Red Squirrel in HVAC system.

I have twice removed a nest from atop of my fan squirrel cage & filter. I believe it to be the work of a red squirrel (irony?) I would love to stop this behavior and am considering violence. But I would prefer to prevent it by stopping their access. Does anyone have any factual input on how he is getting in their?

Rock.

 

in there, rather.

 

After some digging - and the ehard part was finding the right words to search for - I found an answer to my problem from someone with a water leak. IN hind site, I likely critter problem over his water problem

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...er-leak-expected-wtf-recall-oh-sorry-tsb.html

 

Well, believe it or not you can keep the squirrels out by using Moth Balls. Get a Zip Lock put a few moth balls in it poke some holes in the bag and place it in a safe area where you think they are getting into your truck. Yes, You too will have to smell moth balls but it does work keeping them out...(Or at least Chipmunks in my experience).

 

Oh, in the truck? Thought this was a problem in the house. Simple, drive the truck more often.

 

Drive the truck more. Interesting thought, but the next appeared on a saturday. He did it in one day. I have some 1/4x1/4" metal screen that is going in over the whole. I also plan on making a little tent over it to keep from possible water flow as I saw on posts.

Interesting that people that I was talking about the house.

 

I had the same problem on a vehicle years ago. It was field mice. They left droppings up to 4 inches thick in certain areas.
The black plastic shroud covering the area below the windshield has to have a hole in it or it is not secured properly. The hole only needs to be as big as the squirrels head. I would seal up any holes in the shroud and remove the shroud and cover the HVAC opening (located below the shroud/cover on the passenger side with a (no larger than 1/4 inch cross hatch pattern) fine mesh chicken wire (not screen material they can chew through it) and reinstall the shroud/cover securely.
If the squirrel or possibly field mice continue to nest in that area they will also go to the bathroom there also. This can be a potentially serious situation. When the animal feces dries it may atomize and enter your vehicle via the HVAC fan and circulate throughout the cabin and you may breath it in.
Now you are thinking but I have a cabin air filter and that will trap the rodent feces. Maybe not because the rodent feces may contain the Hanta virus.

http://www.hantavirus.net/

Do a little research yourself on the net about the Hanta virus. People have died from inhaling dried rat droppings dust. The virus may be of a smaller micron size than the filter can capture. If you find rodent droppings you will have to remove all of them and clean and disinfect the area thoroughly.
Driving the truck more often will not stop or prevent this, neither will applications of rat poison. Your vehicle is most likely parked out side some or all of the time. You have to remove the nest. clean and disinfect the area and seal the HVAC opening and seal and/or repair the shroud/cover.

 

a believe a squirel catapult (see figure 1a) is your best course of action.

simply set the bait and pull the pin once the squirel steps into the container, and relocation complete.

 

delicious peanuts... LOL

 

this. or coyote urine. spray some around and the squirrels will be long gone.

 

Where the fuck would ya score some coyote pee at, lol...other than from the coyote's junk. This sounds like a pharmaceutical company resolution...cause an equal or worse problem with the cure of the primary problem.....or an obama resolution

 

your local sporting goods store, cabelas, bass proshop are all easy ways to score some pee. if your up for a challenge though, you can sneak up on a sleeping coyote and stick his paw in a bowl of warm water, the rest is self explanatory

 

Place some 1/4" or bigger mesh in front of the intake for a while. Soon the squirrel will move on. mesh this bog would not restrict airflow but would keep out the critters