Anyone else here have problem with mice in their trucks?

These little bastards have been messing with stuff in my engine compartment. A while back I found I had two holes chewed in the insulation blanket on the firewall,and a nest under one of the three-piece engine covers. I haven't had the engine covers on since.

This weekend I had the hood open and found about 10 chewed A-corns under both of my fuel-rails and behind the water pump, along with more insulation missing from the firewall. I tore into my airbox, computer cover, and fusebox looking for what they were doing with it, but didn't find anything.

I don't get it. My truck never sits for more than 24 hours. NEVER.

I live in the sticks. State forest across the street from me, woods all around the house. Wild animals everywhere. We've got three active cats who bring home kills on a daily basis. Even my fat dog has been known to root out a couple of chipmunks a year. They put a good dent on the rodent population, but it's apparently not enough.

We keep no food outsides, and none of our neighbors have any horses or petting zoo's or anything.

How can I keep these things out of my truck?

 

Must be the mouse motor in your truck. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Oy vey...

 

put your truck up on some greased jack stands.

 

Side story - Once in college, I took a buddy home for the weekend. We met up with his parents so they could send some stuff back with him. When we popped the trunk of their car, his dad had 6 mouse traps velcroed around the edges of the trunk. Said they had a mouse problem...

Maybe you need to stick mousetraps around your engine compartment.

 

You had better put some rat/mice bait around your truck before they start on your wiring. Rats and mice love to chew electrical insulation. My father had to trade his Caddy in last year because of that. It was only a couple of years old. Mice chewed a lot of wiring under the hood and he started having all sorts of problems that the Caddy dealer couldn't repair.

 

The only thing I could think of doing to help stop these things would be to bait/trap the engine bay.

I'd have to put one on the gearshift lever (and set it) to "remind" myself not to drive off without checking them.

I'm not sure if poison would be good because of the cats.

I hear there are certain natural scents that mice hate. I don't want my truck smelling like some potpourri factory, but I'd consider duct-taping something under there.

 

Just put poison or those glue pads around the perimeter of your truck.

 

I have 5 outside "stray" cats. They keep the mouse, mole, rodent population down to a bare minimum. No problems with my 2 Buicks sitting outside...and I live in the sticks as well.

 

There are a couple of brands of bait that I have used successfully. I think D-Con makes one of them. They come in a box of 10-12 cakes that you break apart and set out. I got them from Home Depot. The mice/rats chew them and it causes some kind of fatal digestive system problem. They are small enough that you could place them in areas under your hood where your cats wouldn't find them. I don't think cats would be attracted to then anyway. But whatever you do, you had better take quick action before one of them decides the wiring to your PCM would make good hors-douvres.