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[hick]

I took the plastic cover off my gas grill last eve and what did I find???? Some critter, hopefully just a mouse, made its home in the bowels of my grill!

I had no idea what to do - I thought I would just vacuum up the pretty large nest but then I thought I wouldn't want that stuff to even touch my vacuum cleaner.

I wound up hosing the whole thing down thru the opening in the center of the grill.

I removed all the parts that could be removed and hosed them down too.  After putting it all back together and letting it dry, I still smelled the "mousey" odor.

Looking on the net, I see that I have to disinfect the grill and parts with vinegar and water.  That's my plan for today.

Question - did any of you ever have this happen?  If so, what did you do.  And, any ideas to prevent this in the future?????

[nyc1]

TURN ON THE GRILL and let it burn for awhile.  The heat inside will kill everything.  Then clean the grates well.

[godi]

Yuck is right. Never had this happen in grill. They nested in our air conditioner. When we turned it on for season well let's just say it wasn't pretty. Yes definitely dissenfect. No way to stop nature. 

[Mom2Dogs]

To clean the grates you could spray with  Easy Off oven cleaner put them in a garbage bag, let them sit in the sun for a while...then scrubm them clean.

[mimomof4]

My sister in law has this happen all the time to the grill which is at her cottage.  The grill is outside all year and is not used for months at a time.  Especially on the first visit in the spring, once they turn on the grill, mice run.  ALOT of mice.

If your grill is used quite often all year long you don't have this issue.  If you don't use your grill during the winter months and keep it in your garage, pull it out and check it once in a while.  The mice are looking for a warm dry place.

[Teddixat]

@hick   so sorry and yes it is upsetting but those critters mice and rats get into all kinds of places and make a mess.  They also get into engines and chew wires costing thousands of dollars.   The good news is it can be cleaned - Just takes a bit of work.   The only way to,prevent it is to somehow cover it so they can't get in again.  A plastic  cover won't do it.

[haddon9]

I agree about turning it on then giving it another good clean.

Like a car that isn't used, I think by turning it on once a week over the winter just to keep things working should help to stop infestation in the future.

We don't have this problem since DH likes to grill even in cold weather.  We just don't grill in the snow.

[ECBG]

We use our grill several times a week.

We live in the woods but have not had this problem.  You're lucky it wasn't bees!

[Etoile308]

@hick, I don't know if this actually works, but since I keep both my Stok charcoal and Weber gas grill covered on my deck each winter I place several cotton pads doused with peppermint oil or extract inside the grill on the grates.

[AuntG]

Yes, I've heard that can happen. You've hosted a mouse family over winter. We take the tank off our grill and move it into a corner of our sunroom from November to March.