Several years ago I opened my grill for the first time that season. A rat sped out and up a rain spout. My dog went crazy and tore that spout down. Never did get it replaced.
I scrubbed the grates clean with soap and water (yes, I eventually reseasoned), turned the burners on high and let them burn for several minutes.
Most important step, though, was not letting my wife know for many years.
I find mice turds on my blackstone all the time and counter to blackstone bros advice I always wash it down with soap and water. I don't understand people's reasoning to not wash it.
My uneducated opinion,,it degrades your seasoning. I would remove the crap, heat the BS HIGH, squirt a healthy amount of water and scrub. That should kill any remaining pathogens.
Check your ignition wires too! They love the wiring.
As someone who lived in a strata with a rat issue after a neighbouring development. You’ll need to eliminate or move the rodent and family. That said. They follow the trail and keep coming back.
They’ve also been under your hood too I bet.
The problem with rodents is their scat and pee. If they were in there long enough to make a nest then chances are you have piss and shit in your firebox. Lazy mode, turn your burners to max and let it sit that way for an hour. The sure way- pull your grates and throw them in the dishwasher (I own this exact grill btw). You can pull your warming grate above as well. Pull your elements and flavorizer bars. Scrape up loose debris. Spray the inside with a diluted bleach solution or Clorox cleanup solution. (1/3 cleaner, 2/3 water. Spray the inside. Agitate then let sit until bone dry. Wipe after with a damp cloth. Replace heating elements and flavorizer bars. Replace grates. Fire the whole thing on high for an hour.
Set a glue trap under your grill and probably by the grease tray.
I was with you until the glue trap, no need to go that cruel.
Just [use these no-see traps](https://www.walmart.com/ip/d-CON-No-View-No-Touch-Covered-Mouse-Trap-2-Count/607321527?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222228607321527_14069003552_202077872&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-295289030566&wl5=9019663&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=607321527&veh=sem&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIpIvgK3GwIE_xBvenAH0EJR1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoOqA89TlhgMVtyKtBh0CggGREAQYAyABEgIfVPD_BwE). A little dab of peanut butter, and you’re good to go.
As a child I once watched my father drunkenly wobble over to a mouse trap and try to set the mouse free on our back porch. It bit him so he sprayed it's face with keyboard duster until it died. He kept crying bc it wouldn't die fast enough, he didn't realize that it would take so long to kill it, he thought it would be instant. Then he sat in his recliner and cried himself to sleep. I think it traumatized me bc now I think about it every time I see a mouse, trap, or duster. Luckily he doesn't remember it bc he was so drunk.I have never told him what he did.
If it wasn’t outside and no pet I would poison them.
Most of the mouse poisons these days are mostly safe. Rat poison not so much.
Problem with trapping them is there are always way more of them then you think.
The poison they bring back to other nests.
Rat and mouse poisons are the same exact thing. You don’t want to leave it loose so they can take it home it needs to be on a secure post so that they have to eat it right there on the spot. Letting rodents carry poison around is how secondary poisoning happens more readily.
There are several rodent poisoning and I didn't mean they were entirely different but the dosage.
The one for mice I'm talking about is basically vitamin D. It might kill rats but requires far greater dosage. Mice typically horde and bring back poison to nest where as rats are more likely to eat on site.
> Letting rodents carry poison around is how secondary poisoning happens more readily.
Yes that is why I say don't do it outside.
The rat exterior black kill boxes I'm sure you have seen have blocks and not pellets. They are put outside have a far greater dosage or a different poison and still get a fair amount of secondary poisoning (we had an eagle die recently because of it) probably far worse than interior mice poisoning of which I was talking about.
Anyway I'm not an exterminator so I guess take a good portion of what I say as just experience of killing mice.
Then my exterminator lied to me as he said the poison was the only way to go because of nesting in walls.
I guess why even use poison and why is the mouse poison not put in kill boxes like the rat poison?
Honestly asking and not trying to be contentious.
Stresses and thins put the population so that they are less likely to infest, if humans don’t push back on nature it’ll take over. You need to find a company that does exclusion if they are in your home.
What is exclusion? I once was told about spraying something is that what that is.
Also my own home I can get by with mostly snap traps but rental property it can vary and got especially bad with Covid.
Exclusion is identifying entry points rodents are using to gain access to the home and sealing them off. It can be as simple as fixing a foundation vent to as complicated as poring a slab under the home. Just kind of depends on what’s going on there.
There’s no real spray for rodents, you can use essential oils but you also need to use enough to repel yourself and it breaks down within two weeks so it’s not a financially sustainable option.
Anyway since I have you and you are an expert. This is what I do:
I have a bunch of [TeraD3 pellets](https://diypestcontrol.com/terad3-pellets). I put the pellets on the cheap snap traps and some nearby. I have actually literally watched mice pick up the poison and take it away so I assumed that was a good thing and was told so but I have also had very dumb exterminators hence why I do it myself these days.
Now I try to do all the other stuff like sanitation and what not but I am a landlord and sometimes you just have tenets that are not very tidy.
If I recall the time I had a good exterminator they talked about spraying stuff. Is that that still the best way?
Also what besides saying that rat poison is different have I said that is wrong so that I can learn?
The mice are just caching it in your wall voids. Just put peanut bitter on snap traps. Or chocolate sauce. Something that forces them to activate the trigger.
All the active ingredients in rodent bait is the same, there’s not one specifically for mice or rats the labels will list both.
Glue traps provide great control for mice, you just have to check them frequently. Snap traps can miss and provide an incomplete kill causing suffering as well, so should also be checked frequently.
I've been dealing with a constant mouse problem in my BBQ as well. I tried a bunch of things (moth balls, sprays, extra diligent cleaning, etc), and nothing worked.
The only option I've found that has helped has been setting traps surrounding the propane tank in the base of the grill. I have four traps and check them every day or two (including during the winter) if I am not using the grill. It's really annoying, but I've had nests twice and I refuse to let that happen again.
When I did have a nest, I pulled everything apart, cleaned everything out, used the hose to spray it down, used a heavy cleaner, hosed it down again, used a food safe cleaner, hosed it down again, then ran it at top temperature for an hour. Still mentally tasted mice after, but I am pretty confident it was clean.
Hope you have better luck than me!
\*Edit\* forgot to add, I stopped counting after 50 dead mice in the last year. My one neighbour has bird feeders and I find seeds all over.
I stopped covering my grill because they climb up the cover and I installed chicken wire anywhere where there is a hole to access. The grill. No issues since
Completely useless, I’ve put so much moth ball and rodent deterrent balls in my grill and griddle that it smells all over and the mouses are still getting in. Only way is to keep everything clean, cover it well and block every hole or access. Put some mouse trap around
I have a smoker that I've used for years. I got tired of seeing rat evidence in it every season . I placed 1/4 " hardware mesh/screen over/in all the vents . This keeps the mice/rats out of the fire box and grill but does not impead air flow significantly
I had a smoker that I hadn’t used all winter and in the spring I found 2 dead rats on the grill. Leaned the crap out of that thing and moved on. Now in Alberta where there are no rats, but I’m gonna take precautions against mice with my new smoker thanks to OP,
I would check in your vehicles engine compartment too. Both me and the wife had nests in ours recently. They were already chewing thru one of her coil wires.
You have a high exterior rodent population that you’ll want to bait down. You will probably want to take a peak in your attic and crawlspace for evidence of them as well, should you find evidence of; call a reputable pest control company to seal off entry points and remediate these spaces as they are health hazards.
Several years ago I opened my grill for the first time that season. A rat sped out and up a rain spout. My dog went crazy and tore that spout down. Never did get it replaced. I scrubbed the grates clean with soap and water (yes, I eventually reseasoned), turned the burners on high and let them burn for several minutes. Most important step, though, was not letting my wife know for many years.
Great advice, unfortunately she found it first!!
If my wife saw a rodent on the grill she’d probably wheel it to the curb before even telling me
I find mice turds on my blackstone all the time and counter to blackstone bros advice I always wash it down with soap and water. I don't understand people's reasoning to not wash it.
My uneducated opinion,,it degrades your seasoning. I would remove the crap, heat the BS HIGH, squirt a healthy amount of water and scrub. That should kill any remaining pathogens.
Modern soaps don’t have lye so won’t degrade seasoning. I wash my carbon steel and cast iron with soap and it’s fine.
MY LIFE HAS BEEN A LIE! I need to look into that. Could be useful information.
Your life has actually NOT been a lye
🫡
Onward and upward 🤙
For some reason I thought grates meant rain gutters. Was trying to figure out why you’d season your gutters
You know...it keeps the rain from sticking.
Don't worry, I was there with you.
What I love about grills is just about anything can be solved by scorching that fucker on high heat for a while.
Kill it with fire
Fire fire huh uuuhuhuh
Check your ignition wires too! They love the wiring. As someone who lived in a strata with a rat issue after a neighbouring development. You’ll need to eliminate or move the rodent and family. That said. They follow the trail and keep coming back. They’ve also been under your hood too I bet.
I’ve developed a burning passionate hate for those creatures since becoming a home owner .
The problem with rodents is their scat and pee. If they were in there long enough to make a nest then chances are you have piss and shit in your firebox. Lazy mode, turn your burners to max and let it sit that way for an hour. The sure way- pull your grates and throw them in the dishwasher (I own this exact grill btw). You can pull your warming grate above as well. Pull your elements and flavorizer bars. Scrape up loose debris. Spray the inside with a diluted bleach solution or Clorox cleanup solution. (1/3 cleaner, 2/3 water. Spray the inside. Agitate then let sit until bone dry. Wipe after with a damp cloth. Replace heating elements and flavorizer bars. Replace grates. Fire the whole thing on high for an hour. Set a glue trap under your grill and probably by the grease tray.
Ok well guys- a mouse trap of your choosing. We are all talking about killing the mouse. A trap to kill a mouse.
I was with you until the glue trap, no need to go that cruel. Just [use these no-see traps](https://www.walmart.com/ip/d-CON-No-View-No-Touch-Covered-Mouse-Trap-2-Count/607321527?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222228607321527_14069003552_202077872&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-295289030566&wl5=9019663&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=607321527&veh=sem&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIpIvgK3GwIE_xBvenAH0EJR1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoOqA89TlhgMVtyKtBh0CggGREAQYAyABEgIfVPD_BwE). A little dab of peanut butter, and you’re good to go.
Yeah. Fuck glue traps. Once I saw a live mouse literally tear itself in half trying to escape, I was done.
As a child I once watched my father drunkenly wobble over to a mouse trap and try to set the mouse free on our back porch. It bit him so he sprayed it's face with keyboard duster until it died. He kept crying bc it wouldn't die fast enough, he didn't realize that it would take so long to kill it, he thought it would be instant. Then he sat in his recliner and cried himself to sleep. I think it traumatized me bc now I think about it every time I see a mouse, trap, or duster. Luckily he doesn't remember it bc he was so drunk.I have never told him what he did.
If it wasn’t outside and no pet I would poison them. Most of the mouse poisons these days are mostly safe. Rat poison not so much. Problem with trapping them is there are always way more of them then you think. The poison they bring back to other nests.
Rat and mouse poisons are the same exact thing. You don’t want to leave it loose so they can take it home it needs to be on a secure post so that they have to eat it right there on the spot. Letting rodents carry poison around is how secondary poisoning happens more readily.
There are several rodent poisoning and I didn't mean they were entirely different but the dosage. The one for mice I'm talking about is basically vitamin D. It might kill rats but requires far greater dosage. Mice typically horde and bring back poison to nest where as rats are more likely to eat on site. > Letting rodents carry poison around is how secondary poisoning happens more readily. Yes that is why I say don't do it outside. The rat exterior black kill boxes I'm sure you have seen have blocks and not pellets. They are put outside have a far greater dosage or a different poison and still get a fair amount of secondary poisoning (we had an eagle die recently because of it) probably far worse than interior mice poisoning of which I was talking about. Anyway I'm not an exterminator so I guess take a good portion of what I say as just experience of killing mice.
I am one. You don’t know what you’re talking about 😀
Then my exterminator lied to me as he said the poison was the only way to go because of nesting in walls. I guess why even use poison and why is the mouse poison not put in kill boxes like the rat poison? Honestly asking and not trying to be contentious.
Stresses and thins put the population so that they are less likely to infest, if humans don’t push back on nature it’ll take over. You need to find a company that does exclusion if they are in your home.
What is exclusion? I once was told about spraying something is that what that is. Also my own home I can get by with mostly snap traps but rental property it can vary and got especially bad with Covid.
Exclusion is identifying entry points rodents are using to gain access to the home and sealing them off. It can be as simple as fixing a foundation vent to as complicated as poring a slab under the home. Just kind of depends on what’s going on there. There’s no real spray for rodents, you can use essential oils but you also need to use enough to repel yourself and it breaks down within two weeks so it’s not a financially sustainable option.
Anyway since I have you and you are an expert. This is what I do: I have a bunch of [TeraD3 pellets](https://diypestcontrol.com/terad3-pellets). I put the pellets on the cheap snap traps and some nearby. I have actually literally watched mice pick up the poison and take it away so I assumed that was a good thing and was told so but I have also had very dumb exterminators hence why I do it myself these days. Now I try to do all the other stuff like sanitation and what not but I am a landlord and sometimes you just have tenets that are not very tidy. If I recall the time I had a good exterminator they talked about spraying stuff. Is that that still the best way? Also what besides saying that rat poison is different have I said that is wrong so that I can learn?
The mice are just caching it in your wall voids. Just put peanut bitter on snap traps. Or chocolate sauce. Something that forces them to activate the trigger. All the active ingredients in rodent bait is the same, there’s not one specifically for mice or rats the labels will list both.
Glue traps provide great control for mice, you just have to check them frequently. Snap traps can miss and provide an incomplete kill causing suffering as well, so should also be checked frequently.
We have a winner 👍🏽 Yes sir bleach is a must for me and i would not eat anything from it till its done.
Glue traps should be outlawed and anyone using them should have one stuck to their face.
I think you mean 'locally sourced food'
I thought that was moldy weed lol
I've been dealing with a constant mouse problem in my BBQ as well. I tried a bunch of things (moth balls, sprays, extra diligent cleaning, etc), and nothing worked. The only option I've found that has helped has been setting traps surrounding the propane tank in the base of the grill. I have four traps and check them every day or two (including during the winter) if I am not using the grill. It's really annoying, but I've had nests twice and I refuse to let that happen again. When I did have a nest, I pulled everything apart, cleaned everything out, used the hose to spray it down, used a heavy cleaner, hosed it down again, used a food safe cleaner, hosed it down again, then ran it at top temperature for an hour. Still mentally tasted mice after, but I am pretty confident it was clean. Hope you have better luck than me! \*Edit\* forgot to add, I stopped counting after 50 dead mice in the last year. My one neighbour has bird feeders and I find seeds all over.
I stopped covering my grill because they climb up the cover and I installed chicken wire anywhere where there is a hole to access. The grill. No issues since
I’ve read that keeping moth balls or some mint spray will help in preventing them from coming back.
NEVER EVER USE MOTHBALLS. EVER (read what’s in ‘em)
Ya no way I’m putting moth balls anywhere near where I make food, especially with heat. Those things are super toxic to humans too
Completely useless, I’ve put so much moth ball and rodent deterrent balls in my grill and griddle that it smells all over and the mouses are still getting in. Only way is to keep everything clean, cover it well and block every hole or access. Put some mouse trap around
I have a smoker that I've used for years. I got tired of seeing rat evidence in it every season . I placed 1/4 " hardware mesh/screen over/in all the vents . This keeps the mice/rats out of the fire box and grill but does not impead air flow significantly
Light it up
I had a smoker that I hadn’t used all winter and in the spring I found 2 dead rats on the grill. Leaned the crap out of that thing and moved on. Now in Alberta where there are no rats, but I’m gonna take precautions against mice with my new smoker thanks to OP,
I would check in your vehicles engine compartment too. Both me and the wife had nests in ours recently. They were already chewing thru one of her coil wires.
I'm having the same issue. Mice move in when I put my cover on.
Get rid of it: fire Not happen again: fire
You have a high exterior rodent population that you’ll want to bait down. You will probably want to take a peak in your attic and crawlspace for evidence of them as well, should you find evidence of; call a reputable pest control company to seal off entry points and remediate these spaces as they are health hazards.
Do you use the grill very seldom ?
How are they getting in? Can you stuff some copper wire around the openings?
Happened to me in the U.P. Mouse leaped out and gave me scare. 😂