We have had our pool for 7 years and I've never had any problems with mice. Tonight I found our third mouse this year. The first one was on the bottom of the pool and the last two were in the skimmer. The only thing different this year, is the use of Boric Acid and the fact that I've left the retractable pool cover off almost the entire year/summer. It has been a very wet year as well. I'm just scared we are going to open the pool next year (We are having it closed this week) and find 50 dead mice in the bottom of the pool. Can anyone shed light on this? Also, I've been reading some posts that make me worried I should have been SLAMING the pool after finding mice. HELP!
Mice, Mice, Mice!
- Thread starter kjdo
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 58,633
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
As long as you are testing and your FC is staying above minimum based on [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] no need to SLAM.
Otherwise, who knows why they like your pool this year. I cannot see how the borates make a difference.
Otherwise, who knows why they like your pool this year. I cannot see how the borates make a difference.
i heard of a guy that’s replaced his coverstar ropes twice this year because of mice!
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,211
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Yikes! He may have needed to take a home equity loan to do that twice. I just did it once last week $800 - ouch. But I also acknowledge that I don't want to try the task myself even though I could possibly do it. It's just one of those things that I can't get interested in doing. Wire my whole basement and take the homeowners electrical test at the Building Dept, sure, design and build my deck, sure, replace ropes, nope.
I have had something in my cover vault, likely mice, which for two of the 5 winters have chewed a hole in the cover. In the same spot, through the patch. And one or two in the skimmers this year. But if they got after the ropes...
Something may have forced them out of their normal habitat. Is there construction nearby?
Mothballs, mothballs, mothballs! For me I think the snake followed the mice into the pool cover box but the mothballs got rid of them both. None ever ended up in the pool though.
I'm going to have my husband open the cover box tonight. YIKES. And Moth Balls it is. I am betting money they are in there and I'm hoping they have not eaten through the ropes or the cover. I thought the ropes were metal? Maybe the lack of activity in the cover box over the summer gave them safe haven. Anyway, thanks for all your help, I'll keep you posted.
So we opened the cover box tonight and much to mu surprise.....NO MICE. Now I have to admit that there are areas of the box that I can't see, but I didn't see any evidence of mice in the part that I was able to visualize. (I would have to remove the cover from the roller to see all of the box and I'm not sure we are up for that. Don't want to have it torn apart and can't get it back together!). I'm buying the moth balls tomorrow to put in the box. Still perplexed about where the mice came from or are coming from. I had such high hopes that we'd found the location and would be able to eliminate my dread of next spring. To my knowledge there is no construction in the area. We live in a fairly well established neighborhood. As for pool testing, I am OCD about the testing. FC, CC, TC stay in normal range. I'll keep looking for possible locations of mice nests. :-( And thanks again.
Are you sure they are mice? I get the occasional mole that wanders into an unfortunately watery grave. Usually it happens when we've had a lot of rain. I think they get flushed out of the ground and stumble into the pool. They could easily be confused for mice. If you are getting moles, I'm not sure there is anything you can do except keep checking those baskets every morning.
No, I'm not sure. I really didn't look that close. We have had a lot of rain that is for sure. If we have another, I'll look closer. I've looked at baby mice and baby moles on line. I think it's a little hard to tell them apart as a baby. I GUESS I SHOULD NEVER ASSUME!
We had a few mice turn up in the same skimmer within a short time frame, which was unusual. Usually I'll find maybe 2 or 3 during the course of a few months, this was 3 in a week. After much pondering, it dawned on me that the piping connected to the overflow hole in that skimmer ran down to a wooded area on our property, about 40 - 50 yards from the pool. I flushed it out the best I could and put a screen over the end of the pipe where it broke ground. I can't say for certain that was where they came from, but I don't remember pulling one out since then.
Have you or a neighbor been using rat/mouse poison? The normal result of those poisons is a dehydration of the animal often prompting them to drown themselves. Squirrels and rats who ingest the common poison being used now will do the same thing.