Rodent damage

[olderthanyourdirt]

Why do they use soy in the wire covering? Should use something that would kill the rodents if they chewed them, least the probably would go away eventually.

The manufacturers have been using soy for 20 years, Sustainable and not plastic. Put good old snap traps near.

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[BlueSpec1]

For roof rats I use bait stations, strapped to the ground with holes small enough to keep out possum's claws to keep them from cleaning out the bait blocks inside.

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Middle of the night just try to annoy cats, possums, people in the driveway.

 

[Bill K]

Let’s get to the cause. I have several vehicles garaged in the same location. Only My Maverick has been crippled ($720 replacement to my main wiring harness) The issue is soy covered wiring. Tasty to rodents. They’re because of ridiculous pressures to use non-petroleum based materials. Pure stupidity.

 

[Cherokee]

Did you know that, for over 10 years now, all manufacturers who sell antifreeze in the US are required to add a bittering agent (denatonium benzoate ) to their product to prevent animals from ingesting it?

I did not know that, thanks for the update.

 

[CarbonGrayFX4]

Why do they use soy in the wire covering? Should use something that would kill the rodents if they chewed them, least the probably would go away eventually.

Soy is more “environmentally friendly” than plastics. It may be some kind of recycled product, as well. Sort of like PET “felt” ( hairy plastic ). Thanks gooberment!

cats are great. Mine is a mouse murdering machine. A word of warning for those considering cats; if you have cloth seats do not ever allow them inside the car unsupervised. They will immediately turn your seats into their new favorite claw sharpener.

 

[Gatekeep]

Poisoned rodents die in the most inconvenient places. Like in the back corner of a toolshed where you don't find them until they are a stinking maggot infested mess.
Traps, traps and more traps. I have a dozen set outside in the mouse runs.
Buy in bulk: https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-409BULK-Plastic-Mouse-Liquid/dp/B00DLKKYRU/

Bad smell or Keep paying…

 

[Phimosis]

I have lived on the North Oregon Coast for 45 years and never experienced rodent damage like I have in my 23 Maverick this winter. Rodents ate two wiring harnesses. Now in the shop until March. I sprayed the engine with peppermint oil. Put Irish Spring soap bars in (rodents ate the soap too!). Now I understand soy is used in wiring cover and rodents are attracted to soy. Damage is exlstimated to be $5,000. Any suggestions on what to use to detract rodents? I’m at a loss. Love my Maverick but now am afraid! Anyone else experiencing this?

Let’s put the soy myth to bed.

Rodents are genetically programmed to gnaw at things because their teeth keep growing all of their life. They have to keep them filed down and sharpened. If they don’t do this, they starve to death.

Rodents have been gnawing at wiring insulation for over 100 years, long before we used soy.

When reports of this “soy attraction” started springing up, the wiring manufacturers funded research to find out if it was real. What they found is that there was no difference between gnawing at fossil fuel plastics vs soy based plastics. That is why wiring manufacturers have continued to use soy based plastics.

Wiring manufacturers do not use soy based plastics because they were forced to by environmentalists. There is no jurisdiction in the US that requires soy based insulator materials. The wiring manufacturers use it because their customers want eco-friendly solutions and it does not significantly raise costs.

Rodents would not be attracted to soy plastic as a food source because it does not contain any soy proteins, fats or sugars. What it does contain is oil that has been polymerized, or chemically attached, into a long chains of repeating groups of oil. This is the same process used to make plastic out of fossil fuel oil. Highly toxic crude oil becomes inert plastic that you can’t digest or abosorb. Same thing with soy bean oil; it becomes plastic that rodents can’t digest or absorb.

Welcome to my Ted Talk.

 

[Bob zimmerman]

Well Since we’re talking about critters:
I work in the electrical industry. I had a customer that had a bunch of fire alarm issues in a building.

After some troubleshooting, I found that rats were eating the colored wire nuts in the ceiling. Not the wire but the wire nuts. They liked the color yellow. And there were rat nests in the ceiling. It was an awful situation

I’m sorry that I hijacked this read. I’ll stop now.

 

[Edge Haley]

Well Since we’re talking about critters:
I work in the electrical industry. I had a customer that had a bunch of fire alarm issues in a building.

After some troubleshooting, I found that rats were eating the colored wire nuts in the ceiling. Not the wire but the wire nuts. They liked the color yellow. And there were rat nests in the ceiling. It was an awful situation

I’m sorry that I hijacked this read. I’ll stop now.

Right or wrong, not an expert but Google says:

"Mice are dichromatic, meaning they have two types of cones in their retinas that are sensitive to short and medium wavelengths of light. This means that mice can only see blue and green light, similar to someone who is red-green colorblind. "

Rats and wire is an interesting topic, since there is no positive consistent facts.

 

[m5040]

Well worth the money, I have caught 6 in one night.


W

 

[DesertHorses]

I live in a geographically similar area as you, and had a rodent issue until we got an outdoor cat. She's a good mouser, so no more rodent issues.

In AZ we’re plagued with packrats. I had serios expensive damge to my diesel truck and another vehicle. My dogs worked hard to help but when I got cats no more problems. And they always brought me proof that they had earned their dinner. (Working cats need to be well fed and taken care of.). Cats have been pur partners for millenia. We also set traps but never poison because it kills the predators we need.

 

[DesertHorses]

Rats and wire is an interesting topic, since there is no positive consistent facts.

They also love propane - in the grill or in the RV.

 

[First Sergeant]

The manufacturers have been using soy for 20 years, Sustainable and not plastic. Put good old snap traps near.

Never quite got the rationale for the soy wiring harness. Sustainable substance sure. But, the Ford Maverick (and all automobiles) have a TON of plastic this and plastic that. My brother in law is a retired Petroleum/chemical engineer, worked at the big oil refinery in Newark, 35 years. Told me if you took all the plastic off a car, would have frame, engine, transmission left. Petroleum is in everything, and lots of it. Forget the soy wire harness, not doing anyone any good. (except feeding the mice obviously) Kind of like when we were told many years back, paper sack usage would destroy all the forests and end the world, so they gave us plastic! Today: Use paper!!! plastic is killing us all. Don't fill up the landfills with plastic they say. Ok. But when I was a kid we recycled ALL glass bottles, milk, Coke, etc. Why not do that now? Many states have banned plastic bags or you pay for them. But putting your plastic milk jug and soda bottles as well as every conceivable type of plastic stuff from the bathroom and kitchen (ketchup, mustard) is ok for the old trash. Some places recycle this, but alas, we used to send it on big ships for China to put in their landfills, but they stopped taking it. Up next: Carbon fiber? Probably not good for landfill! (or in California it causes cancer, like everything there!)

 

[DesertHorses]

Never quite got the rationale for the soy wiring harness.

The packrats were going after wiring in our cars and RV’s long before soy was used. Soy is a subsidized crop always looking for a job. It’s in our food; soy is goitrogenic (causes thyroid problems) unless treated properly.

 

[First Sergeant]

The packrats were going after wiring in our cars and RV’s long before soy was used. Soy is a subsidized crop always looking for a job. It’s in our food; soy is goitrogenic (causes thyroid problems) unless treated properly.

Patti, you are correct! I have had a couple cars get chewed on back in earl 70's, as well as my 2008 Tundra (soy). I guess those critters went from bologna to steak (soy)? Hahaha.

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