#%^&! Rats. Be on the lookout...

[Strokerswild]

Cats and Bounce dryer sheets are your friends.

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[Rapid Red]

Cats are interesting little buddies.

 

[JWMGR8]

I've lived in my house for 18 years and I've never had a rat or mouse problem (that I know of), until now. Yesterday I spotted a large mouse or small rat in my garage. It ran off somewhere and I couldn't find it. But I had a bad feeling since I've only been driving my car about once a week, or even 10 days sometimes. I checked under the hood and sure enough, there were rat or mouse droppings and what I guess is...spots of urine...in several places around the engine bay. I can't find any chew marks or actual damage, at least looking down from the top.

Going to set out an array of traps and poisons, but it's hard for me to picture how they are actually gaining access to the engine bay. Isn't the underbody pretty much paneled off with plastic? I guess they can climb and jump, so they may be crawling up the tires, or jumping into the lower grille area.

From now on I'm going to make it a point to clean the junk out of my garage, and drive more often in hopes it will keep them out of the car..

 

[JWMGR8]

This is only a problem if your vehicle sits undercover for weeks or months at a time. I parked my John Deere in my barn but did not move it for about 3 weeks. Tried starting it- did not start. short story is Mice nested inside the tractor and ate my wires- $1,800 later it worked fine. JD guys reccommended parking it outside in open which I did and never had a mouse problem again. They also said pepper spray would work to keep the mice away?
Had a friend park his C-5 vette under cover for several months(in storage) mice ate wires, the seats etc- insurance totaled the car.

 

[dhborden]

Feeling your pain -- I covered my 2015 GT during the first winter after buying it and the mice decided they liked to pick apart the underhood padding for their nests. I went with an electronic pest device (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DVZ8G2D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and haven't had any pest problems since then. Downside is that it draws on the battery constantly, you'll need a jump to get it started after four to five weeks. I started using a battery maintainer/conditioner which resolved that issue for the few long winter "under cover" stretches since then.

 

[Rover]

I'm surprised nobody suggested to leave the hood up. This makes the engine compartment less appealing. We had these problems for about 18 years with all sorts of vehicles on the ranch until we took in 2 feral cats that live in the barn and hunt the whole place at night. Now a mouse is a rare sight.
But I still keep a few mouse traps baited in the garage for the occasional intruder.

 

[turbofiveoh]

Mice and rats like dark enclosed places. A really simple solution is to get some 120V led strip lights and place them under the hood when you're not driving the car. Don't use the 12V version or you will have a dead battery before long. The constant light under the hood will make the engine bay an undesirable spot for rodents.

 

[Rover]

Mice and rats like dark enclosed places. A really simple solution is to get some 120V led strip lights and place them under the hood when you're not driving the car. Don't use the 12V version or you will have a dead battery before long. The constant light under the hood will make the engine bay an undesirable spot for rodents.

Lights work. So do things that mess up their foraging and mating routines. Cotton balls with eucalyptus oil or peppermint on them strategically placed around the engine compartment deters them. Cats really deter them - lol

 

[Jmtoast]

I keep traps all around the garage but I have better options for mice houses in my garage other than my car.

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