ALVIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN!!!
Don’t leave a bag of dog food in a trunk. Mice will never leave.
How about running a hose from the exhaust into the van, start it up, close everything and wait until Mr. Squirrel is no longer among the living?
But then, the OP would be asking, “How can I get the odor of cat urine out of my car?”. Why trade a headache for an upset stomach?
No, no, no. If you are going to use music you have to go all out. Slim Whitman’s songs made the Aliens, from “Mars Attacks!”, heads explode.
We had a squirrel in our house a few years back. The county animal control folks said to leave the door open and it will go away on it’s own when it gets hungry. It might come back if you don’t close the door fast enough, and plug whatever hole it got in through.
One more thing: vacuum the car well to get all food scraps out, including in the seat tracks.
Try calling your state’s Department of Agriculture office in your state capital. They have people there whos area of expertise is rhodent control. And their services are free.
Party poo-per.
For watchers of the squirrel saga everywhere, I bring you a summary of day 2: The Siege
Sprinkles the Squirrel (we’ve named him now), continues to reside between the firewall and the carpet inside the van. She is more intelligent than most dogs, since she’s successfully snatched food from my have-a-heart trap 2x now. I can confirm the additional following experiments also do not work in removing a live squirrel from a Town & Country. That’s not saying it wouldn’t work in a Kia or Honda…
- Poking the hole in the carpet with a stick. (This apparently makes squirrels mad)
- Driving the car with the window open (I didn’t do this, but was suggested to me, until someone who knows whatthey are doing reminded my that squirrels can bite through to bone)
- Inserting a ShopVac ™ hose into his home.
- Keeping the doors open.
For posterity, the expert in Squirrel-Minivan affairs that I spoke with did tell me the following is the only way to rid yourself of a squirrel in the passenger compartment. Please suggest this to your local state driver’s exam test:
Step 1: Get a have-a-heart trap (available at amazon.com or your local Squirrel-mini mart)
Step 2: Insert peanut butter, a slice of bread with almond extract on it, or whole walnuts in the back of the trap.
Step 3: Put the trap in the van.
Step 4: Brace the trap so it can’t knock the trap over (mine did the first time). I used the side of the van on 1 side and a 50 lb rock from my garden on the other.
Step 5: Cover trap in a blanket, or the shirt your wife thinks you look good in but you don’t.
Step 6: Wait. and Wait, and wait. Apparently, squirrels don’t need to eat for 3 days. Suck it up.
Step 7: Do not be tempted to do any of the crazy things I’d like to do to get it out. This includes various shaving cream ideas, WD40, cayenne pepper (it doesn’t work btw)
I have no veritication that this method works, but will hopefully know in 72 hours.
Stock up for the siege of sprinkles the squirrel.
I doubt you’ll want to do this in your car but here is how I got rid of the pesky chipmunks that were drilling holes all over my back yard…
After filling their holes with dirt (doesn’t work), rocks and sticks (doesn’t work), filling them with water from the garden hose (they do the backstroke really well,) moth balls (I think they eat them), pouring clorine into the holes (they got a really clean home out of that one). I was ready to give up and get the traps… then I saw something on the discovery channel… Big cats mark their territory to keep others away… Hmmmmm… one six-pack and an empty bottle later… chipmunks gone! Works like magic and they don’t come back!
Gives new meaning to, “You want Sprinkles with that?”
OK, that was by far the best rodent story I’ve heard today. Tx for that.
Shouldn’t your name be “Vogelcat”?