Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I was hoping that some of you guys that store your boats outdoors or under carports could give me some recommendations. As i stated in an earlier post I lost my indoor storage spot last month due to the fact that the guy that owns it also owns an auction biz and he needs all the space for his sale items.. anyway I have secured another storage area, completely covered but open on each end and even though the fencing is down "near" the ground, there's no way it will stop mice or even rats from getting in. I talked to one of the other "renters " out there the other day, said he's been keeping his boat there since 2008 and never had a problem. Even so, I'd like to make sure or do whatever I can to make sure mice / rats don't end up living on my boat... do any of you know of a product that I could spray or sprinkle around the entire interior perimeter that will keep mice / rats away.. and if so, how often would you apply it to the area? Thanks guys. btw, while I hated losing my other storage spot, I am enjoying a much cheaper rental rate.. was paying 125 a month, now pay 50.

How about a friendly black snake?

We use moth balls to keep rodents out of our boats snowmobiles or anything left out, it is also good for keeping cats out of it just get a few small ceramic bowls, and put one or two moth balls in each, and put them around the interior, it works good for us,Tim

Fresh Cab. I swear by it. Use it in my boat and my Pop up Camper. I store my Camper in our old barn and I know there are mice in there and have never had a problem. It also smells so much better than mothballs when it is time to open it up. Smells like strong Pinesol.

Quick story.

When I wrap my boat in the fall I put drier sheets on the floor and in all of the storage compartments and under all the seat cushions. After I unwrap it in the spring I remove the sheets, clean the interior and put the cover on until I'm ready to take the boat to the lake.

This season I needed to put some addition items in my boat the week after I unwrapped it and found a roll of paper towels had been ripped to shreds. I know it wasn't like that when I unwrapped the boat because I moved that roll from one place to another and it was whole. I looked for any other damage and found none so I hoped the little rascal had moved on.

Fast forward 3 weeks. (yesterday) My grandson was looking for his life vest and raised the cushion it's normally under and low and behold there were the shredded pieces of paper towel along with 5 little baby mice. Not a fun find.

Moral of the story? My boat sat since October until three weeks ago without any rodent issues with the drier sheets. As soon as I took them out they were in it. I also like the drier sheets over the moth balls cause they smell better.

We have been using peppermint oil on cotton balls with great results. We have a camper on a remote wooded lot, and last year we used dryer sheets, and whole cloves, still had a lot of mice. Started with the peppermint oil last fall, no mice when we opened up last month, and no signs of them yet.

thanks guys.... I'm not looking for an answer to mice or rats during storage, but actually year round.. I appreciate the input.. yes, I've heard of carb fresh, moth balls and dryer sheets... think I may incorporate all three of them.. Boats only been in it's new place for a week or two.. went by there today.. I have a loose cover over the top, pulled it back and looked for any signs of rodents, like droppings are god forbid, holes in the seats.. didn't see anything, but then again I didn't uncover the whole boat and never went on board.. just looking thru the gates... I appreciate y'alls help... perhaps a mixture of all three of those, maybe rotating from one to the other each month or so... thanks again.

Mice and rats love food. If there's none available, get those bait things with the hole in the middle and tie it to something. If it gets nibbled on fine. The other method is called a bait station. You put a few of those baits in with the holes in the middle and just keep it in there while you're not using the boat.

I have chickens and no rat problems. There is never any food left out at night, and I keep 3 bait stations . And you'll always know by nibble marks. I think I use Tomcat.

One side note about tomcat. If you go to the store, you will see the green tomcat blocks have a new label on them that say they are "improved". I found out why. Mice are getting resistant to the poisons so they need to use stronger or different ones. I had mice in my storage attic, put out a couple blocks, they were gone in two days. Put out a couple more. Gone. I went through a dozen blocks of tomcat and all I got was a ton of green mouse droppings. You would think they would die before leaving a green dropping. I guess I was just feeding them.

You're right. One was just continuing to be eaten. The good ones are Darker green.

Also , don't forget the areas on top of the toons and under the deck . Mice ate thru one of my hydraulic steering lines a couple of years ago . What made it worse was we didn't notice until we launched boat off trailer . The wind was blowing and with no steering , it was no fun getting boat back on trailer . Now I have all lines run inside pvc conduit .

I don't know why wire is so attractive to vermin. And mice love bimini material, LOL

dryer sheet solved my wasp and mouse issues. http://www.flemingtraps.com/duke-dog-pr ... -trap.html
solved my coon issues
Just don't stake them close to power cords or light fixtures.
they will chew everything nearby before you get back to the trap.