I've taken the blower housing off numerous small engines,mostly on lawn tractors that had been left out to the weather a long time--and they had so much hay and various other things the mice used to build a nest under it that was packed SO tightly,it looked like the blower housing was sill there,only made out of the nest material!..
One time a friend was watching while I removed the blower housing on one tractor,and it was packed full like that--he says "geez--looks like a pound of weed someone wanted to smuggle in there!"...it DID!..we both laughed..
I had a few mice in my Yard-Man tractor's engine meet an ugly demise when I fired it up for the first mowing one spring,after spending the winter in my lean-to shed...it started up OK,then it faultered for a minute,I heard some grinding noises for a few seconds--then some grass and nest material flew out of the engine's shrouding where the air blows over the cooling fins...then I saw blood!..
I shut it off,and got off and took a closer look...found a mouse's severed head lying on the chassis,and the side of the engine was dripping with fresh blood--and talk about STINK!--a foul smoke was belching out of the engine..to this day,despite having taken the shrouds off and blowing all the remains out with an air hose and pressure washing it--it still smells like roasting DEATH every time I use it...
..and that was probably 10 years ago..
Wasps are much worse though--at least mice dont STING!..
One day I hauled a lawn tractor I bought for parts home from a town 70 miles away,in the back of a Dodge Caravan...it had sat outside a long time...
I got maybe 30 miles down the interstate,and I see something moving in the corner of my eye...I keep glancing over at the dashboard on the passenger side,and sure enough, a MOUSE comes flying up out of the defroster duct,scoots across the dash,and I was startled--I tried to grab it,but ended up flinging it out the open drivers side window,as the van swereved around in my lane...it landed in the second lane of the interstate...
A few minutes later,just when my heart rate was returning to normal,I feel something crawling on my neck!..I went to swat it off,next thing I know ,I have been STUNG!..
I glance back in the rear view mirror,and see about 200 wasps buzzing wildly against the back window glass!..
--then I feel a few bounce off the back of my head,and I made a panic stop after swerving into the breakdown lane..and leaped out of the van,with my arms flailing around like a madman,while cars and semis zoomed by a few feet away at 70 mph...
I was able to open the rear hatch and avoid getting stung,luckily once it opened the wasps all flew off at once,and only a few stragglers remained,which I quickly killed with an ice scraper brush!...
I found a HUGE nest under the rear of the tractor,about half the size of a football..I used the brush to scrape it off and I stomped on it until it was about 3" down in the dirt!--wasn't many wasps in it any more though..
...I waited a good ten minutes with all the windows and rear hatch open,before I found the nerve to get back in and drive the rest of the way home...it was quite the nerve wracking ride!..was waiting for more mice or wasps to attack the whole trip..
I guess because it was a chilly morning about 45 degrees when I loaded the tractor in the van,the wasps & mouse were "sleeping"...once I got on the road and turned the heater on,I guess they came out of their hibernation..
I have not used the van since to haul things like that--it's better off in a pickup bed..with NO cap on it!..I remember a friend hauling a old lawn tractor home in his pickup that had a cap on it--when we went to unload it,he opened the tailgate,and a garter snake dropped to the ground--it must have been 3 feet long,and a female--because about 30 teeny little garter snakes were slithering ALL over the place!...his sister FREAKED when she saw them..
