Rats. Literally. Ugh.

[jrhone]

My project car is in a private garage with lots of garages and next to a freeway with lots of vegetation.  I have noticed in the past some small evidence of mice.  I went into the garage for the first time in a few months to grab a tool and there was ALOT of evidence of much larger critters.  They kinda creep me out lol.  So any tips on keeping them out of the car and garage and from making homes?   Im gonna contact the office where i rent the garage from and ask them what can be done. I have read peppermint oil is a natural repellent and i have read about those electronic high frequency devices but not sure how effective those are.  That last thing i want is to be under the car working away one evening and something run by lol.  

Edited August 26 by jrhone

[OldRoller]

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[JsnPpp]

I've had luck with peppermint oil in my garage when I saw a mouse. Prob is that you may need to keep reapplying if there are many there.

 

 

[JohnS]

Since I'm onsite, I use old-school traps and sometime have to resort to using a glue trap.  As gross as it might be, I prefer a confirmed kill...  We also have lots of "ranch cats AKA feral cats" that keep most of the rodents under control.  I try to not use any poison that might adversely affect my friends the hawks and owls...  If they get near my car, glue trap...  Peanut in the middle...  Works every time...

 

 

[jrhone]

I’m no expert by any means.  My hesitation on using traps and things to attract is I will attract them from outdoors and the neighboring garages and it will be an endless stream of me killing rats that wouldn’t be there had I not attracted them there in the first place.  I might be overthinking it.  I just want the ones that are hanging out there to leave lol. 

[jp5Touring]

Only had to use a Monthly storage unit for one Winter. I used lots of mouse traps and Peanut Butter.

Maybe a dozen traps. They also make rat traps.

I used scented Dryer sheets in the car with good luck.

Irish Spring soap is  said to work also

[tech71]

6 minutes ago, jrhone said:

it.  I just want the ones that are hanging out there to leave

Sorry, doesn’t really work that way, have to go full terminator mode on the little bastards.

Even then, at best, you will be in only manage to keep the population in check. They just breed to darn fast

[lunarkingdom]

MEOW!

[jrhone]

3 minutes ago, lunarkingdom said:

MEOW!

I thought about it.  And if it was in a house then by all means I would have a few cats that would probably eat good lol.  This garage gets hot and keeping an animal in there isnt allowed nor would it be humane.  But i wish i could!!  

[1972_Targa]

I park the 2002 pickup outside under a car cover, and between my trusty PB roller bucket trap and an small army of four hardwired feline killing machines, all is well. There’s great joy in discovering half-a-rat on a regular basis...

[Einspritz]

A: big moth cakes

 

B: pool chlorine tablets

 

OK at least they work for bear.

[Tdh]

 

[Son of Marty]

They find meeting my  Colt woodsman is counter productive for Mikey and friends. 

[cda951]

As both an animal lover and a professional technician who deals with a LOT of rodent-damaged cars, I have thoughts about this subject, in no particular order:

 

---Please do not use poison. Besides being inhumane to the rodent directly affected, the effects of the poison can move up the food chain as mentioned by @JohnS. I am perfectly OK with keeping rodent populations under control, but make it clean and quick if possible. 

---Dryer sheets:  I have seen rodent nests composed of dryer sheets within customer cars. They might repel some rodents, but not all.

--Peppermint oil: not sure, but I often hear about it from customers who have been wracked with rodent intrusion in their cars, and they apply it, often with limited success.

---Capsaicin: the chemical compound produced by chili peppers that produces the burning/spicy sensation is known to repel rodents and other mammals. Honda marketed an anti-rodent electrical tape (part # 4019-2317, shown as currently unavailable, grey with cute mouse graphics) to wrap repaired wires in an attempt to keep the varmints from chewing on them again . . . . I have seen a few of the same cars come back in with the Honda tape chewed through anew, along with the wiring underneath. I don't know if the Honda anti-rodent tape has an expiration date, but it is perhaps again an example of a mutant rat flexing. 

I once had a customer come in with either an E53 X5 or E83 X3 for an oil level check, I opened the hood and immediately sneezed: she had liberally coated every square inch of the engine bay with paprika, which chef triumphantly announced had finally solved her rodent issues . . . . also keeps mechanics away!

---Old car versus new: the root cause of the entire thing is that rodents have large incisors which grow at an incredible rate so they need to be constantly gnawing at things to keep their front teeth from piercing their brains. So, they chew on things, but they would much rather chew on plant-based things (such as the wiring and insulation and other materials in modern cars made since the 1990s) than on petroleum-based things such as the wiring insulation of our 02. They will, however, chew on whatever in the absence of a convenient plant-based target.

----Cats: yes, by all means, if you have a built-in population of feral cats, put them to use in keeping rodent populations under control. But, you should endeavor to have all such cats spayed and neutered if possible. There is a vast overpopulation of "feral" cats, which results in the killing of many, many birds and it affects the local food chains---the cats do not reproduce at quite the rate of the rodents they prey upon, but it is still quite rapid. My girlfriend and I foster kittens for a local animal shelter (1-2 day old kittens that are turned in by well-meaning citizens), and there are far too many of those. I suggest looking up and supporting local "TNR" (trap-neuter-release) programs for feral cats. There will still  be more than plenty of cats available for control of the rodent population . . . . .

[SydneyTii]

On 8/27/2024 at 11:26 AM, Tdh said:

 

😂 yep the snakes keep them down near me but my cat is an absolute ratter, within 2 days of hearing one around the house he gets them, just as well because I don’t want the snakes coming in. He is so fast he even beats the snakes out of the yard…. My dog who was a Rhodesian Ridgeback took care of the Possums and anyone who got too close to the 02, even the cat was careful not to piss him off…. 
id move the car, rodents are a nightmare ask Rob Siegel!

Edited August 28 by SydneyTii