Skip to Content

How to Keep Mice out of Your Snowmobile

As if rodent infestation in your home isn’t alarming enough, there’s also the possibility of mice living in your snowmobile. Rodents can chew wires, and render the snowmobile useless if the damage is severe enough. So, how should you keep them out?

Most of the time, one preventive measure isn’t enough to keep mice out of snowmobiles. You need to prepare multiple solutions at the same time, just in case one method doesn’t work. The materials commonly used for eradicating mice include mothballs, spring traps, steel wool, and peppermint oil.

Keep reading to learn how to use those materials for keeping mice out of your snowmobile — also, other methods you can do to foolproof your plan.

How to Keep Mice out of Your Snowmobile

Person Riding Snowmobile

Pay attention to the following tips on how to use the mothballs, spring traps, steel wool, and peppermint oil in getting rid of mice in your snowmobile:

  • Put mothballs on aluminum trays and place them under your snowmobile. You should also put some mothballs near the engine and the air intake.
  • Surround the snowmobile with spring traps. Make sure to put effective bait.
  • Block the exhaust with steel wool. Don’t forget to remove it before using the snowmobile to avoid burning the machine.
  • Spray a bit of peppermint oil in different areas. You can do the same thing for your car or RV.

Here are additional tips with other materials you may use:

  • If not steel wool, you can block the exhaust with plastic wrap, duct tape, rag, or dryer sheet.
  • Don’t just focus on the exhaust. Block any opening that can fit a mouse.
  • If not peppermint oil, you can spray WD-40 instead. However, you should avoid spraying the clutches. Leave it dry for a while before adding other types of stuff in the area.
  • Never leave food or even tiny crumbs on your snowmobile to avoid attracting mice.
  • Elevate your snowmobile with pallets to make it more challenging for mice to climb up your snowmobile.
  • You may use a little bit of rat poison in the engine area. But, right before winter, remember to clean those areas.

Mice are known for their keen sense of smell, so it’s not surprising at all that they hate mothballs and WD-40. We humans don’t even like smelling those materials.

Peppermint Oil

Peppermint Infused Oil

Peppermint, though. It doesn’t even smell bad. It has a sweet aroma as long as it’s pure. So, why is peppermint oil usually effective at eliminating mice?

It turns out that the smell of peppermint is still too strong for mice. They won’t be able to handle the heavy scent with their tiny noses. The smell can even irritate their sensitive nasal cavities.

Peppermint is even more effective in pure oil form. It won’t easily freeze since it doesn’t contain water. Its effect also lasts longer compared to peppermint oil mixed with weaker ingredients. When it comes to safety, it’s safer for humans and pets, which is why it’s better than toxic substances no matter how effective they are against mice.

If you can’t find any peppermint oil, peppermint tea bags can also be effective. Soak them in hot water first before spreading them around your snowmobile. Replace the teabags with a fresh batch as frequent as possible.

Now that we’re fully aware of the primary weakness of mice, people are curious about the effectiveness of specific items you may find strange or unlikely. Let’s start with the popular Irish Spring soap.

Does Irish Spring Soap Deter Mice?

More and more people resort to Irish Spring soaps (Check price on Amazon) to prevent rodent infestation because it’s a quick and straightforward solution. As expected, mice hate their minty scent. No wonder it’s useful in most cases.

So should you pulverize the soap or melt it? Take a look at these steps on how to use an Irish Spring soap for preventing the presence of mice:

  1. Prepare a sharp knife and tiny drawstring pouches (if you don’t know how to make a drawstring pouch, use a cheesecloth and tie it later with a string).
  2. Slice the soap into small cubes (about 1/2 inch).
  3. Put each cube inside a drawstring pouch.
  4. Pull the pouch’s string and tie it into a knot to completely secure the soap inside.
  5. Place the soap cubes around your snowmobile.

Will Lime Keep Mice Away?

No, we’re not talking about some type of citrus fruit. Have you ever heard of pelletized lime? It looks like a powder, but it’s technically pulverized limestone. You can find it in stores selling home improvement products. It’s initially for fertilizer or insecticide.

Just like the previous materials or items we discussed, lime also has a strong smell. More importantly, it can damage a mouse’s respiratory system when inhaled and even burn its skin when touched.

Despite its high level of potency, lime is non-toxic, believe it or not. But that won’t change the fact that it can also harm bigger animals when they inhale it. That’s why we don’t recommend lime if you have a pet.

Do Mice Hate the Smell of Lavender?

Lavender

While the scent of lavender oil (Check price on Amazon) is popular in spas because of its relaxing effect, mice absolutely hate it. Let’s face it–lavender scent can be overwhelming for us humans as well.

The best thing about lavender is how perfect it is for people who don’t like killing mice. A mouse is more likely to stay away from your snowmobile once it smells lavender. You don’t have to deal with dead mice anymore caused by successful trapping and poisoning. You can even avoid the possibility of searching for a hidden dead mouse, which may result in foul odor that can last for days if not found.

If you’re set to use lavender oil, follow these steps:

  1. Use an eyedropper to get some lavender oil from the bottle.
  2. On each cotton ball, you’re going to use, give at least eight drops of the oil.
  3. Place the cotton balls around your snowmobile.
  4. Replace the cotton balls when they finally lose their lavender scent.

Box Traps

There are other ways to avoid killing mice. Use box traps with a simple food bait inside. After catching mice, release them far away from residential areas.

If you’re the type of person who prefers to kill mice for long-term results, there are different traps available in stores. If spring traps aren’t your thing, you can resort to hi-tech traps that can electrocute mice.

And, since rat poison is too dangerous for both humans and animals, a lot of people use baking soda. Does it really work?

Will Baking Soda Kill Mice?

Yes. Baking soda is edible, but it’s known to be an effective main ingredient for homemade rat poisons. And the best part? It’s safe for humans and animals, except for most rodents.

Why is a harmless ingredient like baking soda deadly for mice? Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate can produce large amounts of carbon dioxide when mixed with acid.

A mouse’s stomach contains acids, which leads to the production of carbon dioxide inside the rodent when it eats baking soda. That wouldn’t be an issue if not for the fact that mice can’t burp.

That’s right; a mouse can’t expel gas. Since its body fills with gas, breathing becomes more difficult to do. Ultimately, this kills the rodent.

Mix Peanut Butter and Baking Soda

Peanut Butter

However, a mouse has to consume at least one teaspoon of baking soda for the whole thing to be effective. That’s why you should mix it with peanut butter or sugar first to make it irresistible for mice.

Mix a half cup of it with a quarter cup of baking soda. Form tiny balls out of the mixture. Just make sure to wear gloves to avoid contaminating the nutty scent.

Some people add flour and other ingredients to the sugar-baking soda mix.

Where to Place Bait on Your Snowmobile

Instead of placing food baits all over your snowmobile, we suggest targeting corners where mice can go in and out of the storage area. You don’t want to see an army of ants on your precious machine.

Remember, don’t just rely on a single method. The tips we shared aren’t 100% effective. We explained different techniques for a reason, and it’s up to you to choose which one to try first.

Good luck on your mission to rodent-proof your snowmobile for life!

References