How to keep mice out of lawn mower?!?!

I once saw a video of I think a polish rat catcher who used to walk through a factory feeding the rats corn for a few days every day untill they felt safe with the food and started following him around like a grey carpet.
Once he had their trust he switched to poisoned corn and wiped them out except for the king rat.
He would sit in the dark with an infra red light and a fishing rod and as soon as the king came out he would flick the hook at it and whip it back over his head killing the king.
I cant find this video anywhere now but it was very impressive how he wiped out plagues of the smelly things.
It gave a lot of credence to the old story of the pied piper of Hamlin (except for the kids part)
 
We use moth balls to keep rodents out of the old cars around here.put them in perforated sack .
 
The most "non poisonous" method ive used that worked was using Cotton balls dipped in Peppermint oil and placing them around the problem area . It does a good job of keeping mice away so long as you aren't Already over running with them where you store you're mower. Maybe for something the size of your "mower garage" you can place some of the oil into a jar covered with something to wick the oil going through the lid to help keep the oil from evaporating to quickly and then place a few of them as low to the ground and as close as you can place them to be directly under the problem area. If you can throw a cover over your mower when its sitting to help keep the peppermint fumes more confined the better the outcome you will have.

If you wish to get rid of them in a more permanent way nothing beats the old spring loaded snap traps if you remember to follow 3 rules...

1) whenever handling the trap make sure you are wearing some type of rubber glove....this includes removing them from the packaging so that you dont transfer your scent onto it.

2) peanut butter works as good or better then just about anything else I've tried and is very easy to apply without worry about it falling off the trigger. HOWEVER when you add the PB to the trigger make sure to use as little as possible and to smear it thinly and packed into any holes without leaving big clumps behind. This forces them to get more aggressive trying to collect the goods which gives a better chance of the trap springing at the right time which means your less likely to have a false trigger because you wont need to have it on the edge of a hair trigger setting.

And 3) Place the traps so that the trigger side is closest to the wall and in the darker or covered places.
Mice tend to stick to the baseboards as much as possible and will try to avoid open space as much as possible so you might get lucky and catch a few just running by.
 
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One of the best traps I've run across is a 5 gallon bucket half full of water with a board set on it with the opposite end on the ground.
Figured this out by accident.
Mice go up the board and fall in trying to get to the water. Then can't get out.
Cuts down on trap/poison costs.
Empty and refill before the mosquitoes hatch.
Now to just figure out a winter version.
 
I finally found a mouse trap that is easy to set and very difficult for the mice to remove the food. I use peanut butter. It goes into a small cup that is accessible by a hole in the trip lever. I have caught over a dozen mice and still on the same PB.

Wilson Predator Fast Set Mouse Trap

David
 
One of the best traps I've run across is a 5 gallon bucket half full of water with a board set on it with the opposite end on the ground.
Figured this out by accident.
Mice go up the board and fall in trying to get to the water. Then can't get out.
Cuts down on trap/poison costs.
Empty and refill before the mosquitoes hatch.
Now to just figure out a winter version.

Ah the beter mouse trap.
Add a rod across the top of the pail with a pop can. Punch a hole in the bottom and top to allow the can to spin easily on the rod. Coat the can with peanut butter and bring the stick close. When they reach out to get the bait it spins and in they go. For winter add prestone or windshield wash fluid.

Greg
 
Ah the beter mouse trap.
Add a rod across the top of the pail with a pop can.

Friend of mine used to do that with a wire and pop can.
I've never done the additions and they end up in there anyway. I'll have to try it and see if I get more "customers".lol
 
That area where the mice set up their nest needs to be filled with something non flammable, maybe a round disc with nails welded to it, you can easily remove it when you need to mow the lawn and put back in when not in use.
I have done this for birds ,they used to make their nest right on top of eavestrough near the corner of the house, what I used was a square piece of sponge with lots of nails pushed in from one side ,then stuck it on the spot I liked the best ,used double sided tape ,birds still come by and hover on top of it for a few seconds but there's no place to even land, then they just leave.
In your situation I would use a piece of round steel to fit in the middle if the fan. it is also easy to weld nails to it.
 
Ahh mice! The universal problem. My neighbor had them build under the cowling of her wood splitter engine. The big problem happened when her dogs ate the plastic gas tank trying to get at the mice. In my wife's Audi, they built a nest in the engine air intake and ate through her ignition cables.

To combat mice in the boat this past winter, I eliminated any hanging straps, ropes, etc. Now they have to be fairly adept at free climbing reverse inclined faces to get in. I didn't see any evidence of over-winter occupation this Spring.

I used to have a problem in the house. they have done literally thousands of dollars in damages over the years. I read on line where if you could fit a Bic pen into a hole, a mouse could go through so I crawled around the entire perimeter of the house, sealing every opening. That has greatly reduced the infestation but a few still manage to get in. A few trapping sessions takes care of them.

Out buildings are a different matter. As for specific areas like the top of your engine, I would dissolve some mothballs in a solvent and spray it on the exterior of the engine (cool, of course!). Apparently, mice leave a scent trail which keeps bringing them back to the same place and the moth ball odor will mask that. Snakes will hang around a scent trail to pick traveler but they really aren't too effective because they eat so infrequently. I have never had any success with electronic repellents.
 
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