# Rodents and Our Transportation



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

worthy of mentioning but you can DIY. Parked for extended periods probably wins the prize for their housing needs.

https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/...oiLNHGJqIteKfabQwGLNXvldL0UDroptUyHtDSY5Yquj0


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

The motorcycle before current was one year old and bought at the end of the season, so the dealer stored it for me. The following spring I was poking around my new toy and found that the void inside the fairly was jammed full of pine cones. Ever since then I hang cheesecloth bags of moth balls in spots on the bike. When we put the missus' Miata to bed in the fall we scatter dryer sheets around.
On of the bigger problems now days is many manufacturers are using soy-based insulation on their wiring, although I'm not sure how much a difference it would make since a squirrel chewed off the dirty, gasoline-soak gas cap of my lawn mower.


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## PestGuy (Jan 15, 2018)

I knew someone that had a brand new Subaru get its electrical system destroyed by mice in their garage. About $8000 in damages, NOT covered by the dealer warranty.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

I've had field mice, eat the coil wires from several vehicles over the winters, nothing else touched. 

Just the coil wires. 

So the old sock, with naptha ( moth balls) inside lain on the engines.


ED


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I had paper file boxes of bills, medical records & a huge Nat'l Geographic Atlas in the trunk of a Ford sedan that was parked by an almond orchard. The trunk lock got bashed. By the time it was opened, it looked like a huge mound of confetti in the trunk., nothing else.

They had food, water & a soft nest.

Wires under the hood were gnawed, too.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I've done the cheesecloth and mothballs, and even scatter mothballs in my drawers in the shop to keep them at bay. A friend suggested either going online or finding a wedding supply store and buy the little bags for rice. They are small and have a tie at the top which will allow you to attach it to brake lines, etc in the engine compartment.


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

When I first bought my car back in 2000 I didn't drive it much as I had a company car at the time. During the first winter I hadn't driven it for close to a week and found this when I opened the hood. Mice had gotten up in the engine bay and made two nests in the intake runners, chewing the under hood insulation and using it as their nesting material. I kept the hood open whenever I wasn't planning on driving it for a few days, and bought a bunch of mouse traps until they were all "disposed of". :devil3:


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

Dave Sal said:


> When I first bought my car back in 2000 I didn't drive it much as I had a company car at the time. During the first winter I hadn't driven it for close to a week and found this when I opened the hood. Mice had gotten up in the engine bay and made two nests in the intake runners, chewing the under hood insulation and using it as their nesting material. I kept the hood open whenever I wasn't planning on driving it for a few days, and bought a bunch of mouse traps until they were all "disposed of". :devil3:


Yup - same thing happened to me when I had a 'company' car. My GMC p/u only got used on weekends and critters had pretty much consumed the sound pad on the underside of the hood and nested all over the place under the hood. Luckily, no wires chewed.


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## doortrouble (Feb 16, 2019)

Peppermint oil is an inexpensive way to repel rodents and it makes them back away so you don't wind up with a foul odor you now have to get rid of. Traps have to be filled with cheese or something else that literally lures rodents to the areas you don't want them to be in.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Thinking of repellants.

The clippings off a hair stylists floor, are quite effective.

And they readily will give you yours, if you ask.

Put them in a sock, or net bag, and lie them under the hood.


ED


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Rodents share our planet, too, alas.

They do all kinds of horrible things, including clip my baby palms. Or, if they're gophers, they burrow in the earth and gobble all they can reach.
@de-nagorg and @doortrouble, thanks for your suggestions! Especially the peppermint oil. 

But, nothing quite like a trap with the vile villains in it, showing your success at least for that moment . . . .


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

de-nagorg said:


> Thinking of repellants.
> 
> The clippings off a hair stylists floor, are quite effective.
> 
> ...



I have heard this before and am meaning to try it, but I have heard that it generally only works with men's hair. Most women's hair has been too, say we say, manipulated, with chemicals.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Ferrel cat hair works best.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Good luck catching a Feral cat.

ED


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

de-nagorg said:


> Good luck catching a Feral cat.
> 
> ED


That was meant for the joke section but my finger slipped.:vs_laugh:


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## ryansdiydad (Aug 16, 2015)

Driving 80 down the tollway in rush hour.. In the middle of 5 lanes.. Car suddenly cuts out.. kinda sputtering then out completely. Coast to the shoulder. Turn the ignition it starts right up.. pull up the shoulder a bit and it sputters and dies again. 

Call for a tow. Dealer calls says mice chewed up the ignition wire..


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