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Willyp
10-13-2015, 05:35 AM
When i was working,i've retired,a man at work gave me some brass. He had shot his rifle and didn't hand load. I could not take them to my car so put them in a bowl.We had a cabinet we had snacks in. A mouse ,unknown to us,had invaded the cabinet!!!!
The mouse would eat our snacks and hide in my bowl of brass? I had forgotten about the brass for about 4 months. When i did remember,i got them out and dumped them into a box. Holy cow,the mouse had peed in the bowl and all over the brass! I figured it was just stained,but upon tumbling it,the little droplet stains had eaten right thru the brass and left pin holes in it!!!!!! I am glad it was only 25 brass,that i didn't really need.
This ever happen to you? I guees this is what ammonia can due to brass and why we are told not to use ammonia in brass cleaning ??????

Littleton Shot Maker
10-13-2015, 05:45 AM
yes-
NOT pee from mouse on brass but bird poo from pigeons on tin roof, same thing- roof had to get peeled and redone- we did shingles and began shooting the pigeons more often.
Guy I talked to said in Hawaii the Egrets would- poop on the planes in the hangars and the ruin the paint and eat the metal up real bad.... oh and go figure protected bird - so what you going to do??

Oh yes that what they did too!!! Special super secret permit to 'make them go away' and not come back.

Not sure but thinks it Uric Acid in pee and bird poo ( Urine) . some one smarter than me may know the chemical . don't think it's ammonia but same effect over time- maybe they are combined is pee??

Ballistics in Scotland
10-13-2015, 08:33 AM
The British Royal Air Force used to employ falconers to avoid bird strike. Here is the mouse which enjoyed a good living on UHT milk, one carton on top of another, on top of the papers in my desk during a long summer vacation in Saudi Arabia. ought it was the combination of rotten milk and scrubbing which removed some of the paint from the drawer, but maybe it was something else. He looks a bit worried, because he doesn't know he is going to be paroled in a dumpster on the other side of town, out of homing range for mice.



He bears out what Winston Churchill said, when he saw large numbers of mice drowned by floods in his Sudanese war of 1898. The common house mouse, which is dark grey in gloomier climes, has evolved a sandy brown coloration in the Middle East.

M-Tecs
10-13-2015, 08:55 AM
He looks a bit worried, because he doesn't know he is going to be paroled in a dumpster on the other side of town, out of homing range for mice.


No parole for mice here. I'm not big on handing off my problems to others. If I don't want it why would someone else? If I caught someone dumping vermin on my property they would not like the outcome.

Cowboy_Dan
10-13-2015, 12:21 PM
Not sure but thinks it Uric Acid in pee and bird poo ( Urine) . some one smarter than me may know the chemical . don't think it's ammonia but same effect over time- maybe they are combined is pee??

Not uric acid but urea, which is a basic (as opposed to acidic) amonia-based compound.

Hardcast416taylor
10-13-2015, 02:22 PM
This is what I tell people that ask `How do you control field mice in your casting barn`? I simply reply `that is the reason I have my .416 Taylor rifle for`!Robert

merlin101
10-13-2015, 02:24 PM
My daughter had a cat that decided that a box full of old ammo seemed like a good upstairs litter box. Hundreds of old collectable shells! I figured they were already ruined so I dumped them in a bucket of hot soapy water, swished and rinsed, most turned out ok to put back on the shelf. Notice I said "she HAD"?

Littleton Shot Maker
10-13-2015, 02:42 PM
Thanks- been way to long since my basic science classes and just don't use part of the memory bank any more. Sad, all the things we forget as we take in all this new info (mostly junk these days) my case any way. use it or loose it right?

Hueyville
10-21-2015, 04:50 PM
If you store water jugs in basements then it's a real attraction for mice around here to find a way in the house and chew neat little holes in them one at a time and if not paying attention to your water it becomes a mess. Emergency rations always kept in steel containers to avoid that problem and discovered that about a dozen gallon jugs closest to floor had been compromised when entire stack tilted. That was over a decade ago, installed outdoor commercial bait stations, put out fresh poison blocks in a few locations of basement, got neighbor to properly store his dog food and no more mice issues in the house since.

Biggest deal was convincing the next door neighbor to stop storing his dog food outside in plastic garbage can. It attracted mice and rats from around the planet. His can had about six large holes chewed in bottom and I could watch them munching away and getting so fat were big as cats. He refused to believe it was the issue for both our houses having problems. Finally mounted a N.V. scope on a 10/22 with a can and carefully dispatched a few each night till he finally got tired of discarding the mysteriously dying rats and mice then moved the can indoors. That proved miserable so moved back outside till finally purchased a galvanized metal can. Neighborhood mouse problem solved, bait stations solved indoor issues totally and was able to return to normal eradication of ground hogs and coyotes. Amazing how so many people can't get simple principle of proper pet food storage.

When my initial issue was discovered infestation had gone Chernobyl. Found placing Havoc poison on top of tiles in suspended ceiling in 2/3rd of basement was a key location. Once they got between the ceiling of basement and floor of upstairs had free run of the place. Was cutting holes in walls to remove dead bodies on occasion but most went looking for water once poisoned so put out a water bowl for them to go to once ate the poison and for first few weeks were dead mice every day around the bowl. Every spring and fall replace the poison in bait stations and have not recovered a dead body or found any signs of any inside structure. You very seldom have a mouse and I hate mices to pieces. The buggers can make a heck of a mess in a hurry.

Three44s
10-22-2015, 10:10 AM
This is what I tell people that ask `How do you control field mice in your casting barn`? I simply reply `that is the reason I have my .416 Taylor rifle for`!Robert


So until I get a .416 ...... I am going to have these mouse and rat problems? (I got a .375 H&H barrel coming .... does that count?)

The member with the NV and a can on a 10/22 ........ that sounds fair to middlen to me as well!

Best regards

Three 44s