Check the 2 little vents covers in the rear left right corners of the cabinet. Maybe they are missing.

There are vent holes in the cabinet to let air in and more vent holes in the back box to let heat out. These should be covered by a metal screen.

True story: I once found a dead mouse inside the oil pan of my 1990 Nissan 300ZX.

The smell of rotting, dead mouse is something, isn't it?

Z

I miss you old friend.

Sorry...what were we talking about?

Do you have things piled up next to the game that would allow the mouse to reach a vent hole, below the game? Did it chew away some of the wood maybe by the bottom speaker?

Do you have any pics of the unlucky victim in the game?

That is Insane! Used to work in the used car dept for Volkswagen. Had one that wouldn't start. Got in it cranked and cranked no joy. Opened the hood and just stood there looking at the engine. Then I saw it! A mouse head... just the head on the coil. I thought No Way... Knocked it off there and what do you know she starts right up! You can Imagine the looks I got when I wrote that one up!

If he was 5 second fresh, then you fried him, LOL

Pesky critters. A mouse and most rodents only need a hole that is just a fraction larger than their skull, to be able to get into stuff. They can contort their bodies really quickly. Can they climb the metal legs? Not sure. They certainly can climb the power cord, or jump from near object, a mouse can jump the distance of around 3 times its length.

It couldn't have been that fresh!

Takes around a day for them to start to stink!

Did the mouse have a cape by any chance?

They climb the power cord. Just like rats use a anchor chain to get on a ship.
That's why cats love pinball.

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Bought 12 fair size tomato plants and kept them in my hatch closed SUV on the driveway overnight to get to planting them in the morning. Next morning, I open the hatch of my SUV and there are 12 plant containers and no plants. I was pretty much baffled by it, WTF? Turns out that a mouse, yes just one mouse it seems, was breaking into my car on a nightly basis, chewed thru the vent fan in the dash the first time and had unlimited access now. One mouse took all 12 plants in one night? Yup. I found a half eaten Chunky bar and my son's safety seat harness chewed as well. I put a glue trap on the floor on the front passenger side and next morning after that, he's caught. $400 worth of fan replacement work needed. Try a glue trap with peanuts set in it around your pins.

OK I got the rodent story

A friend of mine - great guy, kind of a lowlife - had a pet snake. Cobra or some shit. He's going out of town for a week. So, better get a giant rat for him to eat all week. Makes sense, right?

So he goes to the pet store, picks out a nice lively plump rat. Gets home, picks up the box to bring inside to Jake the Snake...unfortunately, the box is empty. So he's looking all over the car for the rat. No luck.

He's hoping of course it just escaped, but the next morning, there's a bunch of rat shit and the seat on his old ass buick is chewed up. Not good. So that night he comes up with a new genius plan - leave the door open, with some food outside. The rat helps himself to the food, but it's pretty clear he's just eating it and coming back in the nice warm car.

He battles it out with the rat for like a week, with absolutely no luck, as the buick gets more and more disgusting. He finally decides, fuck it, I'll leave the car completely sealed up, no food, starve him out. As time goes by, it becomes clear he's finally won the battle. No fresh signs of the rat.

So, he's real happy! So happy in fact, he buys a sack of weed and decides to smoke a huge joint in his car. Unfortunately, he's pulled over and the cop smells some weed. "License and Reg please."

Opens up the glove box...and well..no rat, but the Reg docs are completely chewed up, there's rat shit everywhere, along with a huge nest.Clearly, the rat had made a nice little condo for him.

Spends the night in jail, never sees the rat again. Not sure what happened with the Buick.

he learned an important lesson...not sure what really, but he won't forget it.

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Unless it was cooked mouse, was he hanging out near the high voltage area?

Man if I haven't cooked myself by now I doubt a mouse would. Who knows though.

Thought the OP's pin would have been Mousin' Around...

I find your pinside content very entertaining! Keep posting!

He should have left the snake in the car.

About a month ago I went on a fishing trip for steelhead in British Columbia. We were camping in the wilderness next to a river using large wall tents. We placed tarpaulins on the ground inside the tents so it wouldn’t be as muddy.

At night mice would come into the tents and scurry around below our cots. It was spooky since they sounded huge and loud on the plastic taurplin. One guy even had them get in his hair while he was sleeping. He’s been doing this for years and it didn’t seem to bother him, but it took me a few nights to get used to it.

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Panned down to see a "Mousin Around" for sale on the scrolling for sale list below this thread. Well played, Pinside, well played.

Indeed!

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I think i'd be more concerned about how a mouse was in my house! Find the problem on how it got in the house then you won't have a mouse problem in your games.

Use something like this.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-36-in-x-36-in-Small-Hole-Aluminum-Sheet-in-Black-84327/205058566