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Mouse guard for vents


Hannah Jones McVey

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Since we moved on to our new boat (never had any issues on last boat) we've had winter issues with mice. We got rid of them last winter eventually and hated it but they've moved in again this week. Traps are set but I ideally want to avoid them getting in in the first place. They often dont even come out of the walls which makes them tricky to catch so am sure they are getting in the mushrooms. Does anyone have a good hack to block vents from mice but not from air flow?

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Those vent grilles look like a good idea.

 

How are they geting aboard?

 

Some boaters we knew in Norfolk had a mouse problem on their mooring which was on marshy/reedy ground.  The mice came up the mooring lines.  Ships have a similar problem with rats.  We cruise regularly and the bosun always rigs rat guards when the ship moors up.

 

Look up rat guards on a search engine and then consider making some discs for your mooring lines.  It worked for our friends

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

That is on the internal face side so would not stop rodents getting into the void between the lining and roof. I bought some cheap computer fan finger guards which with a bit of bending fit into the mushroom.  They need cleaning every couple of years as they catch fibres etc which will eventually restrict the air flow.

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20 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

That is on the internal face side so would not stop rodents getting into the void between the lining and roof. I bought some cheap computer fan finger guards which with a bit of bending fit into the mushroom.  They need cleaning every couple of years as they catch fibres etc which will eventually restrict the air flow.

Our boat has wooden pads between the boat roof and ply ceiling to which the mushroom vents attach. Not mushroom for mice to get in between. 

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1 hour ago, Chewbacka said:

That is on the internal face side so would not stop rodents getting into the void between the lining and the roof.

If the space between the lining and the roof it not properly closed off at the vents, then you will get moist air rising from the boat into the void and then condensing on any cold surfaces and falling back on the lining. May not be enough to drip back into the cabin space, but likely to cause water staining and rot of the ceiling lining.

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Probably not compliant with the BSS, but I found that reticulated foam was an effective way of slightly reducing the airflow through mushroom vents, and thereby improving a condensation problem.  You can get it from aquatic shops, as they use it for filtration I believe.  Your mice would probably be able to gnaw through it, given time, but they will hopefully get fed up and go elsewhere......

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31 minutes ago, Boredrider said:

I found that reticulated foam was an effective way of slightly reducing the airflow through mushroom vents, and thereby improving a condensation problem.  You can get it from aquatic shops, as they use it for filtration I believe.  Your mice would probably be able to gnaw through it, given time, in very little time at all  

Fixed that for you ;)

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15 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Who told you that load of bollocks? :captain::o

I didn't say which Navy, In this case it is the French Navy. The Commander of a French Navy Minesweeper on a weekend vist to Poole. Who told a group of us when he was a guest along with his officers to the Yacht Club in the evening, The subject of cats cropped up. He told us that all French navy ships were required to carry two cats for rodent-control duties. The follow day we met the two feline matlots when we were guests onboard. 

 

The Royal Navy banned cats and other pet animals from all ships on the ocean in 1975 reason given to crews was hygiene, but the real reason is belived to be cost cutting by the Labour Government which along with the unions were busy bankrupting country at the time. Remove cats and the other animals, no vet or food costs, Pest control costs the MOD millions each year. Many non-navy ships still have ships cats today, When it comes to pest control, use a cat.  

 

How many descendants could a pair of rats produce in three years? The answer: nearly half a billion with sufficient space and food . One rat pair has six litters a year consisting of 12 rat pups, although 5—10 pups is more common. Rats reach sexual maturity after 4—5 weeks, meaning that a population can swell from two rats to around 1,250 in one year with the potential to grow exponentially. Over time rats learn, so traps designs and poisons became useless. Every mouse I had to remove from the boat or house in the end it was a cat that napped them. The mouse setoff the traps and then took the bait.

 

 

As for talking bollocks I leave that to you, afterall you are are a expert on the subject. 

 

 

 

Edited by nbfiresprite
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3 hours ago, nbfiresprite said:

 

I didn't say which Navy, In this case it is the French Navy.

 

 

 

What you actually said was...

On 26/09/2019 at 08:14, nbfiresprite said:

 No navy ship sails without one aboard

 

ships cat.jpg

That said, I've spent time at sea with the French navy, and with many other navies too, and they didn't have cats in any those ships. In my experience then, it would not be true to say that no navy ship sails without a cat onboard.

 

However, my correction was intended to be lighthearted and certainly not intended to offend you personally, so I'm happy to apologise if it did. No good comes from letting these things get personal. :)

 

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On 26/09/2019 at 08:14, nbfiresprite said:

What you need is to sign on one of these as crew, No navy ship sails without one aboard

 

ships cat.jpg

We have 4 of these - one of them brought a live mouse in who escaped into a hole in the wall behind a missing piece of skirting and managed to live there for months by getting into the cupboards from behind at night and feeding without ever having to come out.  The 4 cats went nuts as they could hear it scrabbling about.  The only option was poison as it evaded the traps we tried.  I found a mouse skeleton behind the ceiling panels when doing some electrical work a year later.

 

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1 hour ago, Psycloud said:

We have 4 of these - one of them brought a live mouse in who escaped into a hole in the wall behind a missing piece of skirting and managed to live there for months by getting into the cupboards from behind at night and feeding without ever having to come out.  The 4 cats went nuts as they could hear it scrabbling about.  The only option was poison as it evaded the traps we tried.  I found a mouse skeleton behind the ceiling panels when doing some electrical work a year later.

 

Perhaps that's why the Navy made Ships' Cats  redundant? :D

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