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Winger Ed.
10-31-2021, 03:41 AM
This is a real head scratcher.
A couple days ago, I saw the flash of a little field mouse run for cover when I went into the garage,
and my bag of wild bird seed had a hole in it and seeds scattered around it.
So, I set out a trap and caught the little demon.

We have a 2002 Ford Explorer that is kept inside the garage. Windows up, doors closed, as is the garage door.
Usually, it doesn't get driven more than once every week or so.
Today, I vacuumed out the inside and changed the oil.

Little specks of paper towel were all over the floor in the back seat scattered around my roll of paper towels.
The car is in almost the same condition as when we bought it almost new.
There's no way a mouse could get inside the passenger compartment......
but that has to be what chewed up the paper towels.

After I changed the oil, I checked the other stuff under the hood, including the air filter in its box.
A bunch of the exact same kind and size of paper towel shreds were inside the box/chamber for the air filter.

Over the years, I've seen rats & squirrels nest up in engine compartments-- but not get inside or in a air filter.
I don't see how the little critter could have made several trips back & forth inside the car, and inside the air filter.

Can field mice beam themselves around like the transporter on Star Trek?

358429
10-31-2021, 04:27 AM
They can fit anywhere your fingertip can fit.

Mice do terrible things to trucks.

They climb on top of the fuel tank and eat the vapor lines and wiring that lead up to the intake manifold. I have replaced fuel pumps and fuel tanks and evap pipes and cannisters on Chevy express and ford transit vans after mice damaged the plastic.

That they smell the ethanol in the fuel is my theory.

Sometimes they munch the insulation from computer control wiring. Those are interesting to trouble shoot. It's enough of a re-occuring problem that I get[emoji2959][emoji2959][emoji2959]

They urinate and defecate constantly while eating, so everywhere that has paper towel shreds on it may have been contaminated with parasites they carry.

It is unlikely there is only one mouse.
They lie in wait, hiding. What will they munch on next??

The best way to remove them is to bait the mice, then drown them with the bucket trap.

Get a 5 gallon bucket and drill two small holes opposite each other near the top.

Get a empty aluminum can, drill a hole in the bottom.

Thread a straighted wire through the holes in the bucket with the holes in the can.

Smear peanut butter on the can then lean a piece of wood against the bucket so they can access the bucket and bait can. Make it irresistible by sprinkling sunflower seeds on the ramp and can roller.

Test that it spins freely with fingertip pressure.

Add six inches water then dump it daily.

The birds gotta eat.[emoji232]

imashooter2
10-31-2021, 05:07 AM
I have a 63 Impala street and strip car that spends most of the year stored. I have had mice in it twice over the last 45 years. First ones dug all the cotton ticking out of the front buckets and used it to build a nest under the front cowl trim. Fixing the seats was just money, but damned if that cowl trim isn’t a huge pain to get off… not to mention digging all the ticking out of the vent inlets. The second time they somehow got into the trunk and filled all the hat section reinforcements for the deck lid with cracked corn, birdseed, and insult to injury, the D-Con poison we put out just to make sure the cowl didn’t happen again. Hours with a shop vac and half inch plastic tube cleaning out that one.

So yes… mice can get inside a "sealed" garage and locked car no problem at all.

Shawlerbrook
10-31-2021, 05:29 AM
Yes, if they can squeeze their skull through (1/4”) they are in.

MrWolf
10-31-2021, 06:08 AM
I use the bucket trap and works great. I am trying the moth ball packs to see if that helps. Had a mouse come jumping out of my Kabota backhoe base that landed on my chest and scared me a bit that I missed stomping on it. They get everywhere and ruin everything, especially plastic hoses and such. Don't really se the damage till you need it. I started putting things in those big black totes with the yellow lids from Costco.

Nazgul
10-31-2021, 06:31 AM
We have a farm that has tractors and mowers in several places. Wife keeps a bunch of cats that are half wild. No mice.

Don

JSnover
10-31-2021, 07:25 AM
I don't have long-term results but over the summer I decided to do some redneck fumigating: In my shed (10'x10') I started hanging a rag from the overhead before I lock up, wetted with MEK. I'm not in there every day so I don't know how long it works.
No mice or insects since April.

Petander
10-31-2021, 08:03 AM
Our 2002 Corolla has been at the repairmans garage for seven weeks now.

The front driving lights just disappeared one day, hi and low beam gone. I went through all the fuses, nothing wrong, but there was no current coming for the relaysI changed a couple but no... so I figured it's a professional job.

In seven weeks they have found no problems. And no lights. But there has been a mouse in the glove box, chewing some papers and plastic covers... and a cellphone charger cord has been exceptionally delicious. So they figured it's been the mouse, breaking some wires somewhere.

The repairman is building a new light circuit and a master switch now. It's an old but nice little well working 2 liter diesel city car that my wife likes. I sure hope the guys won't charge for an hour...

country gent
10-31-2021, 08:09 AM
Back when the ammonia applicators had the tank on them when done with the corn we backed it in the old barn shut the doors around the tongue and pulled the rope. no more pigeons rats mice wood chucks

Thundarstick
10-31-2021, 08:52 AM
This is why we spend so much on mouse poison and bucket traps on the farm! I keep bucket traps in my shed, tin cat traps, and glue traps all around my garage! They can do sooooo much damage!

I hear anywhere you can stick a pencil through, a mouse can get through! You've probably got more than one as well, they run in packs, or soon will!

Mal Paso
10-31-2021, 08:54 AM
Mice can get through a half inch hole but auto manufacturers make it easier than that. The air vents for exhausting cabin air and let you close the door easily act just like little doggie doors they can push through.

Hossfly
10-31-2021, 09:12 AM
Had a mouse get down into the squirrel cage fan of new car, shaking severely took it to dealership for warranty repair. Service guy said if we find a mouse in there will cost you money. Took back home and spent 1 hr watching videos on disassembly’s and 30 min under dash and found said mouse, he was spun to death in the fan. Lucky just before decomp.

GL49
10-31-2021, 09:22 AM
Thanks for the reminder. It's getting colder outside and the mice will soon be looking for someplace warm. Time to set a couple traps in the garage.

My wife had one in her car, she'd set a couple traps every night on the floorboards. Caught four in the car, four outside the car before it was over. We don't think they all lived in the car, but knew how to get in. Set traps everywhere.
"Eewww....Poor things." "I don't want to touch it". She'd set 'em, I was appointed trapmaster.

472x1B/A
10-31-2021, 09:49 AM
Yes mice CAN get anywhere. I have seen mice at the top of 195 foot grain legs. Just go to a grain elevator and listen to some of the stories that can be told by the guys that work there. You will be amazed.

Froogal
10-31-2021, 09:55 AM
Do yourself a favor. Get some of those outdoor bait stations and load them up with "Havoc" bait chunks. Scatter a few more chunks of that bait in strategic places INSIDE the garage. The rats and mice have NO respect for your personal interests, so why be nice to them?

SeabeeMan
10-31-2021, 10:09 AM
They'll get anywhere. My parents 08 Corolla has what we can only assume are a half dozen acorns rolling around above the headliner. Take a corner a little fast and they tumble around to the other side of the car.

My 68 Mustang had every single nook and cranny behind the headliner and trim panels packed with any and all imaginable nesting materials. I literally wore a respirator and tyvek suit pulling the interior out and spent days vacuuming out every single piece. Wiped it all down with bleach, sealed it up, painted and a whole new interior to get rid of the mouse smell.

XDROB
10-31-2021, 10:32 AM
Honda came out with a cayenne 1 pepper electrical tape. To help combat mice chewing on wires on top of the fuel tanks. Which were not cheap to remove from the vehicles and replace all the hoses and wires that had been chewed. It seemed to work because we never got another vehicle back in that had been repaired with it. I also have been experimenting with a deck box that we keep swing cushions in. In the four corners I put a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil and so far in 2 years we have not had one mice problem yet. As long as you like peppermint oil you're good to go. We also keep what is advertised as rat traps to get the mice and the garage the attic and the seller. They do not survive those.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

dverna
10-31-2021, 10:38 AM
Last week had 8 of them in the bucket trap in the garage...need to check the one in the tractor shed.

bedbugbilly
10-31-2021, 11:00 AM
Years ago, my in-laws came down from the UP (Michigan) and stayed a few days at our place on their way to Florida for the winter. While they were here, they bought a new car but kept the LTD they had. I was building a shop building at the time and had it all closed in, insulated and ceiling and wall covering son, ready to put the service in and with with surface conduit in the spring (I had another building I was working out of and decided to finish up the new shop when spring came). My father-in-law took it upon himself to invite himself to keep their LTD in the new shop building while they were gone for the winter and they would pick it up on their way home bak to the UP. What's a son-in-law to say? I agreed, but told him that he had to keep insurance on it and that it was at his own risk. (He and I did not have the best relationship through the years as he could be hard to get along with - opposite political views, etc.).''

When they came back in the spring, I helped him get the car out and he drove it for a few days while they stayed with us. I came home one day from a job and he started in on me that he had had to take the care to the local Ford agency as the air-conditioner didn't work. When the mechanic got into it, he discovered pink fiberglas insulation packed into the AC unit, the air cleaner housing and several other places - all as a result of mice. The crowning glory was when he said it was my fault and I should have to pay the bill at the Ford dealer. I kept my cool and calmly reminded him that he had invited himself to leave the care there for the winter and it was at "your own risk". My mother-in-law, who was a wonderful woman . . . stepped in and like many wives, had the final word with him that it was not my fault and that I would not be paying the bill.

Pesky mice can get in anywhere and they can sure do a lot of damage . . . I grew up on a farm and built a house on it and we lived in it for 45 years - darn mice would get in the bluebird houses and build nests . . a constant battle with them and especially when the hayfields got cut and weather started turning cooler. At times, De-Con and traps were our best friends . . . . and if you have one, you have more.

DougGuy
10-31-2021, 11:25 AM
We have feral cats in the 'hood I feed one daily by my basement door, no mice, no snakes, no critters atall. They are all fixed so no cat fights at night either.

Three44s
10-31-2021, 11:39 AM
It’s the “peanut butter” in the wiring insulation ..........and other components!

Actually soybean .......

https://nhoilundercoating.com/soy-based-wiring-how-to-help-keep-mice-out/

I have no experience with this product in the above link though.

Three44s

Three44s
10-31-2021, 11:40 AM
Honda came out with a cayenne 1 pepper electrical tape. To help combat mice chewing on wires on top of the fuel tanks. Which were not cheap to remove from the vehicles and replace all the hoses and wires that had been chewed. It seemed to work because we never got another vehicle back in that had been repaired with it. I also have been experimenting with a deck box that we keep swing cushions in. In the four corners I put a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil and so far in 2 years we have not had one mice problem yet. As long as you like peppermint oil you're good to go. We also keep what is advertised as rat traps to get the mice and the garage the attic and the seller. They do not survive those.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

“In the four corners I put a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil and so far in 2 years we have not had one mice problem yet.”

I have heard of this .....

Three44s

gwpercle
10-31-2021, 03:08 PM
Is the Pope religious ... you wouldn't believe where mice can get into and the havoc and damage they can inflict ... Keeping doors closed doesn't stop Doodly-Squat ...

Get a CAT .... Two CAT'S is even better ... feed them in the garage .
Gary

.429&H110
10-31-2021, 03:16 PM
Here in the Sonoran desert I line up dozens of mousetraps unbaited in the corners of the shed and garage. I catch packrats without bait, and they avoid baited traps. Wherever a mouse goes, they leave a trail of um, scent. Snakes follow the trail and lie in wait.

We have trained the rattlers not to rattle, if they make a noise, they're dead. So we have a generation of very quiet snakes, they see us and freeze, their camoflage makes them invisible, just a snakey tongue. Got nine in two years, didn't see one last summer. Gopher snakes are huge, and get relocated outside the wall.

Monthly I hose every runway down, then the bug guy doses it.
Trash stored outside in a bin. No bugs, no mice trails, no snakes.
SWMBO supervises.

Scrounge
10-31-2021, 03:30 PM
They can fit anywhere your fingertip can fit.

Mice do terrible things to trucks.

They climb on top of the fuel tank and eat the vapor lines and wiring that lead up to the intake manifold. I have replaced fuel pumps and fuel tanks and evap pipes and cannisters on Chevy express and ford transit vans after mice damaged the plastic.

That they smell the ethanol in the fuel is my theory.

Sometimes they munch the insulation from computer control wiring. Those are interesting to trouble shoot. It's enough of a re-occuring problem that I get[emoji2959][emoji2959][emoji2959]

They urinate and defecate constantly while eating, so everywhere that has paper towel shreds on it may have been contaminated with parasites they carry.

It is unlikely there is only one mouse.
They lie in wait, hiding. What will they munch on next??

The best way to remove them is to bait the mice, then drown them with the bucket trap.

Get a 5 gallon bucket and drill two small holes opposite each other near the top.

Get a empty aluminum can, drill a hole in the bottom.

Thread a straighted wire through the holes in the bucket with the holes in the can.

Smear peanut butter on the can then lean a piece of wood against the bucket so they can access the bucket and bait can. Make it irresistible by sprinkling sunflower seeds on the ramp and can roller.

Test that it spins freely with fingertip pressure.

Add six inches water then dump it daily.

The birds gotta eat.[emoji232]

If you see one mouse, there are at least ten. If you see ten mice, there are at least 100. Get a couple of Tin Cats. https://www.victorpest.com/victor-tin-cat-mouse-trap-with-glue-boards-m310gb You can find them at Amazon.com, most hardware stores, and lumber yard/feed stores. Bait them with a dab of peanut butter, or a bit of bacon grease, and you can drown the mice in a bucket of warm soapy water, kill their fleas and lice, and clean the trap all at the same time. I've got one I've had for nearly 20 years, and they're very reusable. You can get them with a clear window so you can see what you've caught, and know when to empty the trap, too.

A mouse can fit through a slot less than 1/4" high, and they gnaw holes even in concrete to get to where they want to get. Plug the holes you find with steel wool, and you can at least slow them down a bit. It hurts their mouths chewing on it. Some places, like SoCal, they're known to be infected with bubonic plague, and hanta virus.

Scrounge
10-31-2021, 03:32 PM
I use the bucket trap and works great. I am trying the moth ball packs to see if that helps. Had a mouse come jumping out of my Kabota backhoe base that landed on my chest and scared me a bit that I missed stomping on it. They get everywhere and ruin everything, especially plastic hoses and such. Don't really se the damage till you need it. I started putting things in those big black totes with the yellow lids from Costco.

Waste of time and money on the plastic totes. They can chew through those containers, and will. Galvanized steel will stop them. Not much of anything else.

Bill

358429
10-31-2021, 03:42 PM
That's the truth about the steel wool! They hate munching on that stuff! Totally forgot about that.

Winger Ed.
10-31-2021, 04:20 PM
Get a couple of Tin Cats. .

That's brilliant.
We have curious dogs, so I can't use spring traps anywhere they could possible get to.
And if a pet gets stuck on a glue trap-- it can be a real serious event to get it off of them.

I noticed they are illegal in Puerto Rico.
I'm almost afraid to ask why.

lightman
10-31-2021, 04:30 PM
A lot of the farmers around here put Rat poison in their equipment in the off season. The ones that have shop Cats have fewer mice problems than those that don't. Trucks, Tractors, Combines -------- Mice can do lots of expensive damage.

My Wife and I feed the Birds and buy Sunflower seeds in 50# bags, usually several at a time. We have to use metal trash cans on the back porch for storage because the Squirrels will knaw into plastic cans.

MT Gianni
10-31-2021, 04:33 PM
I have bought a costco sized jar of powdered cinnamon to put in the camper. They don't care for the smell so I put it in paper bowls around the inside after I winterize it. I also buy a bunch of stinky cinnamon pine cones after the holidays and scatter them in the garage.

Idz
10-31-2021, 05:25 PM
We have a 1988 motor home that hasn't had problems I think mainly because it has the old non-environmental vinyl wiring and also a slight leak on the shaft seal so the engine and undercarriage has a film of motor oil on it. Any holes to the outdoors get stuffed with aluminum foil which they don't like munching on.

NEKVT
10-31-2021, 06:34 PM
In my cabin I have a three section kindling box mounted in the middle of my firewood rack. Birch bark on top, small twigs in the middle and larger pieces in the bottom. To keep from making a trail of small twigs from the rack to the stove each time I started loading up toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes cut into three with the twigs so I just grab a tube of twigs now. One day arriving at the cabin I went to grab a tube of twigs to start the stove and the compartment was just filled with twigs. All of the 10-12 tubes that were in it were gone. Never did determine where they took all the cardboard to.

RogerDat
10-31-2021, 07:49 PM
I have a nice (or was nice) 6 man rubberized canvas inflatable boat, complete with motor mount. The plastic bin it was in didn't get sealed and mice ate several holes in the floor. None in the air chambers. I'm trying rubber backed canvas drop cloth as a patch wish me luck.

I also found that the mice really like the crisco/beeswax lube on Minnie ball rounds. I was looking at taking some .58 caliber ones out and wondered why the lube had all flaked off. So as I set up and started to re-dip I suddenly realized the container was full of mouse droppings. Little buggers had chowed down on about 40 soft lead bullets.

No cats anymore, decided to have furniture instead. Road out front is a "short cut" to the highway and traffic is too fast and frequent for outdoor cats to have much lifespan. Indoor cats trashed too much furniture over the years so that when the last pair died we didn't replace.

Birds feeder is about 10 ft. from basement wall. Pretty sure I know where the mice go after they finish at the all you can eat buffet. Every fall I put out traps until no more are caught. Much of what is in basement is now in bins. Yes they can eat through them but it is easier to spot the mess and head off the damage. Tray of lube muzzle loader bullets was a new one on me. One did commit suicide and spoil a bucket of corn cob media. Got in bucket and couldn't get out. Was a dried husk when I found him. Felt a bit bad about even a mouse going like that.

Idaho45guy
10-31-2021, 09:20 PM
There is some debate as to whether or not auto manufacturers moving to a soy-based wiring sheath rather than the old petroleum-based ones has contributed to a huge increase in rodent damage since the mid-2000's.

There was a large class-action lawsuit against Toyota a few years ago in which they won.

I handled dozens of rodent-damage claims as an insurance adjuster. They are covered under your Comprehensive coverage and are no-fault claims, but your comp deductible still applies.

Bmi48219
11-02-2021, 10:45 PM
Had a mouse get down into the squirrel cage fan of new car, shaking severely took it to dealership for warranty repair.

I parked under a young oak tree at Orlando MCO for a week while up north. Drove home fine, washed the love-bugs off the grill & bumper next day. While washing I noticed one hole in the cowl panel plastic grill was a round instead of square hole but there was a bolt head just beyond it. I figured the 5/8” diameter hole was round so they could get a socket on the bolt.
Started it up next morning and it felt like it was running on less than a full complement of cylinders. Took the dealer 15 minutes to find a mouse had chewed up some wiring, enlarged the hole in my cowl panel and built a nest in the fan housing. Total repair bill was $3000.00, my deductible was $500. Mechanic said the wire insulation was made using soy based plastic that mice really liked. Must have been partial to acorns too as the cabin fan filter was covered with shells.

john.k
11-02-2021, 11:00 PM
My bosses son was entrusted with keeping the parents new luxury car operable while the boss went on a tour for 12 months......son brought the car into work ,parked it in the corner of the shed ......and in a brilliant move ,put some big bags of watchdog chow in the trunk.....a $250k car ,you couldnt open the door without a gasmask..

Winger Ed.
11-02-2021, 11:28 PM
.....a $250k car ,you couldnt open the door without a gasmask..

I hate to laugh at that. But it did remind me....

Years ago, when Bill Cosby did a lot of stand up comedy, he'd often talk about his kids which were pretty young then.

He tell of their household adventures, and sometimes reach a point of frustration with the kids, and announce:

"THE BEATINGS WILL NOW BEGIN" !!!

fiberoptik
11-03-2021, 01:17 AM
I bought a VW Vanagon from a farmer who had it sitting in the yard for a year. Changed plugs & oil; added Slick 50. Ran great. Drove from Michigan to Arizona, dropping off the wife in El Paso on the way. Had really weird motor issues along the way when it got hot from running alot. Going through Dateland, Az. in 128 degree weather, my engine chugged & seized up, then broke loose. I added a few quarts of oil & nursed it into town 3-4 miles away. Buddy brought a U-Haul front wheel trailer and we towed it to Yuma. Mechanic tore it down and found a mouse nest around the spark plug under the tin head cover. Damn mouse cost me the van & mechanics bill. Good news was I caught the mouse [emoji242]. He was cooked along with my motor!


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rondog
11-03-2021, 02:08 AM
Grandpa Gus's mouse pouches. https://www.grandpagus.com/pages/fb-gts-10pk-mouse-repellent-v3-mnml-fb

GhostHawk
11-03-2021, 09:38 AM
Scrounge nailed it.

Single pregnant mouse gets into your car. Finds bedding material, makes nest, has baby's, raises baby's.
Baby's and momma trash car. Baby's grow up, move away. Momma moves fresh bedding and food into car and prepares for round 2.

As a kid growing up one of my major hated jobs was sweeping the grain bins every july. Its hot, there is no air in there. And you have the lovely smell of 2 to 20 dead mice decomposing. The worst were the wooden buildings. They had to be gone over inch by inch looking for knotholes, mouseholes, cracks.

When we found one we would shoot a shot of blackjack shingle stick into the hole and make sure the sides got well smeared. Mice hate that stuff. Sticks to fur, tastes terribad. Then a tin can was flattened with a hammer, nailed over the hole. All done in 90 degree outside head, more like 110-120 degree inside. With that lovely eu de rotting mouse smell hanging on the air.

Steel bins with a good concrete floor not a whole lot got in.

But it was for a good cause, enough mouse turds, portions of desecated body's would get a truckload rejected for shipment.

60,000 lbs of Hard Red Spring Wheat, 55 lbs per bushel, 3-5.50 per bushel. The loses add up fast. Much easier to put a 12 year old boy to work and supervise him enough to make sure he is doing the job right.

lightman
11-03-2021, 10:36 AM
A good friend of mines Dad was a self employed exterminator and we would go with him when he worked around grain bins. He had an old fashioned bellows and would pump some kind of white powder into the mouse holes. Me and my Buddy would sit on the tailgate and shoot the mice with 22's as they evacuated their holes. Lots and lots of fun. I don't know what the powder was but its probably been outlawed today.

DocSavage
11-03-2021, 11:02 AM
There's a you tube channel "Customer States" one episode Customer was getting no heat/AC when the cabin filter was checked it was full of food that a mouse stashed in it. The mechanic had to vacuum out the filter housing it was packed solid.

Geezer in NH
11-03-2021, 04:52 PM
One mouse is like 1 mosquito bite! NO such thing!

Plate plinker
11-03-2021, 08:43 PM
I like to prevent trap with lots of sticky traps baited with peanut butter. Better to stay ahead of the little suckers.

Bmi48219
11-06-2021, 02:59 PM
Saw a film about exterminators in NYC. they had sticky pads that were 3 feet x 3 feet. Guy put one in a basement under a stairwell. Next morning there were a hundred mice on it.

shooterg
11-07-2021, 04:30 PM
This is a real head scratcher.
A couple days ago, I saw the flash of a little field mouse run for cover when I went into the garage,
and my bag of wild bird seed had a hole in it and seeds scattered around it.
So, I set out a trap and caught the little demon.

We have a 2002 Ford Explorer that is kept inside the garage. Windows up, doors closed, as is the garage door.
Usually, it doesn't get driven more than once every week or so.
Today, I vacuumed out the inside and changed the oil.

Little specks of paper towel were all over the floor in the back seat scattered around my roll of paper towels.
The car is in almost the same condition as when we bought it almost new.
There's no way a mouse could get inside the passenger compartment......
but that has to be what chewed up the paper towels.

After I changed the oil, I checked the other stuff under the hood, including the air filter in its box.
A bunch of the exact same kind and size of paper towel shreds were inside the box/chamber for the air filter.

Over the years, I've seen rats & squirrels nest up in engine compartments-- but not get inside or in a air filter.
I don't see how the little critter could have made several trips back & forth inside the car, and inside the air filter.

Can field mice beam themselves around like the transporter on Star Trek?

Bad smell in wife's Neon a few years back . Dead baby mice in the air filter . Guess Mom was out looking for food when the car was moved !

Squirrels ate the wires going to the electric fuel pump twice on our old Plymouth K-car ! Wiring must taste good.

Jbiker
11-07-2021, 05:32 PM
I don't know how well known this little fact is , But for the last 25 years or so , most of the automotive wire originates overseas. Unfortunately they specifications for the insulation coating on all automotive wire in the car/truck wiring harnesses is made from and edible soy based product that rodents will eat . Short of opening a new car hood and spraying a capricine/hot pepper liquid on the harness , there isn't a lot one can do , short of mouse trapping season year round !!!

Idaho45guy
11-07-2021, 10:46 PM
I don't know how well known this little fact is , But for the last 25 years or so , most of the automotive wire originates overseas. Unfortunately they specifications for the insulation coating on all automotive wire in the car/truck wiring harnesses is made from and edible soy based product that rodents will eat . Short of opening a new car hood and spraying a capricine/hot pepper liquid on the harness , there isn't a lot one can do , short of mouse trapping season year round !!!

Close...

It was actually introduced around 2010 or so by Toyota and Honda. Domestics followed soon after. There has been a massive class-action lawsuit against Toyota and it lost.

mjwcaster
11-09-2021, 01:16 PM
Strangest I have seen was a large mouse nest in the air filter box of the neighbors car.
We back up to a bean field and mice are a normal occurrence here.

But this car was a daily driver, 7 days a week, only sitting at night.
I guess the mice enjoyed the fresh breeze.


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358429
11-09-2021, 02:06 PM
Strangest I have seen was a large mouse nest in the air filter box of the neighbors car.
We back up to a bean field and mice are a normal occurrence here.

But this car was a daily driver, 7 days a week, only sitting at night.
I guess the mice enjoyed the fresh breeze.


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkThe mice found a place that was safe from owls and cats.

mjwcaster
11-09-2021, 02:16 PM
The mice found a place that was safe from owls and cats.

And the coyotes.

But they could have used the garages, my storage boxes or even my mustang like the normal mice did every fall.
The upscale ones would even move inside with us.

Nope, these mice suffered from wanderlust, traveling Mouseketeers. Maybe they pretended they were in an old open cockpit airplane.


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Wooserco
11-10-2021, 07:00 PM
Thankfully, my one and only experience with automotive related mouse encounters was my Chevy S-10 diesel. A mouse built a nest inside the air cleaner housing. Never figured out how it got past the air filter.

Anyway, started the diesel. It ran for a couple of seconds before the vacuum pulled the nest apart and wound up in the intake valves.

The truck was given to me after my divorce, so I made money when I sold it for scrap,