Disappearing Carrots: Dehydrator Porn :o)

[jennyjj01]

Could of been worse....... you could of had mouse jerky.

I don't think the mouse/mice were inside the dehydrator while it had food in. It always had the cover shut. ( Yes I know mice are clever at getting through gaps ) They had an easy snack of bits of food outside and around the dryer and that's where most of the poo was. The dryer door was only left off after last time I emptied it and that's when i expect they pood inside.

I WOULD have noticed the mouse poo if it had been there last time i used the Dryer, so I've decided no food gets discarded.

Call me a dirty ****er if you wish, but my 'risk assessment' is that there's very little chance that food was contaminated and even if it was, it will get cooked enough to be safe.

I'll be bleaching the dryer to hell and back.

If I get ill, I'll post a follow up confession, but that might be after the apocalypse anyway.

[Arzosah]

Poor you! It's a really valuable post, though - it made so much sense to put the dehydrator in the shed, and we can't think of everything, you only realise by doing.

Can I ask, though - if the little blighters ran across the top of the machine, would their wee/ poo have got into the machine itself, either to the motor or to the food? Do you think the machine needs to be in a little wire cage of its own?

That's not a sentence I ever thought I'd write!

[jennyjj01]

Poor you! It's a really valuable post, though - it made so much sense to put the dehydrator in the shed, and we can't think of everything, you only realise by doing.

Thanks. I hoped it would be

Can I ask, though - if the little blighters ran across the top of the machine, would their wee/ poo have got into the machine itself, either to the motor or to the food? Do you think the machine needs to be in a little wire cage of its own?

There is a small exit fan at the top, so a very determined critter could use it as a loo, but he'd be p155ing into the wind
I leave a white plastic 'drip tray' at the lowest level to catch any bits of food that shrink really small. That had no poo on it when I emptied the last batch of food out or I really would have spotted it.
The bulk of spilled food that they would have found easy to picnic on was on the shelf and around the door of the dryer. With the door left off after I emptied it, the white tray was also close to that picnic area.

I like the idea of enclosing the dryer. I'll probably use this from B&Q.

[Arzosah]

That's a great size mesh - even mice can't get through a 0.6mm gap, and it's still big enough to allow proper ventilation.

[jennyjj01]

That's a great size mesh - even mice can't get through a 0.6mm gap, and it's still big enough to allow proper ventilation.

Indeedy. And at 7 quid a sheet it's cheap. There is a cheaper option stitching together sheets from screwfix, but pah! Let's push the boat out.

[ForgeCorvus]

I'm sorry to say this but mice pee a lot.... Not quite all the time but more so then most mammals (there is a myth that they don't have bladders, they do).
The main reason for this is supposed to be scent-marking.

I'd bleach the bejeezus out of the worktop you had the thing on as well, you don't want the little blighters to feel too at home do you.

The big problem is mice climb really well, need to build barriers like rat-baffles etc

This old fashioned meat safe shows signs of a classic mouse-proofing trick.


The dark stains on the bottoms of the legs are from being stood in large tin cans full of creosote

[jennyjj01]

I'm sorry to say this but mice pee a lot....

I'd bleach the bejeezus out of the worktop you had the thing on as well, you don't want the little blighters to feel too at home do you.

Thanks, I pretty much knew that.

Yes, I'm going to nuke it with sterilising solution, the rather makeshift 'worktop too ( it is just a shed )
Will make a mesh enclosure before I use it again and surround it with humane no-kill traps.

I don't mind the critters as guests, but won't be so careless as to lay on a banquet for them.

I also understand how cringeworthy it is that I don't intend chucking all my potentially contaminated food. But I really am confident they didn't get to pee and crap on it, nor on the food surfaces where I'd laid food out. All prep and loading of the food trays was done in the clean conditions of my kitchen.

Now, If I detect or catch a rat, I'll reconsider.

[pseudonym]

This old fashioned meat safe shows signs of a classic mouse-proofing trick.


The dark stains on the bottoms of the legs are from being stood in large tin cans full of creosote

That and the bungee..... have your eye out with one of those.

[ForgeCorvus]

Thanks, I pretty much knew that.

I hoped so, but I'm sure that somebody didn't.
My next Thread might have to be "Egg-Sucking 101" as I'm really good at telling people stuff they already know

Now, If I detect or catch a rat, I'll reconsider.

Amen to that, one of the few critters I try to kill..... Wheres the "Shuddering" Emoticon?

[Jamesey1981]

That mesh that you mentioned from B&Q has holes that are too big I'm afraid, its 13mm. Mice will be able to get through that, they're squishy little things.

Link here to a site that sells rodent mesh, I would imagine you can get it cheaper elsewhere but it's a starting point.

https://www.robinsonwirecloth.co.uk/pest-control/