Rats in my engine compartment!

[Mikie]

What is the theory- it leaves them exposed so they don’t mess with the engine when you prop the hood open?

Yep... With the hood open, there is no nice covered area for them to build a nest. Also, if the hood is open, the engine cools more quickly, so it's not a nice warm area for them to build a nest over night.

In my case (with the hood closed), they had completely covered the top of the engine with grass, leaves, etc., all among the tangle of wires and cables that is our engine! Incidentally, the batch of rats all looked quite surprised yesterday when I opened the hood in the morning (while still dark)! They had apparently been sleeping peacefully until I showed up...

My mouse traps turned out to be too small, the rats messed with them last night, but I didn't catch anything. The rats also messed with lots of other stuff in the garage, including trying to chew their way out thru the wall next to the garage door!! My new larger rat traps are out for delivery as I write this, so in an hour or two I should have those in operation...

 

[surfishjoe]

I wish you good luck With this and I hope you get the bastards!

 

[GaryA]

mouse blocker.com They've got the solution,12V and 110V I had a problem with another vehicle and it got redd of the little bastards. I use it for my camper also.

 

[Mikie]

I actually tried two similar products a couple years ago:
- Angveirt ultrasonic rodent repeller -- Indoor model
- Angveirt ultrasonic rodent repeller -- Under hood model

I can't speak to the unit that you bought, but I found that mine did not keep the critters out of my engine, nor out of my garage -- I still saw lots of little footprints all over the engine compartment, and evidence of their work in the garage. And they continued to occasionally build nests in my engine -- even tho the repeller unit was mounted right next to their favorite nesting spot (the nice soft, warm battery cover!)

[All of the above is WRT my former Jeep Cherokee, not my Land Cruiser]

 

[Sugarloafer80]

Rat traps also deal with chipmunks and Squirrels nicely. Amusing story. I always have mouse traps in strategic places in my garage. One day I was just outside the door and heard the trap snap, looked in garage and saw a chipmunk looking like it had had a real bad night. After 5 it staggered away. Moral is mouse trap too small but peanut butter has always been my bait of choice.

 

[UtahDave]

The bucket traps work great. Just put some water and detergent in the bucket and the mice and rats quickly drown.

If you don't want to deal with a bucket of soggy dead critters or a bucket of live ones just put a piece of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) in the bucket and it will asphistcate them quickly.

I won't use poison because of pets and lots of raptors around.

there are many types for sale. Amazon.com

 

[ultane]

im just glad i live in a place that is rat free

Welcome to the asylum.

 

[Roonie]

I had rats eat our main engine wiring harness on our 2014 ford explorer as all the wires are soy based sheaths. It seems all wires are this way now so rats and mice eat them easily. It was about 5k to replace the main wiring harness. Little bastards. I use peppermint oil as mentioned and moth balls around the car. Do not put moth balls inside engine compartment highly flammable! I also have rats bait stations around the cars. I will try irish spring soap as that kept the deer from eating our trees when we hung a bar of that on every tree.

 

[Blue Sky]

I have 5 mouse traps with the car right now, 2 in the engine bay, one on floor on both sides near the front of the car, and one on the rear skid plate. All baited with peanut butter. These are mouse traps, so I'm not positive that they are big enough -- these rats are big and bold, no fear of exposing themselves and looking right at me! Their bodies are 4-5 inches long (not including the tail).

I have 4 bigger rat traps being delivered overnight, and I'll add those to the mix early tomorrow morning!

The rats are still moving around inside the engine bay, and from time to time I can hear them chewing on something -- so it's a race of time, will I kill them before they kill the car!!!

You may want to drive 3-4 super sharp ~1" brad nails into to the rat traps a little in front of the bait switch. I've had a couple experiences where even the rat sized version of the traps weren't enough for the really big ones. Also a little white cheddar popcorn seasoning on top of the peanut butter seems to be the "special" blend that works for me.

*Edit: If you do add the nails be sure to have some shield around the trap to contain the splatter.

 

[Mikie]

...And then there were zero...

Today I got up at 4am to check on how my new larger rat traps were doing -- and viola, I had caught one of the ratsies. Better yet, another critter was visible in the corner, so I threw my pajama top over him (her?) and utilizing the floor jack handle that was in reach, I soon had two down. Unfortunately, tho, I still heard movement in the engine bay -- so I knew there was at least another one...

So I reset the trap, and later at 8am checked on everything, and the same trap (one of six) had caught another one! Annnnnd, now no more movement noises coming from the engine bay! It's now been quiet all day, so I'm pretty sure that I'm clear at this point. That's three of 'em dispatched to the great big engine in the sky!

I think this whole thing is pretty amazing -- this has been going on since Tues night (three days ago). For whatever reason, they were veeeeery reluctant leave! And incredibly, I almost can't believe that during the whole ordeal, they (apparently) never chewed thru any wires. My car drove fine today with no warnings or messages. I consider myself very, very lucky.

Incidentally, I put some heavy-gauge 1/2" screen in the engine air box over the air inlet -- just to make sure that no other guests try to set up home in the airbox... (as reported earlier, when I heard movement in the air box, and popped it open and looked under the filter -- there were TWO rats sitting in there...)

 

[Falconry]

...And then there were zero...

Today I got up at 4am to check on how my new larger rat traps were doing -- and viola, I had caught one of the ratsies. Better yet, another critter was visible in the corner, so I threw my pajama top over him (her?) and utilizing the floor jack handle that was in reach, I soon had two down. Unfortunately, tho, I still heard movement in the engine bay -- so I knew there was at least another one...

So I reset the trap, and later at 8am checked on everything, and the same trap (one of six) had caught another one! Annnnnd, now no more movement noises coming from the engine bay! It's now been quiet all day, so I'm pretty sure that I'm clear at this point. That's three of 'em dispatched to the great big engine in the sky!

I think this whole thing is pretty amazing -- this has been going on since Tues night (three days ago). For whatever reason, they were veeeeery reluctant leave! And incredibly, I almost can't believe that during the whole ordeal, they (apparently) never chewed thru any wires. My car drove fine today with no warnings or messages. I consider myself very, very lucky.

Incidentally, I put some heavy-gauge 1/2" screen in the engine air box over the air inlet -- just to make sure that no other guests try to set up home in the airbox... (as reported earlier, when I heard movement in the air box, and popped it open and looked under the filter -- there were TWO rats sitting in there...)

Be sure to upload some photos to share with the class, if possible. Thanks in advance and sorry for all the trouble with those little demons.

 

[txlnghrn]

Lost a wiring harness to a 2013 tundra to rodents. Buy a bottle of this every few months off of Amazon and no problems since. Spray in engine bay and in each wheel well when truck sits for more than 24 hrs.

 

[ultane]

*Edit: If you do add the nails be sure to have some shield around the trap to contain the splatter.

 

[ultane]

...

Incidentally, I put some heavy-gauge 1/2" screen in the engine air box over the air inlet -- just to make sure that no other guests try to set up home in the airbox... (as reported earlier, when I heard movement in the air box, and popped it open and looked under the filter -- there were TWO rats sitting in there...)

Where might that air inlet be?

 

[Rijk Liebemshats]

We have a couple of sheds where I store my Hilux for the winter and park my 4 wheeler etc. I've installed a solar panel for the sole purpose of powering a small radio. It is tuned to a 24h talk radio channel and it works great keeping mice away. It doesn't need to be on high volume, just enough to give the impression that someone is there.

 

[Mikie]

Here is a pic of what I did to protect the air box. The inlet on the side of the box is now covered with the heavy-gauge screen (I just taped it in using heavy duty tape). Where the other end of the inlet is I don't know -- all I can see is that the box connects directly to the car's body. Air comes in thru the side of the box (and thru the screen), then passes thru the filter above and then out the top of the box.

Anyway, I did the easy thing and just blocked the entrance to the box (as opposed to trying to find and block the other end of the air inlet).

Note the black pad attached to the bottom of the air box -- I've no idea what that is for. It doesn't cover anything (i.e. there is no additional air inlet below). The rats had started to chew on it (you can see where I taped it). It seemed to make a nice comfortable place for the rats to hang out!

Incidentally, if critters get into the box, there would be little to prevent them from moving further up the air system closer to the engine -- I'm sure that they could chew right thru the air filter if they wanted...

 

[Mikie]

We have a couple of sheds where I store my Hilux for the winter and park my 4 wheeler etc. I've installed a solar panel for the sole purpose of powering a small radio. It is tuned to a 24h talk radio channel and it works great keeping mice away. It doesn't need to be on high volume, just enough to give the impression that someone is there.

That sounds like a good idea, tho it wouldn't work for me. My issue isn't critters getting in while the car is parked in the garage -- I've got the garage well sealed, and I'm pretty sure rodent proof. My problem is that I do tons of backcountry camping, and THAT'S where the little buggers always get into my engine. Either while I'm parked at camp, or parked at the trailhead, or while out backpacking...

 

[ultane]

Here is a pic of what I did to protect the air box. The inlet on the side of the box is now covered with the heavy-gauge screen (I just taped it in using heavy duty tape). Where the other end of the inlet is I don't know -- all I can see is that the box connects directly to the car's body. Air comes in thru the side of the box (and thru the screen), then passes thru the filter above and then out the top of the box.

Anyway, I did the easy thing and just blocked the entrance to the box (as opposed to trying to find and block the other end of the air inlet).

Note the black pad attached to the bottom of the air box -- I've no idea what that is for. It doesn't cover anything (i.e. there is no additional air inlet below). The rats had started to chew on it (you can see where I taped it). It seemed to make a nice comfortable place for the rats to hang out!

Incidentally, if critters get into the box, there would be little to prevent them from moving further up the air system closer to the engine -- I'm sure that they could chew right thru the air filter if they wanted...

Thank you!

 

[Roonie]

Lost a wiring harness to a 2013 tundra to rodents. Buy a bottle of this every few months off of Amazon and no problems since. Spray in engine bay and in each wheel well when truck sits for more than 24 hrs.

cheaper to just get peppermint essential oil directly. That is what I use. A couple drops of that and it lasts a few weeks.

 

[DeepDive]

Love the hanging in effigy!