Did I tell you how much I them meeses ...

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Ugg … the industry needs to invent a bad tasting wire insulation...
Why do they chew the most important wires ….
So I plan on putting Bounce … and Irish spring soap all over my engines ..that I do not use weekly..
Come one and all vent ..or tell me some other preventive measure you use.. ;sick
 
Time to put a pot of coffee on, LOL.....

So my GF used to work for a personal injury attorney, and parked under a large oak tree. Those wonderful creatures began living under the hood of her '02 Focus. She unknowingly gave them a ride to our home. They didn't seem to mind the battery acid that was soaked into the battery insulation blanket. They liked the insulation on the firewall as well, but most of all they liked building retirement homes inside the air intake for the engine and heater box.

One day she told me her defroster was blowing out "sawdust" and making funny noises. I removed the windshield wipers, windshield cowling, cabin air filter cover, demolished a medium sized community and critter condominium, unclogged the condensate drain, washed the area with straight bleach, 409, stinky a55 air freshener crap, and boiling water. I replaced the blower motor because it had several cracked vanes on the squirrel cage fan and put everything back together. Plastic squirrel cage fans do not function well as acorn choppers.

A few months later I had to repeat this whole process again, so I installed aluminum mesh "gutter guard" material on every entry point to the windshield cowling / heater box intake areas as well as the engine air intake to the air filter housing. I had gutter guard screwed down and stuffed around the hood hinges.

Mouse urine must be alien technology. I'm pretty sure it could figure out a way to soak into titanium or even diamond, because that car REAKED until the day we traded it in. I'm certain the car crusher that put it out of it's misery probably still stinks to this day.

Those crafty and persistent critters returned AGAIN, this time living INSIDE of her hood, complete with acorns rolling around inside the inner & outer panels of the hood. I'd go to check her oil or refill the washer fluid. They would poke their noses out of the little holes, like little prairie dogs popping their heads out of their burrows, as the acorns rolled around inside of the inner and outer hood panels. Poison baits and traps zip tied to strategic areas of the engine compartment like Claymore mines provided modest assistance, but were not 100% effective. I contemplated a 5 gal can of gas and a match numerous times.

I installed aluminum mesh "gutter guard" material on the engine air intake of the Blazer & Jeep after removing minor evidence of "urban sprawl." I eventually had to add traps and poison baits under hoods as well as stocking up on peanut butter and traps for the garage and making daily security sweeps of the "man cave" to remove the bodies of the fallen enemy.

Our bedroom is above the garage. Occasionally on a quiet night, just after going to bed we would hear a "SNAP" and the dogs would go crazy. My adrenaline would surge. "HA, bet-cha we got another" and I would leap out of bed to go investigate. Another confirmed kill. Sometimes they were still twitching and kicking. I would watch them take their final breath and go limp.....and rejoice in my achievement.

Maybe a cat would have been more effective, but we are dog people.

I spent an entire summer constantly troubleshooting "that fawking Focus", replacing chewed up spark plug wires, chewed up vacuum hoses, resetting DTC codes, trying to pass emissions tests, and the like.

They built a nest inside the blower housing of my splitter, ate the ignition wiring on my splitter, nested in my lawn tractor and ate the wiring on my boat trailer. Time to go nuclear on these bastards.

She began talking about a suitable replacement for Das Focus. I was thoroughly ready to put it to death. After only a few casual "drive through" shopping trips at local dealerships we decided to go car shopping one Saturday morning. Her GF from work was talking about Mazda 3's so she wanted to drive one. It was a tinny, noisy and super uncomfortable POS, so we walked to the other side of the lot.

We found a beautiful completely loaded '15 Golf TSI SEL sitting inside the glass showroom. We took it on the same test drive that we had just done in that tinny piece of crap Mazda. 10,000 % improvement in product fit, finish, performance and product quality. We went to lunch to digest the decision.....is it the right time to put "that fawking Focus" out of it's (and OUR) misery?

"Do the paperwork, we're going home to get the Focus and we'll be right back."

One year later.....

She takes Das Golf to have the oil changed. It uses full synthetic and the car purchase came with 3 free oil changes . The dealer tells her there is MASSIVE wiring damage under the hood, and she needs a completely new wiring harness to the tune of 6000 dollars in order to maintain her 3/36,00 0 warranty and to not void her 6/60,000 extended warranty that we purchased.

Washer pump wiring.jpg


"Bullsh1t."

We no longer do business with this dealership. Our local family mechanic replaced the damaged wiring for pennies on the dollar. This was not mission critical wiring, only power and ground wiring for the heated windshield washer nozzles, which runs through the space between the inner and outer hood panels. He recommends using "Mouse magic" made by Bonide. It's 96% corn cobs, with 2% peppermint oil and 2% Spearmint oil. Supposedly the critters will avoid it like the plague itself. We bought a few packets of the stuff from our local feed & hardware store but have not had to use it yet, because we have not had anymore evidence of critter infestations.


Das golf has been a most excellent vehicle, runs like a ***** ape, has a kick butt sound system and since it is approaching 60K with no issues whatsoever, we will soon get our 60 K extended warranty cost refunded to us since there were no warranty claims charged against it.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: brenndatomu
I rented a shack on a lake shortly after college and close to work. There was a gap between the main and 2nd floor. Somehow some critters would get in there and make noise all night. Had to wear ear plugs for MONTHS. Eventually took a 4" holesaw to the drywall ceiling and set some mouse traps with superglued peanuts smothered in peanut butter. Took a few days. It was a single flying squirrel. Glad I found love, got married, and moved out of that shack.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sean McGillicuddy
I rented a shack on a lake shortly after college and close to work. There was a gap between the main and 2nd floor. Somehow some critters would get in there and make noise all night. Had to wear ear plugs for MONTHS. Eventually took a 4" holesaw to the drywall ceiling and set some mouse traps with superglued peanuts smothered in peanut butter. Took a few days. It was a single flying squirrel. Glad I found love, got married, and moved out of that shack.
I think that is the first I heard of some one marring a flying squirrel ...
 
My older brother worked at a local drug store for a bit during high school. The pharmacy was located on top of an elevated floor that was about a foot higher than the rest of the store. Critter heaven under there.

The head pharmacist used to stuff Brillo pads into the gaps at the edges of the elevated platform. Mice would try to chew through the Brillo pads and then die due to bleeding out through their gums.
 
We used to have a problem with packrats chewing wires in winter on unused vehicles. Some old timer told me about using mint as a repellent. So every fall I cut a bunch of mint stems and stuff them into a convenient place in the engine compartment. Haven’t had a problem since.
 
Dryer sheets run the buggers off
also smell not to bad. My summer Sunday go to meeting car gets
a few when put up for the winter
Have not had mouse trouble in 5 years now
or maybe its that 25 lb barn cat
 
My wife's Audi was giving her xmsn issues. Took it to the dealer and was told she was riding the clutch. Took it to a local guy that disassembled it and found a crushed mouse. Auto insurance covered the total bill under comprehensive, $50 deductible
 
  • Like
Reactions: VirginiaIron
I used to have those dudes running all over the beams in the barn . I could almost hear them laughing at me. Their only job in life is to chew ,stink and make more mice. Them someone threw a kitten out of a car near our house. I am not a cat person but we had to at least feed it. The puss never left but was made comfortable in the barn. She became the mouse assassination machine. A born killer she is for certain. When she was younger she used to jump 3 feet straight up in the air and nail butterflys, mice had no chance. One time she killed a giant wood rat, and then there was the time she worked out on the snake. She is old now but the barn is still damage free of mice antics. Cat food is cheap insurance not only that I have gotten to like her.
 
As far as those costs for the meeses damage, your comprehensive insurance should cover the costs according to your deductable.
 
Unlike rat bait, I was told sometime that dehydrated potatoes are lethal to mice but safe to any predator that may eat the varmin afterward. The potatoes swell in their bellies and their bodies cannot process it and they die.

.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brenndatomu
Ugg … the industry needs to invent a bad tasting wire insulation...
Why do they chew the most important wires ….
So I plan on putting Bounce … and Irish spring soap all over my engines ..that I do not use weekly..
Come one and all vent ..or tell me some other preventive measure you use.. ;sick

8 cats in the home.
 
Feral cats. I feed 10 or so cats cheap Walmart cat food every day. Started out with one hungry cat a few years ago. I find small parts of mice, moles, rats , and even squirrels occasionally. My neighbors have been feeding them for years. When I remodeled my 50 year old kitchen I tore all the sheetrock down and never found a single rodent turd in the walls.
 
How are they @ keeping them out of your small engines ???
 
They are eating them. Works well lol
 
Unlike rat bait, I was told sometime that dehydrated potatoes are lethal to mice but safe to any predator that may eat the varmin afterward. The potatoes swell in their bellies and their bodies cannot process it and they die.

.
Rootbeer does the same...they can't process the carbonation. Never tried it, but supposed to be an old farmers trick
 
  • Like
Reactions: VirginiaIron
My Toyota was quite the critter motel at the lake place I moved from last year. I had many nests in the cabin filter box and under the dash and I made the mistake of feeding the deer and chipmunks corn so there was corn stashed all of the car at all times until I started to use the dryer sheets in the car. When I moved I said no more of that and now I have a garage so it has helped keep the varmints out of the car. I had heard that a car maker once used wire insulation made from a soy product and the mice just loved the stuff.