I am babysitting my daughters Toyota Camry hybrid (she lives in NYC currently and occasionally comes home to NC and drives her car). I drive the car a few times a week. Friday, when I went to put the groceries in the passenger seat, I noticed a little debris on the passenger side floor mat, and thought, hmm hubby got in car with dirty shoes (and was prepared to discuss this with him as daughter likes her car pristine). I placed my water bottle in the cup-holder and observed a few pieces of shredded paper at the back of the cup-holder and in front of the small enclosed storage box behind it. Imagine my surprise when i opened the box to reveal what appeared to be a mouse nest! I shut the box quickly, returned my drink to the cup-holder and sat for a few minutes contemplating the drive home. Was there a mouse in there? Would it come out somehow and run across my lap as I was driving? By moving the car did I separate babies from parent? (why this concerned me at that moment is beyond me)
I mustered up my courage, started the car and drove home. My husband is now extricating the nest from the console storage box (hope his garden gloves will protect him if there is a live mouse and it tries to bite him). But how did it get there? How do i prevent this in the future? Could the mouse have gotten into the driving compartment while i was driving?
I thought about calling this in while listening to your Saturday show but felt that the folks with mechanical issues took precedence.
Yes sounds like you have a mouse in the house (hahahahaha) ok all kinding aside our there any lights coming on that wern’t before. and does everting work like it should. double check under the carpet or under the seats to make sure he or she didn 't eat any ot the cars wiring. he probly found his way into the car though a hole in floor of the car. know any one with a pet cat.
Cars aren’t sealed well enough to keep mice out. I’d just keep a few mousetraps on the floor mats when you’re not using the car. If the car is parked in a garage, I’d also put mousetraps around the garage as well. Normally you’d also want to vacuum the car well to make sure there are no food crumbs, but I guess this won’t be needed if the car really is pristine.
The next time the car goes in for service, you might want to have them look for any obvious chewed wiring.
That must have been an unnerving drive home. I can see why you picked the Distracted Driving category here!
Yikes! I’ll have to stop complaining about the June bugs.
This may sound alarmist, but mice and their droppings spread disease. You should think about getting the interior professionally cleaned.
I’ve heard of mice and squirrels setting up house in cars, but always during the winter or a flood. If you don’t use that compartment much, the nest could have been there a while. The idea that you’ve been driving around with Mickey for a while may not be comforting, but it might also have happened while your daughter had the car, not you.
We’ve had a rodent infestation problem with our vehicle s at work. The solution was to put rat poison stations out to kill all the little suckers in the area. I’d also recommend driving the car more frequently. They tend to build nests and occupy vehicles that don’t get used frequently. If you also drive your own car, swap cars every other day so both cars get driven every two days.
If you don’t want to use the poison, I’ve had good luck with a Havahart live trap (found it at the local hardware store) for a mice infestation in my garage. I’ve caught two so far and released them in the woods.