Mice in my truck!! What the ...

The mouse read “TACO” on the tailgate and invited himself for dinner.

 

PS I looked into the hantavirus scenario. Lucky for me, it’s not a thing in south Florida. It’s mostly in areas where deer reside. We only have sharks and jellyfish. And BIGFOOT!!

 

The little rodents will find their way in. I find that they like the plastic in my tractors' air filter housing & ducts. I now keep a snap-trap in one of them after I found that they were chewing away on the edges of the air ducts. They're also prone to building nests in discreet places near a warm engine.

 

It is on the 2nd gen. I'm confident it's the same on the 3rd gen. I used some galvanized screen and some stainless steel nuts/bolts to prevent rusting.

Be sure to mold it very tightly around the opening. I also ran it up the firewall a bit and made it as tight against it as I could. A determined mouse can squeeze through very small openings.

The repellent I use more to protect the wiring in the engine compartment. Once a month or so I mist the wire harnesses and spray it down in the coners of the compartment. I get it at Lowes

 

Every conversation is monitored. Already getting sales pitches for mouse spray. Now for the next three weeks I’ll be receiving mouse trap ads and anti rodent marketing.

 

I lived in an apartment complex years ago in the Kansas City area & one got into my '94 Altima. Unfortunately it was dead when I smelled its presence. It never got into the vehicle cabin as far as I could tell nor could I ever locate it & I was fresh out of college & didn't have $ to pay anyone to help me - broke as a joke in those days.

I didn't know what I was doing & lived with the smell until it was gone. Took several months.

 

It’s more common these days due to the use of things like soy in the manufacture of auto parts like plastics used in wire insulation and in the Jeep’s case the cover over the battery

 

Imagine explaining that one to your insurance man! Thanks for the good laugh

 

Open your hood and look under the plastic engine cover. There is absorbent foam material in there. Every 2-3 months douse it pretty good with peppermint or eucalyptus oil. Or buy a premade botanical rodent spray and use that to soak the foam.

 

Eucalyptus and peppermint? I’ll wake up tomorrow morning to find my trucks been taken over by a koala bear and two Santa elves. Joking bro and thank you got the input. Some others have said peppermint keeps mice away. Or at least gives them spring fresh breath.

 

That's one of the things I do as well.

 

One misconception people have is that the rodents are "eating" the things they're chewing on. Not the case....mice, like all rodents, have to gnaw to keep their incisors from over growing. Just so happens that plastics, wire insulation, cardboard, etc are perfect materials to do that on....not too hard, not too soft.

They establish quickly too....finding bedding material from the 4 corners of the earth and bringing it to their nesting area. Food will be brought in as well. Along they'll chew, chew, chew.

Don't leave food in your car. Spray some kind of repellent in the engine compartment. Block off the HVAC intake. The cowl cover prevents most intrusion. But it's not always enough. If your vehicle is kept in a garage, place snap traps at the corners of the door and some around the perimeter of the room. Mice usually follow the perimeter of an area and don't like to scurry across open space.

Also...don't use cheese on a snap trap. It will harden quickly and be easy to pull off the trap. Instead, use peanut butter, but not too much. Push a small amount down in the food holder. You want them to work at it, as they'll be more likely to activate the trap.

 

get a watch cat

 

I had a mouse (or mice) getting into a project car I keep under a cover in my backyard, which was annoying but I also park my Taco back there sometimes which scared me. I called a local Pest Control control company. $40/month, three bait traps and no more mouse problem.

 

I pulled my air intake cover off today and there it was! Those little hellyuns chewed right through the plastic vent mesh. Metal mesh incoming....

 

They’ll need metal cutting teeth to get in now.

 

Update: Tonight I loaded peanut butter onto four mouse traps and placed them in the floor boards on all four corners. I walked passed my truck maybe two hours later walking my dog. On the way back in I thought; hmmm wonder if the traps are sprung? I opened my truck and all four traps were set off..... And one of them wasn’t empty. No, it wasn’t a cute little mouse. It was a nasty frickin RAT!! Omg disgusting! A youth sized rat w a 4-5” body. I’m just hoping he was solo. I reset all the traps again in case there’s a buddy.

 

how bout a pic of that vermin