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Rodents... PSA

Silverator

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Ugh... We've had to replace wiring harnesses on my in-laws Toyota Avalon 4X's in the last couple of years. Each time to the tune of $400-700. One time, it was running - but poorly - and we drove it to the dealer only to have them pop the hood, and pull out a rabbit. Literally. The Avalon is the only vehicle they go after around here, but man...........I hate rodents. Wife won't let me poison them, but that seems like the only way honestly. We've tried all kinds of "under the hood" chemical, light and various other deterrents. Nothing works. We trapped 3 or 4 large ground squirrels. We'll see if that slows em down.
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Pilsner

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This kinda damage is really crappy and expensive. But, PSA poison and stickey traps are really bad to use. Poison is bad due to bioaccumulation. Look it up. Basically here is an example - a rodent eats poison and dies, a bird then eats said rodent and gets poison in its system but not enough to kill it. But it does this 4 more times and now has 5 times the poison killing it. Then a coyote comes along and eats said bird. This continues. And is the reason led shot shells are banned in many places.

Also, it is a very painful death. Imagine someone poisoning your food….

1FF26932-3CEB-4E9B-96AF-188B2450E03B.jpeg


just because you kill 100 of em doesnt mean they wont reproduce and continue to come back. Consider alternate methods Of discouragement.

I understand, but I will continue to do all the things as a single incident is extremely painful. First, I tried discouragement, mostly for my dog's sake, but it was ineffective. I tried the sprays, the soaked cotton balls, and the little pouches they sell with repellant. The poison absolutely has more appeal than my wiring at this point as I found out when the bait station ran dry and suddenly the dash was all lit up on my new Bronco. I believe it to be mice not squirrels, but after many hours of disassembly, tracing, and soldering, I will kill every single rodent I find on my property in addition to discouragement. I would shoot them if I had time to stand guard. I don't like killing things unless I'm eating it, but these things started a war.
 

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I understand, but I will continue to do all the things as a single incident is extremely painful. First, I tried discouragement, mostly for my dog's sake, but it was ineffective. I tried the sprays, the soaked cotton balls, and the little pouches they sell with repellant. The poison absolutely has more appeal than my wiring at this point as I found out when the bait station ran dry and suddenly the dash was all lit up on my new Bronco. I believe it to be mice not squirrels, but after many hours of disassembly, tracing, and soldering, I will kill every single rodent I find on my property in addition to discouragement. I would shoot them if I had time to stand guard. I don't like killing things unless I'm eating it, but these things started a war.
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Pilsner

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It's the warmth of the engine and the soy in the wire loom and insulation.

Agreed. There have been class action lawsuits against most manufacturers, but I do not believe any have been won. They claim that the soy wiring is not any more prone to rodent damage. That is false from what I can see. They do not eat the wiring on my old Bronco, my ATVs or SxS, power washers, mower, motorcycle, tiller, etc. Just the vehicles, so I do believe it's the wire insulation.

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chorky

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I understand, but I will continue to do all the things as a single incident is extremely painful. First, I tried discouragement, mostly for my dog's sake, but it was ineffective. I tried the sprays, the soaked cotton balls, and the little pouches they sell with repellant. The poison absolutely has more appeal than my wiring at this point as I found out when the bait station ran dry and suddenly the dash was all lit up on my new Bronco. I believe it to be mice not squirrels, but after many hours of disassembly, tracing, and soldering, I will kill every single rodent I find on my property in addition to discouragement. I would shoot them if I had time to stand guard. I don't like killing things unless I'm eating it, but these things started a war.
i certainly understand your frustration. But maybe there is a bigger issue causing this.

I live in an extremely rural area. Bears frequent my yard nightly in soring and fall. I have 3 resident squirrels in my yard and feed another 10 of them. Plus birds. So far no Issues. Even my older TJ that mostly sits hasnt had any issues.

It probably is mice rather than squirrels as i see squirrel prints inside my engine bay at times but only graced with a nut for a present instead of chewed wires.

I also dont like killing unless it is for food as I have seen far too much death in my life already. So I stand by this.

Each life is precious to the one living it.

Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA 9638D82A-3EBE-47FF-9BB9-9D4057532960


Hopefully you can find a way to prevent future damage without causing a painful death.
 

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Rusty PW

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This kinda damage is really crappy and expensive. But, PSA poison and stickey traps are really bad to use. Poison is bad due to bioaccumulation. Look it up. Basically here is an example - a rodent eats poison and dies, a bird then eats said rodent and gets poison in its system but not enough to kill it. But it does this 4 more times and now has 5 times the poison killing it. Then a coyote comes along and eats said bird. This continues. And is the reason led shot shells are banned in many places.

Also, it is a very painful death. Imagine someone poisoning your food….

Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA 9638D82A-3EBE-47FF-9BB9-9D4057532960


just because you kill 100 of em doesnt mean they wont reproduce and continue to come back. Consider alternate methods Of discouragement.
Kill the little bastards. When you have to spend a thousand dollars to get your vehicle repaired. You don't care how they died. That they are just dead. Had a furry bastard chew though a vent line on my Grand Cherokee. Had to drop the fuel tank to fix it.
 

Blade1668

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This is nuts! After squirrels hid hundreds of walnuts under the hood of my car, I went searching for answers
My family-friendly mid-size SUV had become friendly to a whole other family. There was an incredibly well-stocked squirrels’ nest under the hood.


When I bought a new car a couple of winters ago, I wasn’t interested in a walnut finish. Turns out, my friendly neighbourhood squirrels wound up taking care of that for me.

For the last couple of weeks, I had been driving around with the faint smell of what I thought was rotten apples in the car. When you have a couple of teenagers, it’s easy enough for food to get stuck in the nooks and crannies and sit there for months. But after a couple of comprehensive hunts under the seats and the trunk didn’t turn up anything, it seemed like the smell was going to remain a mystery.

A few days ago, when I got in the car, I heard an odd rustling. I opened the trunk, expecting a squirrel — or even a raccoon — to come leaping out at me, but nothing.



When I started it up, a squirrel sprinted out from underneath into the neighbour’s driveway.

Never once did I think to look under the hood until a couple of days later, when I got a text from a neighbour. She had heard some strange noises in her car, so she popped the hood, was stunned by what she saw and suggested I check mine.

Lo and behold, my family-friendly mid-size SUV had become friendly to a whole other family. There was an incredibly well-stocked squirrels’ nest under the hood. A bed of grass and straw just to the left of the engine. Hundreds of black walnuts and a few apples stuffed into every available space that could be found.

“It’s a dry, secure place,” explained Nathalie Karvonen, executive director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre.


“Hawks can’t get you, foxes can’t get you, coyotes. Their natural predators can’t get at them under the hood of a car. It’s actually an ideal spot for them. Not for you.”





Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA {filename}
Not laughing at you but with you on that. I have birds trying to or actually nesting under the hoods of few my Jeeps too. That can quickly lead to a engine fire too. A reason I like to have a few cats around.
Leaving hood open can help in some situations.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Thanks for the PSA so others can see what even a few damaged wires can create. Being retired from the trade of thirty years, it can be a very real problem that can almost guarantee a repair bill that is uncomfortable. And it can happen anywhere no matter the time of year or climate. I've seen it many times.

Even though it will stink like a candy cane for a while, cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil tucked away in a couple of inner fender areas under the hood (not on the engine) will do the trick. Rodents hate it.

Glad they got to the bottom of it!
That's what I did with my WJ that had to sit out next to my shop - which is near farm fields and woods.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rats.... I have "heard" that just about all rodents can be a problem. We have them all in GA.
Squirrels will chew wires as well.
Seriously, a great way to get rid of chipmunks and mice -
Containers of water, covered with styrofoam packing peanuts and a bit of peanut butter or sunflower seeds on the styrofoam peanuts.
I've killed 3 chipmunks in a single bucket in an afternoon that way. I've had to empty buckets after a single day and found 3 mice and 2 chipmunks in the bucket after 24 hours.
Give mice a ramp or place a bucket or container close to something they can climb.
I've taken out dozens of mice and over 30 chipmunks in a single season with 5 gallon buckets filled 2/3 with water, packing peanuts, etc.
 

chorky

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Kill the little bastards. When you have to spend a thousand dollars to get your vehicle repaired. You don't care how they died. That they are just dead. Had a furry bastard chew though a vent line on my Grand Cherokee. Had to drop the fuel tank to fix it.
I get it. but still. hopefully nobody ever feels that way toward you. I'm sure you certainly care how your loved ones pass....

That's what I did with my WJ that had to sit out next to my shop - which is near farm fields and woods.
Cotton balls are actually toxic thats why they dont like them. They contain (or at least they used to) a variety of pesticides and other chemicals. There has been plenty of accounts of small dogs or rodent pets like bunnies that have died from ingesting them.
 

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Rusty PW

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I get it. but still. hopefully nobody ever feels that way toward you. I'm sure you certainly care how your loved ones pass....
Well...............................having a bullet hole in my back...............someone DID feel that way about me. So....
 

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Buy a snake. A pretty big snake. Or catch one. And put it under the hood. That'll take care of your rodent problem



Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA snake-260nw-189264257
 

ShadowsPapa

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Cotton balls are actually toxic thats why they dont like them. They contain (or at least they used to) a variety of pesticides and other chemicals. There has been plenty of accounts of small dogs or rodent pets like bunnies that have died from ingesting them.
They don't know they are toxic or could be. Heck, they even drink water that's gotten fly killer in it. Talk about toxic.
Let the extract get old and the smell dissipate and they come right back - even with cotton balls there.
Been around and around with critters like mice and such for many years - from dealing with the critters in grain bins and buildings, to researching for ways to keep them out of a camper. I did a lot of digging into the extracts keeping them out and found that when the extracts get old, the mice come back. That was my experience as well.

Mice will make nests with dryer sheets (witnessed that a couple of times - they used them for nesting and once I found baby mice on a nest of dryer sheets), they couldn't care less about moth balls, and cotton balls alone don't deter them. Gotta keep up with the peppermint.

People have used cotton balls for removing make-up and such for as long as I've been alive (at least that long). Apparently aren't that toxic. There's not enough in them to kill anything by eating a couple.
Yeah, they are bleached, etc. but for the toxins in one to kill a pet, it's going to take more than one. and mice won't avoid them due to toxins. If they could detect such things, they'd avoid poison baits.
Everyone would be buying up cotton balls and just putting those out if that's all it took to keep mice away.
Most likely what kills the bunnies is the blockage as a result of eating cotton or fabric or similar substances. They have a different digestive tract. Keep your pet bunnies from chewing on any fabric - including cotton, or cotton balls. Rabbits can't vomit - a cat would barf it up, a bunny can't.
As far as dogs - it's most likely the same effect - a blockage, not "toxins". That's my guess...........
(to be sure and for the sake of argument, I looked it up......... and I was correct. They'd have to eat a LOT of cotton balls, and then it's the blockage, not toxins, but you know how these web sites about such things get - so I checked VET sites.)
Guess what the humane society of one state says - if your dog eats something sharp - glass, a broken Christmas ornament, etc. - feed it cotton balls! Yup!
Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA 1679545048608


So no, toxins in cotton balls are of no concern.



Keep a couple of these "organic rodent disposal systems" in your Jeep and you won't have mouse problems............. not so sure how well the leather seats may survive.........

Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA 1679541252162


Buy a snake. A pretty big snake. Or catch one. And put it under the hood. That'll take care of your rodent problem



Jeep Gladiator Rodents... PSA {filename}
Talk about a green/organic/natural answer to a problem........


Squirrels I don't mind and they generally only have cut or chewed Christmas lights. I repair those and move on.
Chipmunks have caused many thousands of dollars of damage around here, mice aren't far behind, eating the wiring of our heat pump among other things (trailers, campers, vehicles, etc.)
I use my bucket or similar container with water and bait as that won't have any impact on any dog or cat that may come by or that may eat a mouse or rat that's gotten into poison. That's one reason I won't poison rats or mice - hate to see a pet dog or cat get secondary poisoning by chewing on such a rodent.
The coons get a bullet to the head.
 
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That sucks! Luckily the damage wasn't too bad.

Back in 2008 my parents had just bought a new Lincoln MKX, a couple days later parked it in the garage and left for a vacation that was out of state for about a week. When they came back they discovered a rat had chewed up a bunch of wires in the engine bay, chewed through one of the firewall plugs and got into the cabin. Where it then proceeded to chew on multiple areas of carpet, trim, basically every leather seat, and random wiring under the dash. It ended up being around $6k-$7k worth of damage IIRC.

It had maybe 200 miles on the odometer at the time. Insurance covered basically the replacement of the entire interior of the car. The car always had random electrical gremlins the next 5 years they owned it sadly.
 

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It certainly looks as if these two mean business when it comes to rodents! 🐭
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