serious crashes, not knowing how long the emergency services will take to come, i told the injured guy come with me and we started walking down the road pass other crashed cars, couple cars down people were turning around, seen a guy in a lada niva wave to him he stopped, told him what happens in a quick second ask him to take this guy to the hospital, the guy did not miss a bit, said jump in and they took off, waiting for the police, then leaving statement getting my car towed out of the mud all that in the rain was terrible. I'm pretty sure i made the right decision because i would been in that guy's place otherwise may be worse because he had more time to stop. On the way back i stopped by the hospital, the guy was fine he had and small operation in that time to repair some blood vessel, he was very thankful, by this time he realised what had happened. We say goodbye and i went home just as the clouds cleared. I marked the inspection pit with some white choack, got something to eat and washed the 605 from undernigh, my freshly repaired and painted bumper is ruined i probably have square wheels. Long day, long story, hope i wasn't too boring.
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How cool, that is a toy forklift, 2-car garage sized! I was expecting something a little more silly. On the contrary, what a great tool! It's like a ride-on "Big Jim" walk-behind lift. Why walk, when you can ride!
 
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