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Status:
"Just livin' day by day"
(set 18 days ago)
Location: USA
3,166 posts, read 3,355,702 times
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I’ve been doing some research.... My car is a newer model and most wiring is being made with a plant based coating which is a delight to the rodents and of course the dealership. I was told to call the insurance company to see if they’ll cover “animal related damage” which will do in the morning. I was surprised when the service tech told me that rodents has caused damage to the electrical wiring system of my car. I figured as long as I had the no eating rule in my car, the rodents would stay away. Although occasionally, I had left cans/bottles in bags to be taken to store for deposit. I live in one of the few States where cans have a money back deposit.
Some of the things I read was...
Leaving the hood propped up a few inches.... Sounds stupid imho for different reasons
Sprinkling cayenne or any kind of HOT pepper around the tires
Using pure peppermint oil under the hood or using those altoids peppermints
What are your ideas to keep rodents away? I’m nervous about putting something under the hood that can become a fire hazard
Last edited by PJSaturn; 01-29-2019 at 08:17 PM..
Reason: Merged two threads on same topic.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,553 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57723
All the wiring insulation now is soy based and rodents love it. The best method is to trap them. My wiring has been fine, but they steal insulation from the firewall. I have tried all of the various remedies such as dryer sheets, Irish Spring Soap, and various predator scent sprays with no success.
You'll find quite a few mouse repellant products with a google search. Not sure that any of them work. I used to work on agricultural equipment, and it's a huge problem in that industry.
For farmers, the best fix is to park the machinery away from food sources and shelter. Don't park by the grain bins, barn, etc.
For car owners, I guess one equivalent would be to make sure you aren't feeding pets where you're parking the car.
Also rat poison works. Just make sure pets can't get to it.
Last edited by turkey-head; 01-24-2019 at 08:28 AM..
Repellents don't really work in my experience. Need to set out traps/bait and kill them. We had some that were getting into our pantry via a hole in a crawlspace vent. We tried peppermint, cayenne, and various store bought deterrents. Have them on video just cruising right by them. Only thing you can really do is kill the ones who already know about the food source and physically block off access for new ones.
Presuming you are street parking without access to a garage that will certainly be tricky. Getting it repaired and then parking in the same spot would just have you back at the shop the next day.
I've known lots of people to use lots of different repellents... never seen any real evidence that any of them work.
And I have serious doubts about the Tabasco sauce idea. I like Tabasco sauce... I bet rats would too. Plus it smells good. I'd bet it'll attract them, not repel them. Of course this is all speculation. But I'd think that if hot pepper is gonna be your approach... pepper spray would be the way to go. Might be expensive.
Rat poison isn't exactly a repellant... but it does work.
I have a car that I store during the Winter and I was using mothballs until I found that a mouse had chewed a hat that was in the trunk to make a nest and was using a mothball as a pillow. it was an old mothball so that might have explained it.
I have also used dryer sheets but they need to be kept fresh.
Don't forget the exhaust pipes. I have mesh bags that tomatoes came in over my side pipes. A few times before I started using the bags I fired up the car and acorns and bird seed shot out of the pipes.
I also have the trunk lid propped open because the rodents generally like dark places to hang out in.
I have also heard that Irish Spring soap works and I am trying that this year because my wife hates the smell of moth balls.
I also have a couple of bars in my boat that is covered so we will see how that works out come Spring.
On our mini-farm (slightly less than 2 acres), we find that an outdoor cat does wonders to keep the rodent population down (including rabbits). There are spice packets that chase rodents away that seem to work fine in the RV.
I also put a rodent poison trap under the engine compartment.
I honestly don't know which one worked better but I no longer have rodents chewing wires.
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