Keep mice out of engine bay

Was cleaning my car this evening and found some little mouse footprints on my engine cover...

I live up in the mountains so not surprising, but how do I keep them out? Is there a good way? Any advice appreciated!

 

Peppermint oil on cotton balls works good.

 

Cats

 

bobcat urine.
Or lights under truck at night.

 

Trip wires with C4 explosive. Actually there are several things that work somewhat but are far from 100%. I’ve tried peppermint spray and electronic deterrents . So far the electronic is working but it’s only been a couple months. I check under my hood every other day for any sign of rodents. So far so good but we’ll see.

 

X2 for peppermint oil on cotton balls. Worked in our garage

 

I did pest control for 26 years. The best thing to keep mice and rats from nesting in your truck is in the picture I uploaded. You can get stuff that is equivalent to this too. Now the secret is to put them around the engine compartment and cab of the truck. You need to keep them fresh. Now the peppermint oil works too. You have to keep that fresh also.

 

I had two vehicles immobilized by f'ing squirrels chewing on the wiring when I lived in Saint Louis (my 1988 Cherokee XJ and my 2008 Lexus RX). I was finding muddy squirrel-prints on the engine cover of my 2015 Tacoma multiple times a week. Grr...

I put an ultrasonic/LED emitter under the hood when it was parked for any period of time. In over a year, I had one set of prints show up. One of my wifi security cameras positioned under the truck showed a f'ing squirrel run under the Tacoma, look up the front wheel/suspension, and decide to move on.

If you'd have asked, I'd have said these things are a gimmick and can't possibly work. But now I'm not so sure. I continue to use them here in packrat country New Mexico even though my trucks are garaged.

This one from Amazon is intended for indoor use only, but I typically place it on the power steering reservoir of my 4.0L engine. I figure underhood is close enough to indoor, and two of these have worked for years now.

 

One more for peppermint oil

 

It’s been a few months now and my sonic/led devices are still keeping the rodents out. I doubted they would work but so far no evidence of critters under the hood. I tried the peppermint oil but that’s a mess and a pita as you have to keep applying it .

 

I stopped having problems when a stray cat adopted us.

 

Peppermint oil works great. You can try Irish Spring Soap chips and/or grinded red pepper to deter rodents.

 

Sonofabitch! My Gen 1 spent two nights outside my garage here in northern New Mexico as some construction was going on inside and that was enough time for g-d packrats to get into the blower housing and start building a nest! The truck was moved during the day to a different spot, but the rodents still launched an attack.

I had a sonic/LED repeller on the Gen 2 and it seems fine so far, and I have the Gen 1 inside for the weekend to make sure the small amount of nesting material is all gone.

And I gotta dig out the second ultrasonic repeller from where it’s packed away.

 

I tried this, Either Squirrels or Mice were eating mine, I don't think it works Very Well.

 

Here’s the current equivalent (more or less) of my 5+ year old ultrasonic/LED repeller. Looking at the reviews dor this device it seems I’m not the only one who thinks these help, and are surprised by that.

$46 Mouse Repellent Ultrasonic Plug in, Mice Repellent Indoor Ultrasonic Pest Repeller 2025 Upgraded, 360° Ultrasonic Rodent Repellent with PIR Sensor & LED Strobe Light for Indoor

https://www.amazon.com/Repellent-Ultrasonic-Indoor-Repeller-Upgraded/dp/B0DJH2823T/

 

Where did you place it and what was the exact stuff you used.

 

I had a couple pouches under the Hood and a couple pouches inside the cab. The pouches under the hood I used Wire Ties to hold them in place. Those were the pouches that they Ate through.

 

Those pouches are supposed to repell. Those dumbass mice ate them. Mommy and daddy must have been their brother and sister.

 

In my Tacoma and my F-150. So it wasn't just a one time thing. I am having better luck with Tom Cat Spray.

 

We use that stuff on our work trucks and often find the packages torn up by the mice and field rats.