Oh-Oh, mouse in garage!

I've lived in my current house for 13+ years, and although I've had some rodent problems in the last few years I've never seen any evidence of the critters in my garage until now, I discovered one of those meeces (dead) about 1-2 ft. behind the rear wheel of my ST this evening. Either the rodents that had been living in my attic have returned or they never left when I thought I had gotten rid if them a few years ago. Based on many of the threads that I've seen on this forum, I know how much they like to eat the insulation on the wiring of the fuel injector harness. I certainly hope that none of the deceased rodent's kin have already taken up residence under my seat! The bike has been sitting idle in the garage tor much of the past few weeks, but I hope to be able to ride it a little more during much of the upcoming months since long-term storage of motorcycles in this part of Texas is never a given. Please wish me luck that this was an isolated incident ,,,

Should I place moth balls or some kind of deterrent around the bike when I expect it to remain parked unused for a few days?

anything is possible, there's no way to tell without looking.

I ride year round and a few months ago took the top shelter off my 1100 to do the vacuum fuel shutoff bypass and found a mouse nest behind my carbs. Fortunately no damage, but the bike gets ridden at least once a week or so. I live in a semi-rural area, so wildlife is part of the landscape here (even coyotes and roadrunners, just like the cartoon).

I have used cotton balls with peppermint oil on them and have so far had great success. I also put dryer sheet in and around my bike during winter storage As for my mouse trap so far my favorite is the 5 gal. bucket water trap with some peanut butter as bait.

Don B said:

.....Should I place moth balls or some kind of deterrent around the bike when I expect it to remain parked unused for a few days?

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Nope, deterrent only moves them around in your garage or house: get a cat, trap, or poison.

Moth balls do nothing but smell up the room. On the other hand....mice/rats won't eat them.

My bike sits in a corner of the garage. There is an old fashioned snap trap at the front wall by the front wheel and another along the side wall by the back wheel. I get to empty one about every 2 months.

Do the mouse nests usually appear under the air box cover outside the filter, or inside the filter (intake side)? Ref. these photos:

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=156787&d=1409546369
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=173833&d=1462848643

Don B said:

Do the mouse nests usually appear under the air box cover outside the filter, or inside the filter (intake side)?

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The most common place is in the space between the throttle bodies under the air box. It's pretty much impossible for mice to get to the inside of the air box because they'd have to get through the metal filter screen or find a way into the engine and up through the (closed) throttle plate.

--Mark

Around here in the October November time frame mice seem to be looking for a nice warm place to spend the winter, but I have snap traps set up in the garage + my basement all the time just in case. I get 4 or 5 mice a year, a few in the garage and a few in the basement.

Set some traps with peanut butter. That will draw them out!

My bike winters in my shed and a few years back found a nest, in the spring, under my seat. Went out and bought a two pack of ultra sonic mouse repelers that plug in to a wall socket. No mice since and the squirrels won't even climb on the shed roof.

These are very effective - not very humane, but mice are not humans:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotts-MotomcoBL32436Rat-And-Mouse-Glue-Trap-2PK-RAT-GLUE-TRAP/38470686?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=335&adid=22222222228026489105&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=52594207335&wl4=pla-79663786575&wl5=9011752&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=111830463&wl11=online&wl12=38470686&wl13=&veh=sem

You can encircle the parked bike with these.

Last year I had some sunflower seeds stored in the garage and the little critters chewed a neat and tiny hole in the back side where it wasn't visible. Caught two mice but wasn't until about two months later that I discovered where they'd gone to eat my birdseed.
On the PC800, they went into the muffler. First time I started it, was like a confetti cannon shooting a giant cloud of sunflower hulls! funny.
On the GL1000, Transalp, CB400f, CBX, and GB500, they dined in the airboxes.
Just feel fortunate that they didn't munch on any wiring.

Yesterday I dropped the engine out of a Super90 barn find and found a pretty big nest (but no mice) in the frame.

Dave

+1 on using traps. But, that usually pits their intelligence against our intelligence, and sometimes, they win! I've had bait stolen from traps more than once, but not when I restricted their access to the trap.
If the only way they can access the trap is at the bait end, it usually gets them. I use boxes about the size of the 9X12" Priority Mail boxes to cut a square hole in one corner on the flap side. Bait and arm the trap, then gingerly slide it a couple of inches into the box through the hole, with the bait side last.

There is one other way that I've had success--with the Walmart electronic ultrasonic units (~ $15) that you plug into power outlets. Formerly, mice would get in and do their thing all over the place, but not since I put those devices in rooms that cover the largest part of the house. Put a couple in your garage and see whether the mice stay.

this guys name is Ralph--he is family. Mice do not exist near my house or shop, take my advice and get a Ralph.

Get a Rat Zapper at Amazon. Mine is about 5 years old and still works great. No mess and I toss the kills into the compost pile and they're gone by morning. I just cleaned it out for the first time and it wasn't really dirty. I got the Zapper after they ate through the FI harness.

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+1 on peanut butter. Put the traps along a wall - mice do not like to cross an open room but will run along the walls. I put sardine cans on edge around the trap (or bricks or 2x4's) to block access to the trap and force the mouse to enter the trap from the bait side. You do not want them reaching over the bail to get to the trigger - this just flips them across the room like that clown shot from a cannon - and then they come back for another ride.