preventing animals from getting under your hood

[rh71]

* update - caught, see post down below*

2nd time now my gas line has been chewed through. And the 3rd time the animal has struck. Damn the cold winter and smart animals. First time it got to the O2 sensor wire. Right now I'm leaking gas - as in a steady stream on the ground as I pull away. First time the animal used the noise-barrier foam from my hood to make insulation/bedding. Thankfully the dealer couldn't prove it was an animal and covered the fix. Anyway, it used branches to make bedding this time. It's not in there so I have not caught it.

How do I prevent this in the first place? Some kind of spray that will last? Something I can put on the ground? Unfortunately no garage. There is no food source in or around the car, so I don't think it's being attracted by food... just warmth.

I've seen those outdoor audio repellent devices for dogs activated by motion. I'm not sure this works for rodent-types... your thoughts?

 

[justfrank]

Rumor has it that moth balls or dryer sheets repel rodents but rodent damage in winter is a common problem.

 

[Bignate603]

Fox urine or other rodent repellant spread around your parking spot?

 

[thecoolnessrune]

I remember the day before my brother was going to take a 1000 mile trip he went to the truck to check things over like oil etc and the windshield washer fluid warning light was on in the message display. We open up the hood and all the hoses that had to do with the washer fluid tank were chewed through including the tubing that went to the windshield wipers. The tank had lost all of its fluid and it was the season of "love bugs".

Sucked to say the least I feel for you OP.

 

[herm0016]

i had a mouse make a nest on the intake and chew through the fuel injection harness.

i fixed the harness and cleaned out all the material. not sure if any of that stuff would really last very long as a repellent in a environment like that.

 

[Raizinman]

In the winter, many animals will head toward the warm engine and make their nests there to keep warm. I can't tell you how many cats we had to clean up when the owner would start his car in the morning and shred their outdoor cat. It gets even worse when it is a skunk. Unfortunately, a parked car is about the only shelter for many animals. Some things I have seen that people have claimed worked are:
1) Ultrasonic pest eliminators, but you need a 110v outlet nearby.
2) Plastic owl
3) Strong vineager sprayed around
4) Hot wire around car (the kind they use for horses)

 

[rh71]

Rumor has it that moth balls or dryer sheets repel rodents but rodent damage in winter is a common problem.

I was reading about the moth balls but also realize they're chemicals that I could get through my vents (like the gas right now). With 2 kids in the car all the time, I'd rather think safety first. Dryer sheets are interesting, though that would make perfect bedding for the rodent if it is unphased by it.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

I had two of my vehicles chewed up by rabbits. One of them I have problems with that I still can't full figure out. I shot one rabbit with my pellet gun and ate it, the other keeps getting away before I can get my sights on him.

I suggest that you go out and urinate around your vehicle. Its free, makes you feel like a man, and will work to keep the animals away from your car.

You could also try putting some cayenne pepper under your car, if its an animal that sniffs as it walks then it will want to avoid the spicy pepper.

 

[rh71]

^ it definitely happened last night as the day before the car was fine. Last night there were high winds so I'm not sure pepper would've worked. I'm thinking I need to address the weeds/shrubs that are 5ft diagonal / in front of the car. Gotta be rodents in there. Sticky traps here I come.

 

[Soccerman06]

So you want sticky traps stuck to your car?

 

[rh71]

So you want sticky traps stuck to your car?

well I'm not planning on parking there for a while, but ... doh

Mice traps have a smell of cheese and the last thing I want is to attract more.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

You could just get a dog and let it hang around your car some. That will keep the pests away better than you might think.

 

[justfrank]

As for moth balls, I wouldn't put them anywhere in the car but maybe try under, around it. I have a car that's stored every winter in my garage and last year mice made a nest in the blower motor. Fortunately I was able to remove it with needle nose pliers as otherwise on that car, the dash, heater box assy would need to be removed, no fun. So this year I've got dryer sheets and mouse traps both under and inside the car, no mice so far.
I heard about dryer sheets from a guy who lived in a rural area and claimed that they work.

As for electronic rodent repelling devices, I bought two earlier this year, had one in my basement 3' away from a mouse trap and after a couple weeks, the trap got one so obviously the electronic device was useless, at least that one was.

 

[amdhunter]

I stopped them this year by washing the areas I saw with droppings with windshield wiper fluid and Windex. They haven't returned yet, but one of these days I need to get under the car to clean up the rest of the smell.

Waiting for warm days, and a good time for my brother to help me out.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

...Sticky traps here I come.

Don't forget your Scottish accent...

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

Try this stuff, it's been proven effective by an MSU study, lasts a long time, and is cheap.

http://www.wrdist.com/gs_product.aspx

Used to work at the shop that makes it, and it worked well in my mom's garden.

 

[Soccerman06]

OP if you want to kill them, just put a disher with antifreeze out and theyll die off slowly. Be done with it easily, just ya know, leave it outside so they dont die in your garage.

 

[Eli]

OP if you want to kill them, just put a disher with antifreeze out and theyll die off slowly. Be done with it easily, just ya know, leave it outside so they dont die in your garage.

Um.. no. Don't do this.

Unless you want to kill all the cats in your neighborhood. Possibly dogs too.

 

[Soccerman06]

Um.. no. Don't do this.

Unless you want to kill all the cats in your neighborhood. Possibly dogs too.

How I got rid of my feral cat problem

 

[IronWing]

Packrat deterent:

I don't know if it works. My office parking lot has packrat issues. My cars have never been touched. My new company work truck got nibbled the first week we had it.

 

[IronWing]

Sticky traps here I come.

Use snap traps instead. Sticky traps are a particularly cruel method of killing things.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

How I got rid of my feral cat problem

Seriously?

 

[rh71]

OP if you want to kill them, just put a disher with antifreeze out and theyll die off slowly. Be done with it easily, just ya know, leave it outside so they dont die in your garage.

way too many neighbors with pets... the dog that keeps crapping in my front yard... and neighbor has cats and a dog... I don't want to be remotely responsible for anything bad that happens to house pets.

I bought this today and set it with peanut butter earlier - we'll see if it catches anything overnight. Still think it's living in the flower bed. Is it warmed in there? Dunno.

 

[Soccerman06]

Seriously?

Yes

 

[heymrdj]

I remember the day before my brother was going to take a 1000 mile trip he went to the truck to check things over like oil etc and the windshield washer fluid warning light was on in the message display. We open up the hood and all the hoses that had to do with the washer fluid tank were chewed through including the tubing that went to the windshield wipers. The tank had lost all of its fluid and it was the season of "love bugs".

Sucked to say the least I feel for you OP.

I was just coming to post this, thanks bro . And you know it's still a problem? The stealership put in a generic connector piece that didn't fit the hose properly. That hose has now split and leaks my fluid out slowly over a few days. Come warm weather I have to take out the battery, tank and all the tubing and work on it :/.