Finally caught this little guy

[xk42]

Now... How do I clean up the mess? I vacuum most of the poop and food. Before I go buy meguire APC or degreaser. Just making sure it's the right way so I don't do any electronic damages. So spray it on the engine bay then brush and use a rag to clean off the urine? It peed on some screws so I want to make sure I don't have rusted bolts again which happened on my last vehicle.

Edited post to put a dead rat into spoiler. Feel free to click but don't go PETA on me.

Spoiler: nsfw

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[rclee]

What kind of mouse trap is that? looks like there is some kind of sensor on it.

BTW nice job getting that critter!

 

[xk42]

It's just a catchmaster trap that my neighbor gave me. The pest have been haunting me and my neighbor for months and left hundreds of fruits, nuts, dropping on all our cars. We tried peppermint spray, cayenne pepper, sticky pad, more humane ways like a trap door cage. None of that worked. It was able to free itself from the sticky pad and doesn't fall for the trap door.

Initially this trap didn't work as it was able to eat the peanut butter without triggering the trap. Last night I put a pistachio nut into the hole and covered it with Skippy so it's very hard to take it out without trigging the trap. Finally got the little guy.

 

[Gaidheal]

Rats are tricky buggers.

One tip that often works... they are afraid of anything new and take some time to warm up to new things, so putting a new trap out with bait on it for a few days/week *without* setting it gets them used to it. Then randomly one day - WHAM! - surprise, you're dead.

Well worth the few bits of free bait they get while building a false sense of security...

 

[ScottyC]

He got what he deserved for poopin' on the motor!!

 

[Cancunbadlands]

That little
Clean job!

 

[Hunters Edge]

He probably isn't the only one, especially with you and the neighbor both experiencing issues. Still it's one down and hopefully the only one.

 

[xk42]

He probably isn't the only one, especially with you and the neighbor both experiencing issues. Still it's one down and hopefully the only one.

I agree. It got so bad that I have to clean the engine daily and several hours later it would be filled with poop, pee and crumbs. I'm going to be setting a few more traps and maybe when this is all over I'll get a detailer to clean the engine bay.

 

[Meeka]

Now... How do I clean up the mess? I vacuum most of the poop and food. Before I go buy meguire APC or degreaser. Just making sure it's the right way so I don't do any electronic damages. So spray it on the engine bay then brush and use a rag to clean off the urine? It peed on some screws so I want to make sure I don't have rusted bolts again which happened on my last vehicle.

Edited post to put a dead rat into spoiler. Feel free to click but don't go PETA on me.

Spoiler: nsfw

Rats my ass, that’s a lowly mouse! You Americans make such a BIG deal over the smallest things, and I’ll have to leave it at that or get suspended! Jeez , a Rat. We have grasshoppers in Canada bigger than that ‘Rat’.

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

pack rats are a nuisance. i've been waging a war against them on my homestead for years..

 

[Mudduck]

Capsaicin. Juice a jalepeno or 10 and dilute into a spray bottle. Mist your harness down with it, rats will stay away from chewing wires.
I believe it was Honda that introduced electrical tape lined with the spicy goodness in the adhesive to help prevent chewing on harnesses. could be wrong, but this does help a lot.

 

[xk42]

Capsaicin. Juice a jalepeno or 10 and dilute into a spray bottle. Mist your harness down with it, rats will stay away from chewing wires.
I believe it was Honda that introduced electrical tape lined with the spicy goodness in the adhesive to help prevent chewing on harnesses. could be wrong, but this does help a lot.

We are lucky enough that I believe they never chew any harness. There is an abundance of food around the area that they are just forage. Then again I don't want to take the risk so I guess I'll need to set the traps in the winter as that's when they usually come for the heat.

 

[t arnold]

One ate 2 of my harnesses going to the coil overs. Over $700 from the stealers to get fixed. Leave your hood up, they don’t like open spaces. Also put a large sticky trap with peanut butter. Believe me, if there is one there is more!

 

[xk42]

One ate 2 of my harnesses going to the coil overs. Over $700 from the stealers to get fixed. Leave your hood up, they don’t like open spaces. Also put a large sticky trap with peanut butter. Believe me, if there is one there is more!

Yikes... In SoCal here so probably going to get ripped off even more. What I'm worried is that they might have nested themselves somewhere. On my other car, luckily I found the nest in the cabin filter before they started using it. It was freshly made and clean using shredded cardboard.

 

[Pointyears]

Get a garage cat.

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