Speaking from vast experience in what rodents will and will not chew and destroy, the bottom line is this. Rodents will chew ANYTHING that can be wrapped around a wire, even if the wire is carrying enough voltage to turn them into barbque. I was stationed in Guam in 1974 and rats were eatting the neoprene off the cables in the B52’s. Aircraft voltage is 277V. The only hope you have is to put rat poison in several places around the outside of the vehicle. You will have to keep putting it out for as much as a year, but you will eventually get them all. Happy hunting.
I have a problem with possums. I don’t know if it is the same well traveled possum, or they are just attracted to my car. This happens about once every three to four months.
I leave for work as a traveling salesman early in the morning. I will drive between two and ten miles and I see something in the twighlight that the first time looked like a piece of rubber seal sticking out from under the side of the hood of my car. Then the rising sun caught it and I realized it was pink and had a slight bloom of fuzzy hair on it. I stopped, opened the hood of my car but could see nothing. I also confirmed that there is indeed no rubber seal to come loos and wave around.
Every time this occurs I stop but find no possum, no smell of cooked possom or singed fur. I do not know if I have unwittingly traveled all day with some possum hitching a ride, but I would like to deter them from doing so in the future, concerned that I am redistributing the possum population.
Any advice for keeping possums out of the engine compartment would be appreciated.
- Muffdiver - Very Interesting Name ! Where Did You Get It ? Are You A Scuba Diver, Sky Diver (B-52’s) Or Some Other Type Diver ? Please Enlighten Us.
CSA
I Originally Asked, " . . . Could the over-abundance of deer be turned into some type of fuel to reduce the cost of energy in the country ? "
I wasn’t really considering putting the deer in a blender (D-85) and coming up with a liquid puree or some such thing to put in a car’s gas tank. By saying, “some type of fuel,” I guess I was thinking more of methane gas. Anything that far up the food chain has lots of stored energy and decomposition can release it. That’s how they’re able to reclaim methane gas from garbage rotting in landfills.
“The corn those deer consume isn?t free.” Yes, I know that, but what I meant by, “Grow the corn, get the deer for free.” is that farms attract deer and I think it’s nearly impossible to stop them from foraging there. In several parts of our country, I’ve heard them referred to as “Rats With Hooves,” by farmers.
CSA
i have a 2007 aveo 5 here in victoria bc canada. it seems to be such an ecofriendly car that the mice and rats hide under the hood during storms, i live by the beach, and eat their dinners under the hood.
after many attempts i settled on wrapping mothballs in a little packet and taping them to engine areas where the mice go and chew…so far its working…great show
The answer is simple physics. You hit a 25lb (?) wolf made of mostly soft tissue and soft organs and held in place by only four little padded feet with a 2,500+ lb (what kind of vehicle?) steel structure going 75 mph. The mass of the wolf and its resistance to being moved was entirely insufficient to change the velocity of the steel vehicle at a rapid enough rate to cause the inertial sensor to trigger the airbag.
The surface of your bumper is easy to damage. The airbag “tripper” requires a deceleration rate far greater than the rate than the effect poor wolf was able to have on your vehicle.
The effect was analogous to a Smart car being hit by a fully loaded tractor-trailer truck. The Smart car won’t slow the truck any noticable amount. The brakes are the only thing that slows it…after it squashes the Smart car.
Regarding your discussion of bats in a garage: this reminds me of two priests and their bishop discussing the problems of bats in their churches. The first priest said that he captured them, drove them miles away but they came right back. The second priest said that he took a shotgun and blew a hole in the roof. The bishop said that they both have it all wrong: just baptize and confirm them and they will never come back.
Today’s show featured a caller concerned about bats roosting in his very large garage. He suggested a rather drastic solution–one that would not only be inhumane to the bats but also dangerous to him and his family.
Bat Conservation International has pdf instructions for humane bat exclusion on their website:
http://www.batcon.org/index.php/bats-a-people/bat-exclusion-instructions.html
Win-win solution: clean cars and the bats continue to rid the world of mosquitoes!
Dr. Kieran, Car Talk Animal-Vehicle Biologist
I have some very determined Chipmunks! Twice now, I have paid to have the vent system in my 2002 TrailBlazer entirely disassembled and vacuumed out. It was so clogged with nesting material that the blower motor wore out prematurely. I used to keep dog treats in the glove box and have removed all traces of those, as well as any other food sources–in the garage, and even crumbs on the floor. They seem to get in no matter if the car is in the garage or outside. I’ve watched them walk under the car outdoors (and not exit the other side). Any great ideas about how I can keep these Chippies from moving back in? Maybe installing a bit of quarter-inch hardware cloth over an opening where they are entering? (PS Poison is not an option…we have dogs, and besides, I don’t think I could hurt the Chippies.)
I was recently in an accident Jan 14 2011. It involved a deer,and I was wondering if they still made those Deer whistles for vehicles or something better. In the 80’s I used to see them all the time stuck on peoples bumpers.
Auto supply stores now stock devices purporting to scare off deer so that we do not hit them. Do any of these devices work?
We live in West Virginia. State with by far the highest vehicle-deer accident rate.
Between my neighbor and ourselves we own four cars. Three have slammed deer in the past 12 months.
Does the good Doctor know of any state or municipality where victims of impacts with deer have effectively pressured Natural Resources officials to control deer populations? Compensate for deer accident damage?
How can you keep cats off your car whyle it is parked? They must like the residual warmth from the engine. Do sprays like “Off” damage the paint?
I had to help a friend repair at least 16 wires on an 03 Saturn. It was a woodchuck that got stuck evidently under the hood and gnawed through the wires. After a no start his wife opened the hood and the woodchuck ran out. The car was totaled from being rear ended by an inattentive driver last week and they now have an 04 KIA. Are those wires as tasty as a Saturn’s?
sometime ago i heard that most critters (and many humans) can’t stand the smell of mothballs. when we bought our 1946 vintage home we discovered there were some undisclosed residents in the attic. i believe they were squirrels as the neighborhood was over-run with them before hurricane rita tore through the gulfcoast here. i knew i needed to screen over the wood-slattedroof vents, but first i had to ascertain that all the critters were gone. i scattered a box of mothballs about up there and a few days later there was no longer any scratching and scurrying sounds in the walls or ceiling. seems like a modified proceedure would work for vehicles.
As far as avoiding deer on the road, keep in mind they rarely travel alone. If you see one, slow down a LOT, because it is likely one or a few others could be close behind.
We have an overabundance of roads without wildlife corridors, we do not have an “over” abundance of deer. Ask your town council to require more wildlife corridors, or heck, reintroduce wolves and mountain lions…
Hi Ann,
It sounds like you cars are parked outside, although you don’t say that specifically. Of course, it’s going to be harder to deal with critters in the great outdoors than inside an enclosed space. Your bright light idea is a good one, and hopefully you live where the neighbors aren’t bothered by it.
We may never know why rodents prefer your cars to the truck,but give this a try: Go out to where the cars and the truck are parked and try to see the situation through a different pair of eyes. While the situation may look identical to human eyes, to beady little mouse eyes there’s probably a difference. One possible explanation for why the rodents prefer the Prius and Solara over the truck maybe that the clearance is higher on the latter, and therefore the engine may be just a bit harder to reach. If you look at the site critically, you might think of others.
There are 3 necessities that attract wildlife–food, water, shelter. You won’t be able to remove all of these completely while the cars are parked outside, but you can try making the general area less attractive to rodents. Some ideas are covered in the Wildlife and Your Car FAQ page (http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/wildlife/index.html#01), but other things to consider include:
-
Are there any wood or brush piles nearby, or some other natural source from whence your Toyota-loving, wire-eating rodents emanate?
-
Do you have any bird feeders (and, consequently, bird seed) nearby?
-
Are the cars parked near some other source of food, such as garbage cans, a dumpster, or a gardening shed?
There are various products that claim to solve rodent problems, some of which have been mentioned elsewhere on this discussion board–traps (kill and no-kill), predator scents, poisons, audio deterrents (in and out of the human range of hearing). In the case of traps and poison, it may seem like you’re really making a dent in the population because you’ve got carcasses as evidence. But unless you change what is attracting animals to the site, more will appear. All you’re doing is changing the pipsqueak personnel.
The proactive, rather than reactive, approach–removing as many of the things that serve as an invitation as possible–will cause the rodents to look for a more welcoming residence, and increase the odds of keeping your vehicle wiring intact.
Dr. Kieran
Cheyenne, I have to admit this is the first time someone had told me about rabbits leaping out of engine compartments. Does your car look anything like a top hat?
Whether the rabbit was the wire-chewing culprit, or just the engine resident who got caught, I don’t know. It’s quite possible there were rodents using the engine as lodging as well. And, just in case you’re wondering, rabbits are NOT rodents; they are lagomorphs.
But you didn’t ask for a taxonomy lesson. In the post before yours, Ann says she’s found popping the hood and shining a bright light into the compartment helpful, so you could try that if it’s feasible. There are other harassment methods you could try as well–a radio, mylar ribbons that blow in a breeze, etc. I’ve mentioned a few more on the Wildlife and Your Car FAQ page (http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/wildlife/index.html#06). On that page I also explain why harassment work best when you rotate through several different methods.
Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can find any research specific to rabbit deterrents and, if I’m successful, I’ll add another post with that info.
Dr. Kieran
You’re correct–any living thing can be transformed into energy. It can happen through decomposition, through digestion, etc. The problem is that it’s not always an efficient process and, in some cases, the resulting energy isn’t worth the effort. When it comes to deer, they’re probably a better source of energy as food for non-vegetarians than as fuel for vehicles.
Some food for thought: I’ve no doubt there are farmers who don’t hold deer in high regard, but “nuisance” is in the eye of the beholder. Deer (and yes, even rats) have a role to play in their native ecosystem. A farmer sees an uncultivated parcel of land and figures out a way to exploit it to meet his or her needs. Deer see the farm and do the same. Who belongs there? Who doesn’t? Depends on your point of view.
Hi Liz,
I should clarify–trap and release can be fatal for animals when they are relocated far from their home territory. If you’re simply removing the mice from your RV and letting them go nearby, they should be fine.
As far as keeping acorns out of the engine of a vehicle that sits unused for long periods of time, and keeping mice out of a vacant RV… these are formidable problems.
I’ve heard from folks (on this discussion board and elsewhere) who’ve had luck using moth balls as a repellent. Honestly, an engine compartment (or an RV) filled with moth balls seems just as problematic to me as acorns (or mice). Moth balls work by releasing a toxic gas (naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene), and while these chemicals may not be at levels that are lethal for humans and their companion animals, you can bet they don’t contribute to our overall health either. Of course, moth balls can also be mistaken for food by wildlife and pets and children. Doesn’t seem like a great solution.
I’ve also heard about using dryer sheets as a deterrent. If they do work, my guess is that, like so many things that purport to repel wildlife, the results are short-lived–only until the mice habituate to the smell. You know, it’s like that woman we all know at work who wears enough perfume make a high school athlete’s locker smell like a fashion magazine. She’s so used to it she can’t smell it anymore, so she douses on more and more, while the rest of us gasp for air. That’s habituation.
The best suggestion I have for the RV is to go over it with an eagle eye as you prepare for the off-season, plugging up any cracks, gaps and holes with caulk, steel wool, or that king of the handyman’s arsenal, duct tape.
That’s not going to work for the engine, obviously. There are just too many entrance points. Even if it did work, removing all the plugs when it’s time to hit the road again would be just as daunting a task, and I’d be concerned about creating a potentially dangerous situation.
It’s clear that while the world probably doesn’t need a better mouse trap, it sure would be nice if someone would invent a say to seal up a car when it’s not in use. Kind of like a garment bag for your engine.
You might want to look at the answer I gave to Ann earlier elsewhere on this discussion board. Not a perfect solution, by any means, but maybe there are other parking spots on your property that would be less appealing to the rodent residents. And I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for other suggestions.
Dr. Kieran