Rampant Rodent

[Fishhaggis]

I had thousands of dollars worth of damage by rats. Only noticed when the check engine light came on. It was covered completely by ICBC with no effect on my premiums. The dealer recommended Doktor Doom rodent repellent. It’s basically pepper spray in a can. This time of year, I spray the entire engine area with it. No longer have rat issues. Word of advice though, don’t drive right after you spray, as it gets spicy inside the truck if you do.

 

[VSJ2]

Just returned from my last camping/fishing trip up the lake. Kootenay Lake, that is. But this time I brought home a hitchhiker. As I was packing up I noticed popcorn like bits on the driver side floor. Close examination showed chewed up insulation. Popping the hood I found a 3" sq. section of firewall had been gnawed at. I hoped he was gone but when I got home he poked his nose out at me. A goodly sized pack rat. Had the hood open and ran the engine and heat at full blast to try to drive him out. When I looked at the engine compartment I saw him run into one of the square holes just ahead of the firewall and just aft of the wheel well on the passenger side. It seems he was easily accessing the interior from there. Has anyone any diagrams of these accesses? I am thinking of screening over any such openings like these for future prevention of this catastrophe. A quick trip to the hardware store for a couple of rat traps baited with peanut butter and set on the driver side floor produced results in an hour or two. Unfortunately it had given him enough time to chew the aforementioned insulation plus a dash speaker wire and the wifi antenna cable. The cable was the big pain as Mopar is on strike but I finally found one at a wreckers many miles from here. First attack on my brand new 4 mounth old Ram 1500 Classic.

Glad you were able to get rid of him. We discovered 2 mice that had babies in my wife's CRV, caught the adults and 2 babies but the increasing stink says there are more and now we need to tear out the rear seats and carpeting. Oh, joy.

 

[Bob1313]

We use Victor M241 rat traps under our hoods. Bait them with peanut better and stuff a lockout/tagout placard behind the horn button so you don't drive off with it under the hood.
Works great and has saved multiple repairs.

 

[Gregory McKinley]

Glad you did not use poison. I made that mistake under my house. Middle of summer rat ******* got into the floor somehow and died. Damn that stank for for several weeks.

 

[Compu-Doc]

Back home now (Creston). No rats or mice here. A million cats.

Yep we have the top predator in our neighborhood
I've got a vid of our cat stalking and then nose to nose with a doe mulie on the fence and she actually got startled.
He brought a snake to the back door a couple years ago and I thought it was a rattler but it was a gopher snake that imitates them
He's fattening up now for the winter and will be around 15lbs and lethal ...

 

[High Sierra]

I had a similar problem when I bought my new 2018 RAM 2500.
A few days after parking it in the driveway I opened the hood and found that the chipmunk family that had been living nearby had gotten under the hood and shredded the insulated battery blankets. I noticed they had also gotten into my son's VW which was parked next to my truck, and they had made it all the way to the spare tire compartment where they were storing seeds.
I found a suggested solution that claimed that mixing Peppermint oil concentrate with distilled water in spray bottle would repel them if it was sprayed in the area where they were foraging.
My wife ordered some Peppermint oil online which I mixed it in a spray bottle. Once I thoroughly soaked the engine compartment of my truck and my son's VW the rodents didn't return.
The nice thing about this solution is that it's very inexpensive, it can be concentrated where you need it, and reapplied periodically if needed.

 

[GTyankee]

Mix 2 tablespoons of hot pepper sauce (the hotter the better) in a gallon of water with several drops of liquid soap. Spray it on the outside of the garage. It works just like commercial repellents and won’t harm your pets or children.

ultrasonic mouse repellers inside the garage.

Spray a solution of peppermint extract and water around the perimeter. This solution needs to be sprayed once a week and after rainstorms. Or you can plant peppermint around the foundation of your home and garage. The smell repels rodents and perfumes your home. (Note that while peppermint oil can help deter mice from entering your home, it is much less effective at removing mice already living there.)

 

[MoToad]

I had thousands of dollars worth of damage by rats. Only noticed when the check engine light came on. It was covered completely by ICBC with no effect on my premiums. The dealer recommended Doktor Doom rodent repellent. It’s basically pepper spray in a can. This time of year, I spray the entire engine area with it. No longer have rat issues. Word of advice though, don’t drive right after you spray, as it gets spicy inside the truck if you do.

That's interesting, Fish. My neighbor works for the local insurance and she said ICBC won't cover it. Good to know.

 

[cdn cj]

I’ve searched high and low for a scientific study on organic mouse repellents.
Anything I’ve seen is just anecdotal evidence ,as are all the treatments suggested so far.
Personally the only mice issues I’ve had have been in my house. These were remedied by sealing all ingress points and checking regularly.
I’ve had a CJ5 since 1990 stored outside ,in a carport , now garaged and haven’t had an issue (yet)
Over the years we’ve also had 2 pop up trailers and our current hybrid stored beside the house across the road from farm land.
We’ve never had mouse issues with any of these either despite not using any “deterrents “. Only routine inspections of access points.
So if you think sprays or sheets are going to help, go for it , my opinion is it’s not necessary.
By the way if anyone can link to a scientific study regarding this I’d love to read it.

 

[MoToad]

Mix 2 tablespoons of hot pepper sauce (the hotter the better) in a gallon of water with several drops of liquid soap. Spray it on the outside of the garage. It works just like commercial repellents and won’t harm your pets or children.

ultrasonic mouse repellers inside the garage.

Spray a solution of peppermint extract and water around the perimeter. This solution needs to be sprayed once a week and after rainstorms. Or you can plant peppermint around the foundation of your home and garage. The smell repels rodents and perfumes your home. (Note that while peppermint oil can help deter mice from entering your home, it is much less effective at removing mice already living there.)

Garage? What garage?

 

[Jeepwalker]

I've heard na-paam is pretty effective (but a little hard on the fabric & wiring)

 

[GTyankee]

i spent the better part of 2 years mixing Jet Fuel & A powder-based gelling agent back in the 60s
Between that & the 1,000,000 candle power para flares.
The black pajama wearing tunnel rats sure got lit up for the cameras

 

[MoToad]

Just got finished answering my own question about using wire mesh over entrance holes. Got a length of wire and slid it down that rectangular tubing (subframe?) It is more than open. As I crawled up into the engine bay as far as I could I could see it is open all over the place in there. Plenty of places I can only see and not reach. So, nix that plan. I found Fish's Doktor Doom repellant at Can Tire and will be trying that. But, again, with any deterrent it may come into the cab when running heat or AC. Pepper spray type stuff could even drive me outta there. So I'll be trying to keep away from the intakes.

 

[Jeepwalker]

A few squirts of skunk spray on your truck's fresh air inlet should keep the mice out. Not sure if your 'significant other' will like it....but mice-first! Worry about that other stuff later. Eventually, like after a yr, you probably won't hardly smell it anymore. lol

 

[MoToad]

Found Doktor Doom at CAn Tire ($15) and Amazon.ca ($50). Go figure.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Just returned from my last camping/fishing trip up the lake. Kootenay Lake, that is. But this time I brought home a hitchhiker. As I was packing up I noticed popcorn like bits on the driver side floor. Close examination showed chewed up insulation. Popping the hood I found a 3" sq. section of firewall had been gnawed at. I hoped he was gone but when I got home he poked his nose out at me. A goodly sized pack rat. Had the hood open and ran the engine and heat at full blast to try to drive him out. When I looked at the engine compartment I saw him run into one of the square holes just ahead of the firewall and just aft of the wheel well on the passenger side. It seems he was easily accessing the interior from there. Has anyone any diagrams of these accesses? I am thinking of screening over any such openings like these for future prevention of this catastrophe. A quick trip to the hardware store for a couple of rat traps baited with peanut butter and set on the driver side floor produced results in an hour or two. Unfortunately it had given him enough time to chew the aforementioned insulation plus a dash speaker wire and the wifi antenna cable. The cable was the big pain as Mopar is on strike but I finally found one at a wreckers many miles from here. First attack on my brand new 4 mounth old Ram 1500 Classic.

Get small perforated zipper bags. Fill them with moth balls. Attach said bags to the inside of these holes. Rats will seek another home.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Yeah but, who wants their truck to smell like moth balls? LOL

 

[rabbit_season]

I have mouse-proofed our cars in the same way, 3/8 hardware cloth over the cowl area air intakes. It has worked well, though the ram has multiple holes. After seeing your pictures, I'm not sure I got them all.

 

[GTyankee]

Could even be more access points around where the trucks cab meets the fenders

 

[Wild one]

A Momma cat with kittens will clean up every mouse and rat you have with-in a mile