How To Keep Mice Out of Car During Winter Storage

Keeping mice out of a car when it is being stored for the winter can be a big problem. Mice left in the vehicle can cause damage, such as eating through wires. It is best to avoid using poisons in a car, because the mice may eat the poison and then die somewhere in the vehicle. You will then be left with the horrible odor and you will have to find the mice.

• Use strong-smelling dryer sheets. Place dryer sheets around your car. Use a lot of them and place them everywhere you can. The scent from the sheets repels the mice. It used to be common to hang stockings filled with moth balls, but the dryer sheets smell much better. The scent of moth balls is hard to get out of the car; however, using moth balls around the outside of the car, while using dryer sheets inside, is very effective.


• Set traps to place in the passenger and engine areas of the car. You will have to check these traps every couple of days, to remove any mice that may have been caught. Place the traps around edges, since mice have bad eyesight. They will usually use walls and corners to guide them. They will be more likely to run into traps that are in these places.


• Have an exterminator come out to your garage. They should be able to tell you how the mice are getting in. You can then take measures to close up any of the holes they are entering through. Also, close your garage door as soon as possible after entering and exiting.


• Feed some stray cats. This will help you and the cats. The smell of cats may scare off the mice. You can even allow your cat to spend a night or two sleeping in the garage.


• Use a jack to raise your car up for the winter. Set traps around the jack to trap the mice, before they have the chance to get up into your car. Use quite a few traps. Check them often.