Before washing the bedroom windows, I moved the garden tool rack and a bunch of clutter away… only to find a remarkable amount of litter below the plastic base:
One of those lumps consisted of tightly packed fluff, much like the mouse nest inside the barbie a few years ago, so this was surely a winter home.
But it seems at least one mouse didn’t make it through the winter:
Given its dessicated nature, I think the poor critter probably expired during the depths of the winter freeze.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
I had a similar experience. I was cleaning out the basement lab in preparation for moving, and decided to strip an old printer for parts. However, said printer was full of fluff and droppings – apparently a mouse had made it a home. And, within the fluff was a mummified mouse. I didn’t salvage much from that printer.
Know when to fold ’em…
Yeah, I get mice in odd places. Both trucks have hardware cloth screens (1/4″ mesh) in the airboxes to prevent fresh nests, and we now keep the hoods open when the vehicles are in the garage.
My “large item” safe has a hole(now plugged) for a Goldenrod dehumidifier/heater. Mama mouse set up shop, but investigated a 5 gallon bucket and got stuck, so I had to deal with the mostly dead mouslings in the safe. I’ve found nests with pellets of D-con mouse bait in the barn. Lost a few rolled-up rugs that way.
My current problem is carpenter ants in the greenhouse. They won’t eat the wood, and they’ll leave the plants alone, but their bite is annoying, so I have to look into veggie-safe control. (Boric acid baits look attractive, so far.) I had two 10 gallon pots stacked for the winter on a bed, and when separated, found the makings of a primary nest, complete with pupae for queens and males. Evicted same.
Ah, so the dawgs can get all comfy atop those nice warm engines during the winter… [grin]
Nah, they’re smarter than that. [grin] In the months associated with Winter (approximately Sept through mid June*), if the faux-woodstove (really propane) is on, they’ll be found with a paw or head on the hearth. Trucks are only interesting if they have to go to the vet (who they love–go figure), or if chipmunks take shelter in the undercarriage.
* Stealing a joke about Michigan: We have 4 seasons: Almost-Winter, Winter, Still-Winter, and Construction (or Fire, depending on the year). I just turned the pilot off the FWS yesterday. It got used the day before. Guess I need to switch the ceiling fan to the short-season direction.
Besides, it’s cats that nap on engines, or hoods :-)
I once had a less disturbing-looking find. A kind of round bowl in the garage had a mouse skeleton in it. It wasn’t even half as creepy as a dried-out frog or mouse. (If you want to see pictures of the frog, just ask. ;P)
No, that’s OK. Really, I’m fine with not knowing more…
I have a late 70’s Husqvarna dirt bike in my garage that hasn’t been run in decades, but I can’t seem to bear parting with. I took the air cleaner cover off years ago to discover a mouse had used it for it’s home. Surprisingly, the mouse had almost complete eaten the foam air cleaner element which had been soaked in two-stroke oil! Who knows? We put oil on our salad, right?
Carbohydrates, hydrocarbons, they’re all tasty!
As nearly as I can tell, mice will at least nibble on anything, perhaps to discover if it’s edible or nest-able. Most things are, alas…