May Have A Rat

[StangersInTheNight]

What I have done in the [ast was put rodent snap traps with peanut butter in the trunk, on the floor boards, under the hood and kill them little basters.

I don't recommend putting baited traps in the car. You are inviting the bastards in for a snack, so you may get more than you have now.

I have had 3 cars get mouse-attacked. On a CLK55, they nested behind the navigation system and chewed through fiber optic cables and wires over the winter. That one cost the insurance company almost $4K. On an SL63, they were more selective, and only chewed one wire that caused the airbag light to stay on. Almost $2k for that one. With my Acura RL, they set up hotels behind the rear seat and around the spare tire, and left poop and pee throughout the car, and lots of odds and ends on top of the cabin air filter. Oddly, they didn't do any electrical damage, but the smell was awful. I ended up striping most of the interior and shampooing and hand washing every surface. When I got it in good shape and smell, I sold it before they could start all over. I really liked that car, but apparently the rodents did, too, and it was easy for them to get in.

Lessons learned - 1) if you've seen one, you can bet there are more. They don't live alone, and they make babies in the spring. 2) at first, I was trying to catch them with live traps, but no more mister nice guy. Now I use several of these snap traps with peanut butter in the garage. 3) leaving the hood open definitely helps keep them out of the engine compartment. 4) set AC to recirculate before turning engine off. 5) during winter storage, I use FreshCab, and peppermint oil on cotton balls in the interior and the trunk and under the hood. This has worked for everything except that darned Acura. 6) If you find larger items like whole acorns, etc, those may be from chipmunks. Doesn't change much except the wife hates it when I snap them, too. (Early on, I found a live trap with a chipmunk and a snake in it, both dead.) 7) keep up with your traps. I've had a couple that snapped but didn't kill. They dragged the trap around with them until they died, and they were hard to find. 8) be nice to any neighborhood predators. Cats, fox, hawks, owls. We've had families of owls and fox the last couple of years, and the mice population is notable down-sized.

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[Orange devil]

Maybe you should start raising them. Just think of all the oriental restaurants you could sell them to. When I was in Nam, certain species were considered a delicacy.

Oh great.just what we need another virus, but this time from spicy BBQ rats.

 

[nustang]

Im a rat bastard ... last 3 years have had to maintain a trapline in the crawlspace.
last year 17 rats ... this year 7 so far in 2 weeks, and have 1 more at least I know of.

Favorite trap is the black molded ones you squeeze the back, Easy to set and release,
peanut butter on the release tray, and cheese in the bait hole.

Also have an electronic trap. Get em in that as well, though 1 for every 5-10 in snap traps.

Above available in mouse sizes as well.

Kill 'em all is my motto. Had a very expensive pex plumbing issue with them nesting. Its a war now. They love plastic ... pex, wire insulation are nice chew toys.

I keep a couple wireless Blink cams to monitor the traps. Motion sensitive, and you see if they prowl, as well as get the money shot. They prefer to prowl the perimeter. Known fact, and videos prove it.... so trap placement is key.

called an exterminator, but he advised what im doing is best he could do,

Neighbor has a service, $80/month, exterior bait boxes. Has only caught 1 rat in 2 years.

 

[Garfy]

I don't recommend putting baited traps in the car. You are inviting the bastards in for a snack, so you may get more than you have now.

I have had 3 cars get mouse-attacked. On a CLK55, they nested behind the navigation system and chewed through fiber optic cables and wires over the winter. That one cost the insurance company almost $4K. On an SL63, they were more selective, and only chewed one wire that caused the airbag light to stay on. Almost $2k for that one. With my Acura RL, they set up hotels behind the rear seat and around the spare tire, and left poop and pee throughout the car, and lots of odds and ends on top of the cabin air filter. Oddly, they didn't do any electrical damage, but the smell was awful. I ended up striping most of the interior and shampooing and hand washing every surface. When I got it in good shape and smell, I sold it before they could start all over. I really liked that car, but apparently the rodents did, too, and it was easy for them to get in.

In my over 44 years as an auto tech, I've not seen any chewed wires on Honda/Acura cars (at least since they went to FI). They might be using some different kind of insulated wires that aren't as yummy as what's used on domestics and such. I saw more chewed wires and insulation deterioration (just falling apart on their own) in GMs than the other 2 domestics, though there were chewed Ford and Chrysler products as well (the best was an F-150 whose harness underneath was chewed up by his dog; owner said he was going to shoot his dog but I'm sure he was joking).

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