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I live out in the country and have a problem with rats or squirrels, not sure which. They get under the hood of my car and chew the wires or cables. Does anyone have suggestions on what I can do to prevent them from doing this. The car is kept under an open carport. I would appreciate any helpful information.
Bonnie from Porum, Ok
I have had good luck with minced garlic getting them out of my attic soffits. I also painted the screens with clear pepper juice. You can make this: putt peppers in a hot glass jar, pour hot vinegar in to fill the jar, put the lid on and leave for 3 weeks. After handling peppers do not touch your face and be sure to wash your hands.) A small bottle of pepper sauce costs about $3. You could also sprinkle cayenne pepper powder over your engine wires. --Stone in OKC
My mom had problems with mice in the car engine...so she placed a trap in there each time she came back home. They were enjoying the warm engine. She caught quite a few. Each time she used the vehicle she would pop the hood and remove the trap before driving away.
Another suggestion...buy some rat poison...place it under the hood on a shallow aluminum plate and remove each time you want to drive the vehicle. This would be a pain to do each time...but you only have to catch/poison the one or two mice, rats or squirrels that are causing the problem.
I sprinkled red (cayenne) pepper on the wires - that stopped the squirrels from chewing and nesting under the hood of my car.
All the suggestions are great, but I do have one caution-- I too, live in a fairly rural area, and I have noticed that young feral cats have been gnawing away at my husbands car. He believed it to be rodents, but I sat outside for almost an hour every day for about a week when he would get home, and the only thing I ever saw were those cats. It wasn't until he started the car (unknowingly) with one left inside that I realized that they were the culprits. So before placing poison, be sure that it's not a wayward kitty first!
Moth balls work for us to drive unwanted critters away without harming them. Put some in some old nylons or socks and tie or place the bags where the critters have been doing their mischief.
TAKE AN OLD NYLON STOCKING AND PUT MOTH BALLS IN IT. PLACE THEM AROUND YOUR CAR AND IN YOUR YARD. RODENTS HATE THE SMELL OF MOTH BALLS AND WILL STAY AWAY.
If you poison rats outside you may be also killing a hawk, eagle, owl or your or a neighbors cat. The rat poison will also kill these wonderful birds and pet cats. Please use traps on rats or some other method. There is a rat poison that will not harm birds but it will still kill pets like cats or small dogs. If the bird or pet eat the dead rat the poison will go to the bird or pet and kill them as well.
I just had a $600 bill on a new car last week. The mechanic said he even found rat droppings in the car, and most of the wiring was chewed up.
New product out called Rats Hate http://www.Rataway.com
It stops rats, squirrels, dogs,cats,puppys horses, raccoons
and is nonpoisonous. go to web site for more information.
it you have a squirrel or rat rodent problem contact me
Rick Suddes @ aol . com
or Rataway
. com
I have had several calls from the fire area of southern California. Rats and mice etc are nesting in the home & car. Rataway has been a proven spray to stop rats, mice, raccoons, etc from nesting & chewing. It is a "Green Product" Safe for pets,children, and service personal.
How about a rabbit? The technician found a rabbit in our engine compartment sitting on top of the engine. The menace chewed my car wires first (major damage)with the estimated cost of over $2,000.00. I couldn't figure out how it could have such big teeth mark in my car. My car is still in the shop waiting for a wire harness.
And then this week got in my husband's car and cost $252.44 to repair the minor damage. The rabbit traveled 16 miles to our first stop and 22 miles to the shop. He now has a new place of residence and I hope it doesn't find it way back to us. We had moth balls in the engine compartment and pepper chaser. I like the steel wool idea.
And if any of you have it happen to you call your car insurance to see if you are covered under comprehensive. Our damages are covered 100%.
Anyone for rabbit stew?
myjoy2go@ gmail.com just remove the space
again try Rataway, from www. Rataway. com
it is not messy and easy to use. RickSuddes AT aol.com
rats chew 2% a day that is 29 minutes a day everyday on natural or man made things like your car.Rats teeth grow up to 4 INCHES a year. For the rat it is Chew or die!
Rataway stops:puppies, woodpeckers, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, dogs, cats, horses, from chewing NONPOISONOUS Green Product
Now Rataway will protect plastic water lines. A rat bit a water line in a house in California, the damage was $100,000 dollars.
After shelling out $350, and learning the news from the auto mechanic, about a rat chewing the harness wires under the hood of my car, we kept thinking a rat was the culprit. My cat came up with a couple of rats so I was sure rats were doing the damage. The third time it happened, (go out to start your car and nothing, after just driving it that morning) I got out raised the hood and caught glipse of a fuzzy squirrels tail escaping down the backside of the engine. I hate to kill the little guy because I'm afraid it's the one my 8 year old daughter has named "Chatter Box." He is ruining my car. Everyone at work thought I was crazy when I told them about it. I think I'll try the moth balls.
We've had about $450 in damage to our truck wiring so far. Our feed and seed store recommended solid rodent poison bars, "Just One Bite II," with Bromadiolone. They're designed with a hole through the center so as to wire them down so as the rodents don't just carry the bars off to their nest only to be eaten later. I.e., this encourages them to eat it in place. Also. she sold me crystallized bobcat urine to sprinkle around vehicles - do so lightly every seven days as it does have an unpleasent order like cat urine. My wife cleared out all overgrowth along the fence. And we filled an old sock with moth balls placed under the hood. The poison seemed to do the trick as it appears to have been chewed on and there has been no sign of our very expensive rodent this week. We also moved the truck to another location while we were treating the area - it's now parked back under our carport, hopefully, so far with no problem.
Trust me it is usually squirrels...spread Cayanne pepper over the engine and wires and you will solve the problem!
I am having a problem, and this has been twice within 6 months. The squirrels are making a nest on top of my gas tank and chewing my fuel line wiring. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?
I have never had this problem in the more than 19 years I have lived in my location.
By Jill T.
Squirrels are chewing the wires on my car (battery, control systems, and plugs). It needs to stop. My car is in shop now, because of this! What can I do to stop this?
By Carl
They have made a nest three times and ate wires in the motor of my SUV. Someone suggested using smelly drier sheets, at night when not using the car. It didn't work. We then had nice smelling nests. Any help will be greatly appreciated?
By Donna B.
