Nesting wire chewing squirrel protection

[Scott Asheville]

As somebody who dropped $600 for a new wire harness section a few months back (rodents chewed it), I found some anti-rodent mint spray oil on Amazon. You can find it at Lowes, etc. Most everywhere. You can spray. You can impregnate cotton balls or sponges and leave under the hood someplace not to hot.

I spray the engine and under the truck monthly.

Oh, the repair was only $400. But there was $200 for diagnostics. Towing was free, under Ford Roadside Assistance.

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[Cherokee]

Well there you go, just walk up to one of those and ask it nicely to piss in a bottle and spray around your truck with it.

But seriously if you've got any buddies with ferrets, some ferret nuggets in a ventilated pill bottle or similar might work. Domestic cat if not.

I successfully used Bob Cat urine once, can’t find it anymore.

 

[MaverickDragon]

Prop open your hood and add a cat bed while parked.
Actually, just leaving your hood open works for folks out here.
A rodents prime directive is hiding.

 

[Gaidheal]

I'm a licensed pest management guy - all my stuff is protected from rodents by final solutions. The only things they chew around here are their last meal.

 

[jonshep]

As a kid I hunted squirrels all the time and we ate them, they were not wasted. I like them very much. My wife won't cook them any more and the city has an ordinance against discharging firearms in town. If you eat them, a head shot is the best place to shoot them. Okay, in this century, you can get coyote urine scent at Academy that will keep them away as log as it lasts. Pepermint works. I have resorted to using a couple of live traps, using pecans for bait. Thru the summer I caught 5 and released them in the park a mile north of town. A friend a block over from my house caught 9. We haven't made a dent in their numbers. They are resilient little pests.

 

[Timothyd]

Anybody have any ideas ?
I definitely don’t want to add a load to my battery.
Anybody see anything we can plug into the wall and drive over it and park to repel chewing tree rats ?

I thought I read somewhere that Ford added something to the wiring to deter the Chewbacca’s ?

Hank keeps the grounds pretty free . The only thing worse than finding a mouse is finding half a mouse.

 

[Cherokee]

I'm a licensed pest management guy - all my stuff is protected from rodents by final solutions. The only things they chew around here are their last meal.

I don’t really want to kill them, just aggravate them to no end.
I live in a forest. Tree rats everywhere.

 

[Gaidheal]

Killing critters I don't eat isn't my favourite option, but protecting my stuff is a higher priority for me.

I've tried deterrents and in my specific situation I decided I wouldn't live long enough to figure out how to protect my stuff and not kill them.

Cheers

 

[dochawk]

A big blue eyed Lobo was seen by two people last summer.

But a brown eyed Tremor chased it off.

In turn, it was attacked by an FX4.

I understand an electric bug zapper used in conjunction with corn for attraction works well and tree rats are even fried for your culinary pleasure.

In all seriousness, a major factor in the American Revolution was that many of our soldiers were carrying their squirrel guns.

These were folks whose ability to bag a squirrel meant the difference between meat or not in that night's stew . . . whereas the folks they were shooting at (sometimes from trees) were trained for volley fire into the bulk of the other group!

I successfully used Bob Cat urine once, can’t find it anymore.

There's a really good cat litter joke here, but I can't put my thumb on it!

I don’t really want to kill them, just aggravate them to no end.

Reseeding my lawn, the air rats were the enemy. They'd come in groups, and eat my future grass.

So I got a BB gun. Not to kill them, but I figured that a smack in the backside would make my yard less interesting than other places.

One day my daughter asked to try. No cars were at the curb, so I figured it would be harmless.

I didn't consider the possibility that her shot would be in the general vicinity (she'd never touched one before), let alone hit it!

It fell over.

And stayed there.

Bleeding.

Figuring that it was mortally wounded, I got a shovel to put it out of its misery.

As I brought it down, the thing flew off!

Well, sort of.

Because it moved, the shovel took off the tail feathers, rather than dispatching it!

It scurried around a bit, but failed to fly.

So at the point, I figured it was determined to live, and had a chance.

It hung around the yard for at least a while. It wasn't there come morning, Nor were there any other feathers, so I figured that it somehow got away, and wished it the best of luck.

 

[RR - All the way]

But a brown eyed Tremor chased it off.

In turn, it was attacked by an FX4.





In all seriousness, a major factor in the American Revolution was that many of our soldiers were carrying their squirrel guns.

These were folks whose ability to bag a squirrel meant the difference between meat or not in that night's stew . . . whereas the folks they were shooting at (sometimes from trees) were trained for volley fire into the bulk of the other group!




There's a really good cat litter joke here, but I can't put my thumb on it!



Reseeding my lawn, the air rats were the enemy. They'd come in groups, and eat my future grass.

So I got a BB gun. Not to kill them, but I figured that a smack in the backside would make my yard less interesting than other places.

One day my daughter asked to try. No cars were at the curb, so I figured it would be harmless.

I didn't consider the possibility that her shot would be in the general vicinity (she'd never touched one before), let alone hit it!

It fell over.

And stayed there.

Bleeding.

Figuring that it was mortally wounded, I got a shovel to put it out of its misery.

As I brought it down, the thing flew off!

Well, sort of.

Because it moved, the shovel took off the tail feathers, rather than dispatching it!

It scurried around a bit, but failed to fly.

So at the point, I figured it was determined to live, and had a chance.

It hung around the yard for at least a while. It wasn't there come morning, Nor were there any other feathers, so I figured that it somehow got away, and wished it the best of luck.

I hope your daughter was not real young. I would hate for her to be psychologically scarred for life!!!! Does she still eat chicken or those little Cornish Hens???

 

[dochawk]

oddly, I can't place the year!

She would have been in high school, though, by the time I started seeding.

No long term effects.

(gosh, I'm glad that that didn't occur to me 15+ years ago! )

 

[Butterscotch]

I've posted this in other threads.

An old prescription bottle, a piece of sponge, some peppermint extract and a zip tie. I retreat the sponge every 3 months or so and so far haven't had any rodent issues.

And yes, it's parked outside. Sadly there's no more room in the garage

ETA: I've been doing this for many years on all our vehicles

And it does work.

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