My Tundra and the rats that almost killed me

I pull all those plastic engine covers off all my cars. rodents love to nest underneath.

 

Wow, thanks for the info, I've never heard of anything like that!

 

Whoa
Stay healthy bro and thanks for the educational

There were 3 '21s at the dealer that had had rat issues at a dealer a few months back
I almost bought one, popped the hood and said hey wtf is that...they pulled it off the lot and I ended up with a different one

 

Supplement info to rid my body of parasites:

My naturopath had me take for 90 days:
Standard Process Wormwood Complex - 1 tablet three times daily
Standard Process Zymex - 1 tablet three times daily
Standard Process Zymex II - 1 tablet three times daily
So 9 tablets daily total.

https://www.standardprocess.com

 

So was it the pills that worked or finally getting rid of the rat droppings? Your story is a good reason to not buy used cars, but I guess new cars could have the same issue. Damn can't buy anything now.

 

@Tundra805 I literally read your thread yesterday and was reminded I need to be more diligent about protecting our vehicles!
I'm in Charleston SC with the marsh in our backyard, unfortunately we have marsh rats...and lots of the bastards!
Well this morning while driving the Tundra taking my son to school, a rat crawled up onto the wiper blades from under the hood! We were driving about 45 and fortunately he scampered to the passenger side and with no place to run, he fell/jumped off the side of the truck!
Thank you for posting and I'm glad you found your issue and are feeling better!

 

I believe the supplements really did work because within days of starting the regimen the random swelling episodes became less often and less severe although I still had a few attacks. I had been on the supplements for about two weeks when I found the rats in my dashboard. So we restarted the 90 day clock since I was being re-exposed for those couple weeks.

 

Crazy story. I'm glad you figured it all out.
A mechanic told me a while back about how they deal with mice and rats chewing up the plastic in the engine compartments. They said that mice, rats as well as all other animals do not like cayenne pepper. So you can sprinkle a light amount around your engine and it keeps away the rodents.
I've never done this so, I don't know if it would be noticeable in the cabin of the truck.

 

First mod I did was use the items in below links .. put screens on with jb weld, spray peppermint around regularly esp on underside hood mat. And finally hooked up the loraffe to the battery and cable-tied it off to the side.

My motivation was to not have huge bill for chewed up wiring harness but after op story and others , no matter what make/model car you buy, first mod is putting screen over any open entrance point to cab and under cowls.

$7 J-B Weld 31319 Black RTV Silicone Sealant and Adhesive - 3 oz.

Amazon.com: J-B Weld 31319 RTV Silicone Sealant and Adhesive - Black - 3 oz. : Industrial & Scientific

$16 Valchoose 2PACK Stainless Mesh Screen 12”X24”(305mmX610mm), 20 Mesh 304 Steel Woven Wire Mesh, 1mm Hole Sturdy Easy to Cut Never Rust for Window Screen, Vent, Cage, Garden

Amazon.com: 2PACK Stainless Mesh Screen 12”X24”(305mmX610mm), 20 Mesh 304 Steel Woven Wire Mesh, 1mm Hole Sturdy Easy to Cut Never Rust by Valchoose : Industrial & Scientific

$19 ArtNaturals Oil, Peppermint, 4 Fluid Ounce

Amazon.com: artnaturals Oil, Peppermint, 4 Fluid Ounce : Health & Household

$30 Under Hood Rodent Repellent for Car Engines, Dual Action Ultrasonic & LED Strobe Lights for High-Efficiency Rat and Mouse Deterrent, Pest Control for 12V 24V Vehicles, Cars, Trucks, RVs

Amazon.com: Loraffe Under Hood Animal Repeller Rodent Repellent Ultrasonic Rat Deterrent LED Strobe Lights Keep Mice Away from Car Pest Control for 12V 24V Automobile Truck RV, Rodent Defense Vehicle Protection : Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

YES. THIS!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have the Rodent Repeller in all of my vehicles now and use the Peppermint spray every month or so… When we moved into our house we had a huge rat problem (finally figured out they were living in the drains in the backyard) and it took months of buying rat traps setting them - repeat - We counted and snagged 23 rats then covered our drains and then they kinda went away but not before I realized they were making a home under my hood!

Here are pics of the engine bay rat nest they called home and that would get cleaned and then become the rats home again in a few days - one walking out in the morning before work and seeing if I snagged a friend on its route to said engine bay home that night - and one of my son flexing after disposing of one caught in the BBQ (again)

I HATE RATS!!!!!!

 

Jesus tap dancing Christ... what a harrowing story! Makes the feral cats pissing on my tires less aggravating... and almost heroic... if it keeps these harbingers of disease and filth away from my truck.

Thanks for sharing, glad you're better now.

 

I leave a bowl of catfood under our camper for the feral cats we have in our neighborhood. They piss on the tires of my truck and camper (smells real bad when washing), but I have no mice in either. Inside my house, we had mice for over a month. I think I finally evaporated enough peppermint to move them, as I haven't herd from them in a week. Bad news is, they went to my neighbors/in laws house. F*****g things only seem to respond to death.



Since I don't have what it takes to kill things anymore, peppermint essential oils and enlisting the help of the ferals have been my weapons of choice. Good luck in the fight, folks.

 

Wow. Just went out there to see if my friends were gone and here’s my answer…. F-No

 

After reading this thread and another thread about cabin filters with mice nest. I checked mine. Something was storing corn kernels in the console lid. How it did that is a mystery. So, I started to set traps. Got one under the hood. And trap went off two other times with nothing in it. Nothing inside the truck. Past 3 days, nothing.

 

I was waiting to take delivery on my new Tundra before my first post, but this subject caught my attention.

Years ago, we owned a 1986 Olds Cutless. One day I popped the hood and noticed some of the insulation was missing from under the hood. I found the missing piece of insulation sitting on the top of the blower motor, high on the firewall. I went to grab it and IT MOVED! Not expected! I screamed like a girl, jumped back and watched a mother mouse come out from under the piece of insulation. She had baby mouselets clinging to her back and she scurried down the back of the engine and disappear in between the firewall and the bell housing of the torque converter. I tried flushing them out with a hose, but to no avail. She hitchhiked for about 2 weeks. Every time I opened the hood she ran down the bell housing and hid. Finally, one day she was gone. It's a good thing, because my wife was scared to drive the car for a while.

 

Hey OP....do you live in a rural area, or the suburbs also at risk???

 

I don't know how this hasn't happened to me yet. At our last house we had rats in the attic and in the garage. We could hear them at night running around and when I'd putt around in the garage they got to where they'd just run along the garage door rails and tops of the garage doors.

I was on quite the rat killing spree with some days having 2 or 3 in traps. I'd bury them in the backyard due to them stinkin up the trash can waiting for pickup days. Ended up killing 10-12 before I happened to see a 4-5 ft long rat snake crawling up a gas pipe into our attic. Within 2 weeks not a rat could be found....afterwards, I sealed every opening I could find with screens and spray foam.

Never had any in my truck though.

 

I had rats in my attic space too for a while and I parked my truck outside, next to a flood channel. I think what saved me was my driveway was REALLY well lit with LED floodlights, rodents dont like bright places.. Do you have really good lighting around your truck?

 

Not at the house where we had rats! Dark af. My wife's Sequoia was parked outside too. Neither had rats in them. We do have feral cats though.

Our current house has plenty of lighting and we also take care of 13 feral cats. Lol I think I'm safe.

 

Mine used to like to bring live snakes inside, play with them until he was bored, then go off to do something else.