squirrels

I am repeatedly getting issues with squirrels making nest in my engine compartment. they are chewing my wires and causing significant damage. I have tried spraying squirrel deterrent spray. And I've also tried peppermint oil. neither seems to help. does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep them from making a nest in my truck engine compartment?

 

MouseBlocker 12V Ultrasonic Under Hood Mouse and Rodent Deterrent for Your Vehicle

$60 MouseBlocker 12V Ultrasonic Under Hood Mouse and Rodent Deterrent for Your Vehicle

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Use deterrent in the truck and put out a trap nearby?

 

I was just going to post a thread on my wireing that was chewed up by a rat. Dam thing chewed the wires from the stater to the knock sensors. Models other
than the 4.7 Tundra (1st gen here) used a plug connector at the starter...not so with the 4.7. AND the two wires are shielded by a look of wires around the leads.
Big nightmare fixing that. Justa few months ago I had the intake off to replace the starter and found rat crap in the valley. This time he had moved in and brought
his sofa. I pulled the starter to get some extra length before tackling the tiny wire job. Taint pretty but its gonna have to do. I've read up on electronic rodent deterants
you can install under the hood, (hooked up to the battery) but found no devices like that for squirrels. I'm not entirely confident the device I purchased will do the trick, and for
how long, so I might consider doing some extra efforts such as recomended online for rodents AND squirrels under the hood.

"Squirrels distance themselves from hot pepper smells, like jalapeño, cayenne, and black pepper. Because of the spicy nature of cinnamon, you can also use this to repel squirrels from your home! To use pepper as a deterrent, mix three spoonfuls with a half-gallon of water."
I've seen spray bottles online that state their product will do just that.....the big problem (for me) is that it fades and you need to re apply every few days.
Thats a big enough hasstle for me, and a good enough reason not purchase these products.

I would suggest the home mixture mentioned above to start the message and maybe make up a dry potpourri bag of those ingredients listed and hang that on the firewall
or fenderwell openings. I had a rat enter my air cleaner intake, and made it into the the filter box. I stopped that entry point by burning some small holes on the intake tube
and wireing a 3/8" heavy screen over it.
We live near a woods, but we removed a long section of old planted tangled bushes where my truck is parked often, and found the rats bed in there.
Even after the installation of the electronic rat device I might add a nasty "dry" potpourri of the above mentioned ingrediants....maybe even add some garlic.
Good luck my friend....hope you can find a solution that works for you, and tell me about it in the coming days and months.

John G in Monterey, Ca.

 

NICE of Knabores to post his reply. I'll have to say we HAD ground squirrels getting under our deck, which floats only 8 inches off of a concretre slab.
My gal scattered used coffe grounds around all the entry points and they gave up getting under there. THAT may be your ticket !!

One other option is live traps, which forces you to relocate (or kill) the intruder.

 

I had squirrels chew through my engine harness and had to file an insurance claim for it.

bought one of these and haven't had a problem since. highly recommend

 

I spray my entire engine compartment with Fluid Film then shake cayenne pepper onto the damp FF. Haven't had any trouble in 4 months.

I don't think they like the greasy feeling along with the pepper.

 

Same exact unit I just purchased...hope it works. How long have you had it under the hood ? Year or so ?
Can you tell if its still working ? like a light that stays on ?

 

Bars of pink Dove soap and pine sol soaked rags wedged into areas around the perimeter of the engine compartment.

Edit: change comprehensive coverage to zero deductible, not much higher premiums.

 

$90 Mouse Blocker Pro 12Volt High Powered Ultrasonic Mouse and Rodent Deterrent with with an Eviction Mode and Dual Strobing LEDs for Your Vehicle

https://www.amazon.com/MouseBlocker-Pro-Ultimate-Ultrasonic-Deterrent/dp/B01MG94UER

I did go check under my hood and I got the pro version with 3 different levels (link above). Have had it about 10 months. Still works great. Originally i installed it and had it on level 3 and man was it loud lol. I work from home and if I had my house windows open I could hear the noises loud and clear. I left it on level 3 for a few weeks to scare the squirrels away for good. Lights were flashing under the hood it was like a rave. I leave it on lowest level now. Yes I can tell it still works as if I’m standing near the front of my truck I can hear the high pitch noises it makes and if I open up the engine bay I can still see lights blink. No squirrels have come back. I do see an occasional squirrel run under the truck and I get paranoid but they scurry away quickly. I do still check every week or two for a nest and knock on wood haven’t had any since I installed it.
Would 100% buy it again if it stopped working just for the piece of mind. Not worried about squirrels anymore. Good luck!

 

............................................................................................
Wow, Cool !! I maybe should have gotten the pro version with the LOUDER noises,...but I didn't.
One final question sir ; Mine has a grey wire to hook up to a power source that allows it to be OFF when the engine is running.
Does the pro version have that feature ? Reason I ask is the noise emmitted MAY interfere with the knock sensors if its giving off
strong signals while the engine is running.
If yours has that grey wire hook up...what source did you wire it too ?
Thanks Much !!

 

Hey,
so no gray wire on mine. just black and red only. I wired straight to the battery terminals. Pro version (not sure if other version does this) but it can sense if the truck battery is low or not. so if the truck battery drops below a certain level the box will no longer flash, make noise, nor drain any power. The pro version has 1 button with 4 different features. Off - level 1 - level 2 - level 3. Thats it. Also when you turn the engine on and it is running the machine turns itself off and no longer makes a noise nor flashes lights. then once the engine is shut off the machine auto starts again on whatever level you left it on.

I actually bought mine from their actual website (https://mouseblocker.com/product/mouse-blocker-pro/) where it lists those features I stated above.
Honestly cant recommend it enough. I just walked outside to my truck and if I am near the front left wheel well I can still here it, I leave it on level 1 now but with spring coming up I'll turn it up to level 2 as the squirrels in my condo/hoa development are starting to get more active again.

after the squirrels got me and chewed through my engine harness I did park in a different area of my development for 2 weeks while I waited for the blocker to be shipped. figured the squirrels would find a new home since my truck wasn't there anymore.

Knock on wood no more problems (I also stopped feeding the birds and other animals near my development too to be safe)

 

WinterWarlock ~ Just found my answer....
"Auto Shut Down Automatically Turns on When Vehicle is Turned Off"

 

Living in the middle of 80 mostly wooded acres, we have squirrels all over the place. They’re always running around on the front porch. I had them make nests in my engine compartment and in my cabin filter. I tried peppermint, dryer sheets, and a slew of other things. The final fix was LED lights, under the hood and in the glove box. Haven’t had any trouble for at least 2 yrs now.

 

A nice accurate pellet rifle or a 22 with a nice little scope.!!. Squirrel stew!!

 

I just got my truck back today from having the wiring harness replaced, again, do to a squirrel eating through it. Second time in eight months. I've shot a bunch of the damn things but they seem to still be everywhere. I'm going to have to order on of those electronic gizmos....