3 blind mice..or 6 dead one's..or whatever

[lumpy]

So today after work I decided to take a closer look at the replacement gas tank I purchased for the lark….When I bought it a couple of months ago I did a quick inspection with a flashlight and it looked fairly clean and shiny on the inside, tossed it in the back of the pick up took it home and put it on the shelf. When I took it down today to start thinking about changing the pick up line from 5/16 to 3/8 or bigger, I noticed something rattling around inside. Upon closer inspection There appeared to be something furry in the tank.. Well.. and hour or so later with the help from a very understanding wife , a flashlight . and a vacuum cleaner with various attachments ..we managed to extract 6 very old petrified mice.

[TWChamp]

Mice love steel houses. They went into the bellhousing hole on my 1946 M5 and locked up the starter drive twice in one month. They will plug radiators or anything that lays around with an open hole. Back in the 80's I overhauled a combine engine, and told the farmer that I wanted to be there before he started the engine, or there would be no warranty. Good thing I went because the bottom radiator tank was full of mouse nest. All holes need to be taped off.

[Lynn]

Wow. Guess one should always store gas tanks with the cap on, or something to cover any holes.

Have vacuumed mice out of seats, tail pipes, engine compartments, and one headliner (I knew that little bastard was up there, just couldn't see him) but never a gas tank.

[sweetolbob]

Leave 'em there a while longer, they'll do what the dinosaurs did millions of years ago - Free gas!

[skyway]

Once found a mouse nest (along with some dead babies) inside the OD housing on a 1941 T-85.
Apparent access was the empty hole for the speedo drive.

[1954khardtop]

I found a mouse nest in the top tank of a radiator that had been stored in a barn for years. Now I tape over the hose connections and make sure there's a cap on when I store them.

[57studesilverhawk]

On the Farm here , we left a Ford 1/2 ton sitting over the winter, so went to start it in the spring , it would not turn over. Pulled the plugs and the cylinder head filled full with wheat, good winter storage area out of the snow. They had gone up the exhaust pipe , through the worn out muffler and into a cozy engine, needless to say the old ford truck went into the scrap pile.

[Mark L]

Vermin will occasionally hitch rides on airplanes. Years ago I was on a crew disassembling a 737 interior. We could tell one or more mice had been inside from the droppings on the upper surfaces of the ceiling panels. I got to one panel and lowered it, and found the pantry: the entire top of the ceiling panel was strewn with peanuts and pretzels they had scavenged from the floors when the plane was quiet during overnight stops.

[lumpy]

The good news is I'm sure the mice got to join the "mile high club" !

[55coupe]

I pickup a 55 coupe some time ago that sat for some time. When I finally started it in my garage it was after dark it sounded very quite for a 259 with duels. After a few minuets a big poof and it was much louder. When I went out the next morning it looked like a ticker tape parade had happened in my drive way. The little guys had made nests in the mufflers.