I have lbs of sunflower seed husks and chewed-up car parts under the hood of my Subaru Forester. The mechanic says that he can’t screen or stop up all the entry points. I drive the car almost every day. Any tips? I am sure the culprit was a mouse. Very cold winters here and car is garaged.
If your car is garaged then the field mice or chipmunks are in, or getting into, the garage and are using your car as their pantry. Get rid of the rodents and seal off your garage. Not hard to do. Try using mothballs or commercal animal repellants as well. Good luck.
I’ve seen little gadgets that you plug into an outlet that emit a high-pitched whine that mice can hear but humans can’t. Supposed to deter 'em. If it’s something bigger, there’s always Hav-a-hart (sp) traps.
My sister used an ultrasound gadget, and the mice chewed thru the electrical cords. I am having the flanges and weatherstripping (both gnawed badly)of garage doors replaced. But the thought of mouse traps makes me shudder, as an older single woman…ugh! And poison is also unappealing. A friend trapped 18 chipmunks in his havahart last year and took them far, far away. A new family is in residence now. So Bounce and grated Irish Spring soap it is.
Decon Rat Poison and mothballs…
Bird feeders attract all sorts of vermin too. Is the feeder yours? If so, get rid of it.
Yes, feeder is mine. Gray squirrels hang off it and chipmunks run around underneath. Sadly, I think you are right… Time to get rid of it. However, rat poison is worrisome due to all the dogs and cats around here…rural and farm country.
Gail Called
This is a very common problem, and the damage can be extreme ( and expensive). I’m not usually one to condone killing animals, but you MUST use whatever means are necessary to keep the rodents away from your car.
Get a cat, spread poison, set traps, whatever. DO IT! The rodents will NEVER stop once they find something they like, and they like chewing on the plastic insulation of your car’s wiring system.
Rodents are attracted to your property because you are an easy target. STOP being an easy target. Make your property as rodent-unfriendly as possible. Otherwise they will NEVER stop. I know this can be unpleasant, but there is no other way.
You need to “terminate with extreme prejudice” the rodents before they ruin your Forester.
If placed inside the garage, poison and traps should not endanger the neighborhood pets.
I have had good luck placing dry cat food between two or three mouse traps so that the mice have to crawl over the triggers to get to the cat food. To protect our own cat, I place bricks around the traps and cover them with a board. An inch wide gap between the bricks is large enough for a mouse. Check them every day or two and wear gloves when you dispose of the corpses.
If you do not want to deal with them yourself, find a professional exterminator who doesn’t insist on a long service contract. Part of the service should be to find access points and either block them or advise you what needs to be done. The professionals we have used put poison bait inside a plastic box with holes big enough for the mice but too small for cats and dogs.
Well, I guess I have to suck it up and do what needs to be done. I am, indeed, a softy…But when I write the check to body shop on Monday, it should strengthen my spine.
Thank you, all, for the (Draconian, to be sure) advice.
Gail Called
Go out and buy two large rat traps. Put peanut butter on small scraps of bread, last piece goes on the “trip” of the trap (careful, these things are touchy). Place it on the engine next to the chewed-up stuff, hood open. Put the other trap on the floor next to the wall with, same setup. Scatter peanut butter treats, wait overnight, bring garbage bag and shovel. Repeat until the rodents stop eating the treats. Believe me, I’m an animal lover and used to think squirrels were cute. Then they got into my attic . . then my garage, then my pantry . . you HAVE TO kill them, they won’t listen to reason. Seriously, the damage, disease, crap all over and mess they make will not go away without you trapping them. Squirrels, chipmunks, voles, mice, whatever . . . won’t simply go away. Gotta do it!
Are any of you who are suggesting poison and traps women? I find that my squeamishness is interfering w. the necessary reconditioning (of me, if not the rodents).
Off topic, how do I reply w/o my user name becoming “anonymous”?
Gail Called
Life has certain realities…That’s why God created men first, so they could get things squared away.
Place the Decon rat poison where chipmunks can get at it but dogs and cats can’t. A feed and grain store is the place to buy stuff that works, not the supermarket. Look at the area below your wiper blades. Place some there and see if it disappears. If it does, double the amount until it no longer disappears. Problem solved. Just DO IT!!
Birds can take care of themselves. Get rid of all that stuff. You are creating a garden for vermin. Wait until they get into your attic…
Unless you sign in each time with your user name and password, you will be “anonymous”. Although I like the new board, this is one of the drawbacks of the new board. On the old board, you remained “signed in” unless you specifically signed out.
I have a problem with poison . . . sometimes when the vermin die they crawl into a place where you can’t remove the corpse. Then you’ll smell the rotting body for a few months, even a year if they crawl into a well protected little area. I used to watch the squirrels and chipmunks scurry about with my kids who were then toddlers. We even gave them names. Then they got into our attic. Sounded like the Exorcist was up there. I used to go up and try to “scare” them, tried to block their way in/out. No luck. Nest theycrawled down the inside of the walls of our home. They were looking for food . . and found it in our pantry. They crapped wherever they happend to be at the time, stinking up wherever they got in. I then bought and caught 15 squirrels in a week in a Have-A-Heart trap, taking them each time a mile away and releasing them. They come back. Even if they don’t, their scent attracts others to the entry point. DO THIS UNTIL THEY STOP COMING INTO YOUR GARAGE . . . TRAP THEM WITH A LARGE RAT TRAP. The traps are cheap (about $2.50) and you can re-use them once you get over your squeamishness.
OK. I will bite the bullet and visit our local, old-fashioned feed/grain store. Apparently there are new, better mousetraps (build a better mouse trap…)
And I will drag out my Havaharts…The mechanic suggests lined the area around engine w. Bounce and putting paper cups of grated Irish Spring all over. You use a cheese grater so there will be some grated knuckle in there as well. Poison seems to get a mixed review. And what do I do about squeamishness?
Gail
Moth balls work better than “Irish Spring”…
Hopefully this will get you over your squeamishness:
I have a 2005 VW Jetta TDI wagon, starting having electrical problems and took it to the local dealer hoping it would be a warranty issue. They suggested I contact my insurance agent because mice had nested and caused damage to the wiring harness. To make a LONG story short, the damage amounted to over $10,000 (that’s not a typo) and 4 months and 1 week later I still don’t have my car back.
I assume that Subaru has a far better business plan when it comes to stocking, ordering, and replacing wiring harnesses… but I still suggest you buy a case of D-Con and rat traps and soon, you too, will view dead rodents with nothing but JOY!
JDallas; that was a scary and cautionary tale. $10K? Wow. Yes, Sub. gets the parts within several days.You are all helping me to be less of a girly-girly, I hope. Keep on bucking me up. Thanks to all