Mouses pissed up my ingot moulds...steam explosion

[Martin Luber]

Well I found a nest and one ingot mould of several rusted up. I should have scrubbed and wire brushed it but l didn't. First cast was fine. Figured, ok...Dumped and refilled one cell to hear a firecracker sound and splatter.

Glasses saved my eyes. Shirt and pants are trash. Deck cleaned up pretty well.

Done for the day.

Lesson learned, don't get complacent just because it didn't happen before

[DougGuy]

Hmmm.. You should take GREAT PRECAUTION around rodent urine!

Hantavirus is spread from wild rodents, particularly mice and rats, to people. The virus, which is found in rodent urine, saliva, and feces (poop), can be easily released in the air in confined spaces when disturbed by rodents or human activities, such as sweeping or vacuuming. People can also become infected when they touch mouse or rat urine, droppings, or nesting materials that contain the virus and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth.

An even worse danger is from leptospirosis. How the disease spreads: Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine from infected animals. Contact through the skin or mucous membranes (such as inside the nose) with water or soil that is contaminated with the urine from infected animals.

There are a BUNCH of really serious diseases carried and transmitted by rodent urine..

One woman died from leptospirosis she got from drinking a canned Coke that was stored in a warehouse where dried rat urine was on the top of the can.

Diseases directly transmitted by rodents:

https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html

[SoonerEd]

Well I found a nest and one ingot mould of several rusted up. I should have scrubbed and wire brushed it but l didn't. First cast was fine. Figured, ok...Dumped and refilled one cell to hear a firecracker sound and splatter.

Glasses saved my eyes. Shirt and pants are trash. Deck cleaned up pretty well.

Done for the day.

Lesson learned, don't get complacent just because it didn't happen before

Always good to be remined to be careful...thanks.

[barnabus]

note to self...dont let ratz pizz on my galena!

[405grain]

DougGuy: A very handy link! I'm going to save that for the times Karens (both male & female) try to give me a ration for shooting sage rats (ground squirrels) and NOT eating them. They're a huge farm pest that multiply by the thousands and destroy tons of alfalfa, plus damage fields. Now I won't have to waste time trying to explain how they carry plague, hantavirus, etc., as well as being destructive pests. Now I can just forward them the link and tell them that THEY can eat as many as they want.

[lightman]

Glad you were not seriously injured.

[wilecoyote]

here we have detected a transmission chain which, starting from the pigeon dung, attracts different types of insects, their eggs/larvae and consequently the rats. each of these three species collaborates to create somewhat dangerous conditions.
afaIk, the first step is to liberally use straight bleach on affected parts, pieces and places, if possible, even before removing other traces of their passage.

[Mal Paso]

Reminds me of rat infested cooking stoves and the aroma.... Nothing like heated rat urine!

[barnetmill]

As I noted in another thread on the survival section here that rodents also chew up wiring. Causing lead casting explosions is a new one on me.

[gwpercle]

I guess my two cats are doing their jobs... I've never had any moulds ruined or rat whizz-enduced visitations from the Tinsel Fairy .
Also must not smell good .
I'll give my two mousers a little cat nip treat today ... Good Job Boy's
Gary

[super6]

I am currently working on a 2003 silverado That mice have built a nest in the rely box, I am at a point as to how to clean it out.Do not wanna get sick! Turds and urine are present. How would you clean that out?

[barnetmill]

I am currently working on a 2003 silverado That mice have built a nest in the rely box, I am at a point as to how to clean it out.Do not wanna get sick! Turds and urine are present. How would you clean that out?

N95 dust mask, shop vac, gloves, and after you are done spray peppermint essential oils or place bags of rodent repellent about the relay box.

[DougGuy]

I am currently working on a 2003 silverado That mice have built a nest in the rely box, I am at a point as to how to clean it out.Do not wanna get sick! Turds and urine are present. How would you clean that out?

Localized thermo nuclear reaction? J/K I would suggest tyvek suit, good sealing respiratory protection, eye protection (goggles) rubber gloves, shop vac with water in the tank and a wet filter element, vacuum it all out, toss the filter in a garbage bag, dump the water in a ditch and hose the vacuum out with a hose, run the hose through the suction hose of the shop vac, carefully unroll the tyvek suit so the gloves stay in the sleeves, and you don't touch the outside of it, put it in the garbage bag with the filter and toss it.

[Electrod47]

Hmmm.. You should take GREAT PRECAUTION around rodent urine!

Hantavirus is spread from wild rodents, particularly mice and rats, to people. The virus, which is found in rodent urine, saliva, and feces (poop), can be easily released in the air in confined spaces when disturbed by rodents or human activities, such as sweeping or vacuuming. People can also become infected when they touch mouse or rat urine, droppings, or nesting materials that contain the virus and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth.

An even worse danger is from leptospirosis. How the disease spreads: Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine from infected animals. Contact through the skin or mucous membranes (such as inside the nose) with water or soil that is contaminated with the urine from infected animals.

There are a BUNCH of really serious diseases carried and transmitted by rodent urine..

One woman died from leptospirosis she got from drinking a canned Coke that was stored in a warehouse where dried rat urine was on the top of the can.

Diseases directly transmitted by rodents:

https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html

Negotiated a lease take over for a Vacation Cabin on Lake Mohave at the old Cabin Site Cove on Lake Mohave AZ. on BLM land. Long neglected out buildings were infested with pack rats. I was literally shoveling rat crap. This was in 1985 and I had never heard of Huntavirus. Turns out it was quite the scourge for the Navajo nation and their hogan living. I could have worn a respirator, heck I wore one everyday at the power plant where I worked, but didn't see a danger. I was sick for a month. This is a guy who hadn't missed a day of work in 20 years. It was like the worst pnuemonia you could get. And that's how they treated it.

[Winger Ed.]

I don't think I've ever had that problem.

However; before I started pre-heating ingots before they went into the pot,
I'd gotten some pretty nice steam explosions that decorated the ceiling from just the humidity in the air being on them.

[Bwana John]

N95 dust mask, shop vac, gloves, and after you are done spray peppermint essential oils or place bags of rodent repellent about the relay box.

No on the shop vac until everything has been soaked in 10% bleach solution!

Negotiated a lease take over for a Vacation Cabin on Lake Mohave at the old Cabin Site Cove on Lake Mohave AZ. on BLM land. Long neglected out buildings were infested with pack rats. I was literally shoveling rat crap. This was in 1985 and I had never heard of Huntavirus. Turns out it was quite the scourge for the Navajo nation and their hogan living. I could have worn a respirator, heck I wore one everyday at the power plant where I worked, but didn't see a danger.

They said you had Hantavirus and got it from Mexican Wood Rats (pack rats)? I was under the impression the it was deer mice that carried it, not pack rats. Of course you probably weren’t differentiating the type of droppings at the time of removal

I have heard Mormon immigrants would give crystallized urine from pack rat middens to their children as candy, it was known as manna !?!

[barnetmill]

Localized thermo nuclear reaction? J/K I would suggest tyvek suit, good sealing respiratory protection, eye protection (goggles) rubber gloves, shop vac with water in the tank and a wet filter element, vacuum it all out, toss the filter in a garbage bag, dump the water in a ditch and hose the vacuum out with a hose, run the hose through the suction hose of the shop vac, carefully unroll the tyvek suit so the gloves stay in the sleeves, and you don't touch the outside of it, put it in the garbage bag with the filter and toss it.

If you want to be super careful stand in a large size plastic garbage bag while you take off the tyvek and you should have those yellow plastic booties on your feet also. It can help if there is someone there to help undress you that is wearing gloves if you want to do the whole 9 yards. Also do the removal of the contaminated suits in full sunlight. It is not a guarantee, but sunlight will kill the hunta virus

CDC

Is exposure to sunlight an effective means of disinfecting materials contaminated with hantavirus? If so, how long of an exposure is recommended?
Ultraviolet (UV) light is a very effective way to kill viruses under certain circumstances. Sunlight produces high intensities of UV and finely dispersed aerosols of the kind that infect humans are readily penetrated by the light. Virus inactivation has never been measured under those circumstances, but it must be very rapid.
However, the UV light must penetrate to the virus particle. One reason why the interior of structures may be dangerous is that the reflected white light from outside will not contain sufficient UV. Similarly, solids or liquids provide a challenge to UV penetration.
We also don’t recommend UV lights for disinfection because of the considerations above, the difficulties in assuring continued strength of the radiation at the site for disinfection, and possible health effects.
Dr. C. J. Peters, Special Pathogens Branch, CDC.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Clinical Update, 1999 Satellite Conference (A CDC/Public Health Training Network Satellite Broadcast, May 27, 1999)

[popper]

Yup, son got Leptospirosis infection after knee tendon replacement. Docs didn't notice till it started dripping out of the incision. 2 wks left of antibiotic pic line.

[Bigslug]

Sooooo. . .I'm guessing that molten lead will probably kill hantavirus and leptospirosis, which leads to the next question:

How well does rat poop work as a smelting flux?

[45DUDE]

I am currently working on a 2003 silverado That mice have built a nest in the rely box, I am at a point as to how to clean it out.Do not wanna get sick! Turds and urine are present. How would you clean that out?

Moth ball will keep them out. Almost every rat nest I have seen was on the passenger side of the motor. <haven't figured that out>