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Backstory: It is quasi-rural where I live and there are a lot of feral cats. I trap those that I can and get them spay-neutered but still, kittens happen.
Yesterday morning I was about to get into my van to go to work and noticed a teensy kitten diving up under the van. Opened the hood and there were three teensy kittens there; they dived into the bowels of the engine and wedged themselves in. Flashlights, banging, sounding the horn and a spritz with the hose didn't dislodge them (I had a friend watching so we know they didn't leave the van's engine compartment.) We couldn't see them but we know they were there. Mama cat was being agitated by the trees but didn't come close.
So I left the hood open for the day and took my other van to work and yesterday evening we pretty well determined mama cat had taken the kittens away, so I moved the van to the other side of the property where cats don't go.
Having once had the unhappy experience of inadvertently killing a kitten that had gone up into the engine, this isn't something I want to repeat. And little wild kittens will wedge themselves into the tiniest of spaces and will NOT be dislodged by loud noises etc.
So my question is, does anyone know of a way to either prevent or dislodge cats or kittens from the engine compartment of a vehicle? I'm personally not open to suggestions that result in maimed, injured or dead felines.
The kittens aren't actually IN the engine, they've obviously wedged themselves into the compartment in some manner.
The former would be impossible....assuming this van is an EFI vehicle. Two possible entrances only....up through the exhaust, only to be halted by the catalytic converter brick. Or....through the air intake, only to be stopped at the Mass Air Flow sensor.
Tried a broom to shoe them away?
Jack the van up, get underneath and "coax" them out. If they're feral, if you get close enough, they'll bail.
Oh...and if they're feral, wear protection as you probably already know.
The kittens aren't actually IN the engine, they've obviously wedged themselves into the compartment in some manner.
The former would be impossible....assuming this van is an EFI vehicle. Two possible entrances only....up through the exhaust, only to be halted by the catalytic converter brick. Or....through the air intake, only to be stopped at the Mass Air Flow sensor.
Tried a broom to shoe them away?
Jack the van up, get underneath and "coax" them out. If they're feral, if you get close enough, they'll bail.
Oh...and if they're feral, wear protection as you probably already know.
I know, that's why I said "engine compartment" instead of "engine." They are tiny and flexible and can wedge themselves on top of exhaust or suspension components too.
Feral cats will only bail out if they feel their "safe place" is in jeopardy, and that takes a LOT when you have wild kittens in the engine compartment (or elsewhere under the van) of an (in this case 2003 Ford E-150 van.) They squish themselves into a tiny space and stay put.
Your asking whether using a broom to shoo them out tells me right there you've never had to deal with this problem in real life. A broom? Seriously?
I know, that's why I said "engine compartment" instead of "engine." They are tiny and flexible and can wedge themselves on top of exhaust or suspension components too.
Feral cats will only bail out if they feel their "safe place" is in jeopardy, and that takes a LOT when you have wild kittens in the engine compartment (or elsewhere under the van) of an (in this case 2003 Ford E-150 van.) They squish themselves into a tiny space and stay put.
Your asking whether using a broom to shoo them out tells me right there you've never had to deal with this problem in real life. A broom? Seriously?
I apologize...didn't see the compartment in the subject line.
I didn't say to strike them with the broom....just to use it to make slight contact with them to maybe push them out.
Put some wet cat food on the ground and they'll come out when they get hungry.
Thanks...yah, they wedge themselves in there so tight that no amount of prodding or dislodging works! Once they're entrenched, they stay put because they know they're "invisible"....I was thinking maybe wasp spray or something but like I said I don't want to actually injure them.
The canned cat food idea is actually a good one; I did leave some food available for them and mama cat and that may have helped.
Ugh, Chiroptera . . . you are aware of the "disaster" those little guys are able to create if you're not careful?
Not sure if this works on feral kittens, however, basic neighborhood cats dislike the smell of Fabreze. Try a good healthy spraying of Fabreze in and around the engine compartment to see if that discourages them.
Growing up on a dairy farm, we had this happen occasionally. Not much to do about it, really. Regardless of how many times you chase them out of there, if your engine compartment is the warmest area around, they'll find it.
We tried to make a habit of honking the horn & making a lot of other noise that would scare them away. To the best of my knowledge, we only ever had one kitten/cat get hurt in the engine. Had no idea he was in there, and when I started the car he got his tail caught in the fan belt. Came barreling out of there pissed as all hell itself, but other than a crimped tail he was okay - and I doubt he ever crawled back up in there again...
GL - the one kitten that basically was vaporized in the engine last year required not only an engine cleaning at the car wash, but resulted in a rather distressing incident in my driveway...I was a farm kid too but sometimes find it hard to be pragmatic about such things.
GL - the one kitten that basically was vaporized in the engine last year required not only an engine cleaning at the car wash, but resulted in a rather distressing incident in my driveway...I was a farm kid too but sometimes find it hard to be pragmatic about such things.
Dang, we never had that happen!
The problem I can see with trying to "shoo them out" is the possibility of shooing them in so tightly that they cannot get out again. I really wouldn't want a kitten to die in any part of a vehicle, because he/she couldn't get out.
Of course they then expect it and keep showing up.
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this isn't something I want to repeat. And little wild kittens will wedge themselves into the tiniest of spaces and will NOT be dislodged by loud noises etc.
