# Hold it rat there! **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** hyundai, tucson\ **Created:** [May 17, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hold-it-rat-there/164446 "2020-05-17T16:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 44
**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hold-it-rat-there/164446/44 "2020-07-13T13:08:21Z")
An update: Been a month or so since the engine compartment of my car served as a rat lounge. As of my last post I was using cayenne pepper, which thankfully stopped them from chewing anything, but didn’t stop them from hanging out. First thing I did was stop parking in the same place all the time. I move around about a half block away to break their routine. I read somewhere they don’t like Irish Spring soap. So I tucked in a couple bars, still in their boxes to avoid a possible mess from melting. Their odor was quite strong. This was the result: ![P1000092](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/2/1/21d03540099a6fdaf73a1697b3d0bd462de4f5aa.jpeg) I noticed they were snacking on one side of the engine compartment and pooping on the other. Then I looked into rodent repellent spray. Most are mainly diluted peppermint oil. So I got some full strength. Boy is that stuff pungent! I also folded up some strips of metal window screen and filled in the open spaces with horizontal surfaces, clear of moving parts. I know this makes anyone into “detailing” their engine compartment cringe. But it seems to make it a less than pleasant place to be. ![P1000093](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/4/4/4423739f9a4b38244ed837c2810b27e6f177390a.jpeg) ![P1000094](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/8/b/8be67df3cb726d746497bb748f880527ea277e5b.jpeg) ![P1000096](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/e/be87dadebc48f8b35987b9fae32ca091795d6e03.jpeg) --- _[View the full topic](https://community.cartalk.com/t/hold-it-rat-there/164446)._