Mice!

[Probablynot]

I've noted people recommending storing the telescope in the garden shed. Very sensible, of course - keeps it at the right temperature, and dry, and out of the way.

But hasn't anyone ever had problems with mice?

I once had a 200cc motorbike pretty well destroyed by mice. I went out to the shed one morning to find the floor underneath the bike littered with little bits of rubber & plastic - they'd been nibbling away the wiring insulation and the fuel pipes. It was never ridden again - at least, not by me.

But maybe that experience has made me paranoid?

There's not much on a SW 150P EQ3-2 that mice could actually destroy. But they could do a lot of cosmetic damage. And With my scope's OTA only protected by thin plastic caps on the top end and on the focuser, I'd be worried about the little beasts getting in and nesting up against the lens!

I live in a rural area. Mice seem to be able to get through 5mm gaps. If the shed also contains anything like animal feed, it's mouse heaven! Has anyone here had a problem with mice? How did you get round it?

Meanwhile the telescope is living indoors, in the garden room ...

[sabana]

Well I have a mouse loose around the house for over a year. And he gets through 5mm gaps. He's so cheeky he even stops to look at us before going on his way.

At first we wanted rid of him. Now hes just another lodger.

[Tribal-Wolf]

I recently found mice in our shed and garage, traps didn't work so I found their nest and cleared it, hoovering up a mouse in the process. I now have some of those ultrasonic repellent thing and the mice seem to have cleared off. I made sure to put one in the house too as I didn't want them moving from the garage to the house lol.

[Frank the Troll]

Adopt a cat

We have two good mousers

Did have one of the cats leave a rabbits head on the bed once

"bring me the head of Alfredo Rabbit"

[Mikea]

I have a Rentokil electronic mouse zapper. Whilst I don't like killing any of God's creatures, I am fed up with them eating things that they shouldn't be eating. So far, I have dispatched five of the little blighters from my garage.

[paul schofield]

I have a couple of mice under my shed, and a great big neighbours cat that sits on the shed roof just waiting for the opportunity, don't think he has got lucky yet. Don't really want him to. I keep my scope indoors as it would be horrible to find mice have chewed through any caps and set up a little mouse city in my pride and joy.

[cabby]

I've had them in my shed's and garage over the years and they have done alot of damage. I used to keep base mixes for C a r p bait and that is what attracted them.

I don't keep any in there anymore and only get the odd visitor now and then.

Here's a tip from a very funny Cornishman for a special mouse trap!!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

We have a mouse in our living room late in the evening, so much for storing a scope indoors. I simply put the OTA in a home made flight case, and the EPs in a stout photo case. No chance of them getting in there. The tripod and mount are mainly hardwood and steel, so little chance of damage.

Both my wife and I are allergic to cat's hairs, so having one is not an option. We should get one of those electronic zappers. Not as cuddly though .

[Sam]

Yeah rodents can destroy quite a bit if given a chance. We had a rat chew it's way into the car and munch a seatbelt. That was an expensive little feed as the we had to replace the seatbelt for the next warrant of fitness. After seeing what the little blighter can do to a car it'll be worth doing what you can to keep them and their mouse cousins away from the scope!

[glowjet]

We once had a mouse we tried to capture, until it ran under the bottom of our old night storage radiator ( before we had central heating installed ) it disappeared so we presumed it had escaped, when the heating came on, the smell, you would not believe it, taking the unit apart I found the the little creature had tried to pass between two live contacts with the inevitable result, cooked mouse is not something you want on your perfume list

[Catweazel]

I now have a nice shed that is well sealed, so no worries with mice, but in our old house, they ate their way through a brand new rubberised fishing net; it had 3 huge holes in it before I even got the chance to use it. They are cute though

[jfox61]

I live in countryside surrounded by famland and about 15 houses. We have 2 cats, so we don't have a mice problem. Come to think of it, we don't have a pigeon, pheasant, partridge, fox, rodent or wildlife problem at all. Looks like I have a 60yd killzone at my property.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I live in countryside surrounded by famland and about 15 houses. We have 2 cats, so we don't have a mice problem. Come to think of it, we don't have a pigeon, pheasant, partridge, fox, rodent or wildlife problem at all. Looks like I have a 60yd killzone at my property.

My parents had a cat like that, a big ginger tom. He brought home mice, rats, stoats, rabbits and musk rats. No dogs cam into our garden (his victories there include an Irish setter together with a terrier, a bouvier, and a malamute). Very sweet cat at home but a terror of the likes of Greebo outside.

[jfox61]

Ha Ha Greebo is probably like my two cats too. However Nanny's cat would turn into a handsome stranger occasionally, no such look for my two terrors I am afraid, and yes, next door's Alsation has been savaged once by our British blue and won't come into our garden now

[Frank the Troll]

I live in countryside surrounded by famland and about 15 houses. We have 2 cats, so we don't have a mice problem. Come to think of it, we don't have a pigeon, pheasant, partridge, fox, rodent or wildlife problem at all. Looks like I have a 60yd killzone at my property.

The cat gets more rabbits, than I get to shoot

[SeedyF]

Mice can apparently get through a gap the width of a pencil - which I guess is about 5mm.

My cats have also established a demilitarized zone. This doesn't extend to Heron's carrying out raids on my Koi **** though

Hahaha, SGL won't let me type C A R P

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

All cats know herons do not exist. This because you cannot eat it, fight it, or mate with it, and it is not a rock. Therefore it does not exist and can safely be ignored.

[ChrisThePuma]

We had a mouse in our loft once...

I tried catching him with one of those humane traps like a square tube with a trap door at one end.

He managed to get out of the trap twice...

So i modified it by chopping up a second trap and making a 2nd door.

He managed to escape from that as well...

So i chopped up a coke can and covered the trap door in the thin steel, carefully bending it around so the mouse couldnt grab it.

He managed to get out of that as well...

Finally i got a plastic bucket, oiled the inside walls, balanced a ruler over the lip with bait on the end and weighted so with a mouse at the end it would fall into the bucket.

I built up things around the bucket so it could climb up to the edge and get onto the ruler.

10 munites after going to bed i heard a clatter - i popped up into the loft and peered into the bucket - and there he was gazing up at me.

I drove several miles away and set him free in a hedgerow - and named him houdini. He deserved life after escaping so many times

Chris

[Probablynot]

Well, cats are out of the question for me - I value & appreciate the birds that visit my garden too much.

Thanks for all your input. I'll probably keep the 'scope indoors for a few more weeks, then move it out to the shed. I've got some ordinary wooden mousetraps, but I'll probably invest in a couple of those electronic jobbies too. Wonder if my home & contents insurance would cover for a mouse-polluted OTA?

[SeedyF]

Finally i got a plastic bucket, oiled the inside walls, balanced a ruler over the lip with bait on the end and weighted so with a mouse at the end it would fall into the bucket.

I built up things around the bucket so it could climb up to the edge and get onto the ruler.

10 munites after going to bed i heard a clatter - i popped up into the loft and peered into the bucket - and there he was gazing up at me.

I drove several miles away and set him free in a hedgerow - and named him houdini. He deserved life after escaping so many times

Chris

Genius!

I wonder how long the baby mice asked mummy mouse "When's daddy coming home?"

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

We had a mouse in our loft once...

I tried catching him with one of those humane traps like a square tube with a trap door at one end.

He managed to get out of the trap twice...

So i modified it by chopping up a second trap and making a 2nd door.

He managed to escape from that as well...

So i chopped up a coke can and covered the trap door in the thin steel, carefully bending it around so the mouse couldnt grab it.

He managed to get out of that as well...

Finally i got a plastic bucket, oiled the inside walls, balanced a ruler over the lip with bait on the end and weighted so with a mouse at the end it would fall into the bucket.

I built up things around the bucket so it could climb up to the edge and get onto the ruler.

10 munites after going to bed i heard a clatter - i popped up into the loft and peered into the bucket - and there he was gazing up at me.

I drove several miles away and set him free in a hedgerow - and named him houdini. He deserved life after escaping so many times

Chris

Having built a better mousetrap, did the world beat a path to your door?

[ChrisThePuma]

SeedyF - he was the last one - no-one was left behind - they all went away on their holidays

[LukeSkywatcher]

No gaps in my garage for mice to get in. Its the spiders i worry about.

[jfox61]

Yep that's the one for me. We get hundreds of them, indoors as well as the garage. I am certainly more worried about spiders than mice as far as my optics are concerned

[Frank the Troll]

They are cute though

No their not, same as rabbits, the only good ones, are the dead ones.

Can we sue the Normans, for importing their pests?