Rodent Bummer

Grrr…it happened! On the bright side, no wiring was touched, but I’m facing the challenge of prevention now. No garage Also need to find out if I should replace the foam stuff they wrecked.
I’ve cleaned the whole engine and sprayed peppermint everywhere. Also have traps set below, and getting more. Such an infuriating issue.

 

There is a story here on the forum of a guy who was nearly killed by mice in his HVAC system. I highly suggest a very thorough inspection and prevention method. The search box is your friend.

 

Out here in the southwest, it’s a way of life. I’ve seen many people pop their hood and have a light shining down into the engine or from below

 

Bastages! Check out this thread for how some of us have tried to prevent them from getting in the HVAC and cab.

 

Keep your truck lit up wherever you park, they hate light. I have 2 flood lights on my driveway. Also don't bait traps that will attract them to truck.

 

I have a decal on the back of my truck, it’s of slow poke Rodrigues. That’s the mouse who ate up my truck.

 

I set out a few packs of "Rodent Killer" bait packs a while back. Didn't think to take a pic but I found a PILE,like a double hand full, of the "killer" pellets in the box under the air filter!

 

I feel your pain. Left mine parked for 3 weeks while I was using the work truck and the little assholes found their way into my dash and blower motor. Used some bucket flip-traps around the perimeter of the house and killed something like 30 of em in a couple of weeks. No mouse invasions since but we keep one flip trap baited and usually get one per week thats meandering through. We have chickens that get into EVERYTHING and eat whatever isnt nailed down so poison baits arent an option.

 

Besides peppermint idea, they really don't like the odor of bleach. So spraying a strong (50/50) mix of bleach and water underneath where tires are (how they must climb up) can deter them pretty well.

In my deer lease trailer I use MouseBlocker. There are 120V and 12V versions, the 12v shuts down if voltage gets to a certain level (before vehicle won't start) to protect you. Zero mice (zero poop) in trailer after this.

https://mouseblocker.com/

 

I'm dealing with this as well. I'm going to add to the conversation with a video when I do mine in a couple days. I've got stainless steel wire mesh with 1/8" grid for the openings.

@Johnsonman do you think Mouse Blocker is worth the premium over the generic options? If it works I may get their shop package to use for my house.

 

Thanks for the info Austin! Bleach mixture is down. Irish Spring slivers + Peppermint Oil, "should" help too!

 

Thanks for all the info and links. Today I'll tackle the air intake thing and look at the cabin filter...not looking forward to that. I'm pretty sure they got into the blower, since there's a weird sound when I crank it to hi. Ugh...big PITA!

 

I was wondering if those 5gal bucket flip traps work. I have to take the blower motor thing apart today...hope that's not too hard. Your photo seems to show that it's just a few screws holding it up. Ugh...so disappointing. Guess it could have been much worse, but now the challenge of prevention.

 

Some plastic and a few bolts, yup. Was pretty simple. Good luck in there.
The flip traps are awesome, been using them for a couple of years. I have roller traps too, more entertaining but dont work quite as well since the little bastards can make a break for the sides. (We set a motion cam up to witness the carnage)

 

Pine sol soaked rags and several bars of pink Dove soap live in the engine bay of my truck 24/7. Reapply the pine sol about twice per month. Pool tabs on the driveway scattered around just cuz why not try. Yes, the fresh air intake has also been screened.

 

Ain’t that the truth. We have mice, pack rats, desert gophers, ground squirrels and big old stinking rats. My company cars were Ford Fusions and my wife has a Taurus SHO. The vermin love the taste of the wiring in them. $600 to replace wiring in her car and over $3000 for damage to 3 Fusions. The last one was returned to the lease company when they couldn’t find a replacement harness for the traction control system.
The generic ultra sonic repellers have worked well in our garage, no further damage to the Taurus.

 

ok…I figured out how to get the blower out. A few goodies in there, and lots more in the filter.

I took off the firewall shroud thing only to find there’s a metal cover under that. It looks like a massive job to get that off to gain access to the air intake. I cannot sort out how the little buggers are getting into the intake, anyway. It looks like there’s no access when the hood is closed, but obviously, they are getting in somewhere.

Maybe there’s an easier method to get in there so I can put up a barrier mesh?

 

I use ferocious felines and abundant snap-and-kill traps. They LOVE peanut butter.
I've had ZERO luck with bucket traps. Others swear by them. I caught 27 in ONE day with snap traps in my garage shortly after we moved here. The bucket? One mouse altogether.

 

https://youtu.be/GY8cVZwf-Vo
Helpful vid of the removal process.

 

I refer to my chickens as dinosaurs. They've been known to take mice from the cats!

 

You got a surplus of those or something? Costs me and arm and a dick for a bucket of them.

 

If they were still 25ft tall we’d definitely be on the menu. Brownie (pictured) snarfed down a 2’ long garter snake this summer like a spaghetti noodle. I tried to save it but she beat me to it and beat the buttfucking brains out of it.

 

We found some nesting in my other vehicle. Wife bought me peppermint spray and some small canisters with a citrusy/lime/peppermint smell that I leave inside the vehicle. I spray the peppermint in the garage, under the vehicles and under the hood every few weeks for prevention. Very concentrated odor so I hope it works as a deterrent. Kinda new to rural living, During the summer we were getting two more drowned mice in dog water bowls outside. So we stopped leaving water out, didn't occur to me they would nest in the cars.

 

Holy crap.

I live in a forest. We have a rodent problem in the attic and crawl space. Guess I better keep an eye on my cars, too.

Sorry Tony. That sucks.

 

Luckily I haven't found the little bastards in my vehicles, but my garage was being over run with them. I tried the peppermint spray and I think they enjoyed the smell and/or taste, didn't do shit. I tried the pet safe mouse poison and they just collected it and stored it in different spots of the garage. I did the live traps and caught quite a few, but it was a PITA to have to pick them up and take them out to the desert to release the little shits.
Finally tried this mouse death chamber, works awesome! I killed a fuck load of mice and it works so fast that they don't even have time to poop or pee in it. In the time it took me to kill them all I never had to clean it out or even replace the peanut butter bait. Just dump the carcass and reset.

$20 OWLTRA Indoor Electric Mouse Trap, Instant Kill Rodent Zapper with Pet Safe Trigger, Black, Small

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DCYHSZN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

They last a long time out of the water unless you drive over them.

 

Here’s our garage chicken. They’re murder on snakes, lizards and baby quail.

 

I live in southern AZ. Have road runners here too!

 

I spent some time researching these. The results seemed to vary. When it works, it works real well..