Rodent problem

I just happened to be reading the forum ( was comparing tire sizes) and I saw someone was having an issue with rodents in which they caused a lot of damage to their vehicle and I just wanted to help. I had the exact same issue with rodents 2 yrs ago. I was at a buddy of mine when it all started. Try and give the short version. A friend of mine and I work on small engines on the side and he lived in the country and across the street there was a young woman who had an issue with hoarding and had rodents everywhere and I would Park on the street by my friends place which was directly across from her house and would go into my friends shop and we would tinker for hours on small engines which we had come across from wherever and we would fix(or try to) and whenever we called it a night I would get in my truck and go to my place. I was renting a room with a friend of mines brother and let's just say he did a lot of things that the laws say we shouldn't do so I set up a camp sort of say in the yard by the dogs ( which I took care of daily) well while in my vehicle one night after I left my friends shop I heard little scurrying sounds in or near my truck. I got out of the truck and looked around and I didn't see or hear anything but I knew I had heard little scurrying sounds so I couldn't figure out what I had heard. This went on for several days and I finally said something to My friend about it and he said I was just hearing things because I was outside and it was probably the dogs. Well I told him that the dogs weren't in the back of my truck nor underneath it and it sounded like they were running along the frame of the truck. After several weeks I started having issues with my vehicle. Wouldn't run right was stuttering and when I just happened to hit a bump a certain way it would run fine that was until I hit another bump a certain way then went back into crazy mode. Well I told a few other people and they thought I was imagining it and it was just me hearing things because I was pretty much sleeping in the truck because of the situation in the house. Well I got up to go to work one morning and my truck wouldn't start? Couldn't figure it out other than I thought I needed an alternator because battery was new. So I purchased one and when I put it on and I charged the battery I had nothing?? So I would just go to work and charge the battery and go home and wouldn't go anywhere else so as to not wear down the battery. I couldn't go to my friends shop and work on the small engines and I finally said it's time to check out the alternator issues because it was brand new and vehicle was fine until around when I started hearing the little scurrying sounds so I was following wires from the alternator and the starter and battery and I noticed that they were severed and it looked like something had chewed on them. Well I fixed it and started going back to my friends shop and doing what we enjoyed doing, working on the small engines and I was leaving one night and when I got in the truck I heard that scurrying noise underneath it and I jumped out and shined a flashlight underneath it and I saw some glowing eyes looking back at me and I hit the frame and 2 small rats jumped from my engine compartment and ran across the street into a pile of the hoarders stuff. I went and told my friend and he was like well am I sure blah,blah and I told him yes and said I would show him where they ran to. So we went to the truck and I walked towards the house that the hoarder lady lived and he was like don't go near her house and I said forget that I'm not going crazy and I am not hearing things that I was going to prove it once and for all!!! So he followed but wasn't to happy or willing but I went to the pile of wet rotted, smelly looking stuff and I started kicking it around the edges and all of a sudden a rat the size of a small cat flies out of the pile and scared the you know what out of us!! My friend was like damn maybe your not hearing things but what could I do.. Well thought about it a couple of days and then I got up to go to work and my vehicle wouldn't start again. So for two days I kept hearing things under my truck and in the back of the truck. I had crew cab. I looked and couldn't ever find anything but I did always see chewed up fabric (the foam from the seats) and finally found some rat turds and I told everyone and I wasn't crazy and I went under my truck and looked around and couldn't find anything other than crap so I went under the hood where I heard noises and chewing and I took off the air cleaner and while I was taking it off I heard scurrying sounds and I didn't see anything but I took it off and I find a rats nest under the filter and I couldn't believe it was to this extent but I cleaned it and looked at the wires and tried to figure out how they got into air box under the filter?? Well turns out that there is an intake hose of sorts and the rats were going in through that and I finally realized that the little scurrying sounds I heard were them running around the frame and then going into the intake hose and into the air box under the filter. I told everyone I had tried to get to believe I was hearing things under and in the truck and showed and told them what I had found and they were like damn maybe you have a rat problem. I tried everything but nothing worked finally One day I got up to go to work and you already know that the truck wouldn't start. The rats are through the wiring harness and I didn't want to replace until I figured out what to do to get rid of them. I tried traps poison and you name it I tried everything. So one day I was doing something and was at a store and I was discussing the issues I was having and some old dude said moth balls?? I was like what!! He said that that's what I needed. I told him I tried poison,food and traps and nothing so they wouldn't go for the moth balls but he said even if they don't eat it ( which they will) that they couldn't stand the smell. Now this I believed because I myself can't stand the smell of mothballs!! They reminded me of my grandmother's house and I hated the smell!! So being as desperate as I was for conclusion to my dilemma I bought all the mothballs that were on the shelf and I went to the truck and put them everywhere I could. I went under the hood and put the few I could anywhere that they would not fall off. I went to sleep that night and I thought I had heard something and woke up and there it was that little scurrying noise and little feet running around and I thought here we go again and I said to myself I told that old dude that the mothballs wouldn't work and I stayed up listening to the party that the rats were having underneath my truck. The following day I finally got the wiring harness good enough to start my truck and go to work and back ( I only lived 3-4 miles from the shop) when I got home I had to get something out of the back of the truck and I saw foam everywhere!! I freaked out and said I'm sick of these rats and I'm going to show them and I said to myself ok you little nasty S.O.B'S. I will rip the back seat out and then they won't have anything to chew or hide under and I was frantically removing the top part of the seats and I looked at all the mothballs and was like insanely talking to myself and was like yeah they really worked and laughed and started picking up mothballs and throwing them outside of the truck and then I see another huge nest under the portion of the seats that your butt actually sits on and I'm going crazy and I started to get something to pick it up with and put it in and I see a tail and I jumped out and went to get something to bash these little scurrying rats that have made me insane and done so much financial damage to my truck and I just want to smash them to little pieces!!! I ended up with a hammer and I had a crazy smile on my face with the hammer in my hand and the thought of smashing as many of the rats as I could so I get back into the truck and I'm ready to play wack a rat and I have the hammer cocked and ready to swing and I get back to taking apart the nest and I see the tail again and I'm already swinging and half way through the swing I stopped dead and said to myself I said hey that tail hasn't moved?? So I think about it and look at it and see that the tail hasn't moved so I acess the situation and I put on my gloves and I grabbed the tail and pull out a rat!!! Hammer still cocked just in case his big brother tries to help him out but nothing. So I continue pulling up the nest and I found 7 dead rats !! Now I'm kinda perplexed because I'm like what finally got them and how many are there??!!! Well when I was finished I had a total of 11 dead rats and I was looking at them and I noticed something white around a few of their mouths and I saw like little chewed up pieces and guess what it was?? Damn mothballs!!!!
Sorry I got into story mode and I drug that out but it was a very crazy time those long weeks that turned into almost 2 months but don't listen to anything else you hear or try anything else other than the mothballs!!! Just buy a few bags or boxes and they are cheap and put them everywhere you heard or where you think they are and this includes everywhere you think they are or have come from or they might go to because like I said I tried everything and it was all to no avail but after almost 2 months it took 2 days and I haven't heard any little scurrying sounds or seen a rat in over 2 yrs and I still park across the street from the house of the young hoarder but the smell keeps them away I assume because they are not in my truck anymore. I thank all who read this for their patience and I wrote this because when I read in the forum that a person had rodents eat his wiring harness just as they had mine I had to tell him the story and it is 100% true and I left a lot of it out but I temporarily went insane because I couldn't get rid of them and nobody believed it until the end of the problem . I can say with 100%personal knowledge that mothballs will keep the rats away and if they are already there that in a matter of days (2) they will be gone!!
I hope this helps that person and anyone else who has had this problem or to help keep them from having this problem because it really worked. Take care, Frank

 

Welcome to the forum.

A shame you don`t believe in paragraphs.

I bet it was a nice post just no way My old brain could read it.

 

I made my phone read it to me lol.

 

All right I don`t have cell service where I live.

 

I think I over exerted the brain cells dedicated to reading. All for a few mothballs.

 

And this is the short version?!

 

I guess I’ll try mothballs

 

That does work if it does not also drive you out of the cab as well.

In an enclosed cab it can be intense.

 

I apologize for the book I wrote but I just wanted to help that person who has the exact same situation as I had and I got carried away. I will say this in my defense. I don't go out or hang or interact with people anymore because the ones I did have all screwed me one way or another and everyone is so nice while you're giving or helping them but when you need a hand they are not to be found and because of this I don't do anything other than go to work and then I go where I stay and don't talk to anyone anymore and after I work until dark (when I am able) I go up and down the street where I stay and I blow and clean parking lots for Free.. I got into some bad situations dealing with and hanging around these people and I know everyone isn't like that and I also know in the end I'm responsible for my decisions and when I hang around these people they are always the wrong decisions so to keep out of trouble and away from people I have secluded myself and become antisocial because I don't want to deal with liars and snakes and this working for free costs me money but I don't have to deal with a bunch of two faced vampires and I don't get into any trouble and I feel like I'm helping the community by cleaning up and even though it's killing my body,I do it every night and I know you are going this guy is crazy and you are right and wrong but I have lost my faith in people because all my life this has happened to me and I'm 53 now and I unfortunately would rather be lonely and hurting from over working myself but I don't have to deal with any bull crap or people who are only there when it benefits them and I apologize for always going on and on but I guess to me it's like I'm interacting with people and I ramble because I don't have any friends or contact with anyone anymore other than work. So to everyone. I'm Sorry and I won't bore you with anything else. I will just read to myself and won't comment anymore. Be safe and take care.

 

That story was a gas! Sounds like you must have lots more. Don't leave us hangn. No judgements here.

I lost the "new smell" in my 2013 Taco after about 3 months. Mice had gotten in the hvac box and pissed, shit and died. If you look where the wiper stubs come out there's big holes with no screening to keep pests out. So I screwed 1/4 inch galvanized screen over all the spots, and stainless steel wool around any openings. Problem solved. Just be careful drilling for the screws...there's a big wiring harness hidden behind there. Ask me how I found out.

 

I just found mouse poop on the top of my engine. The ate through the number two hose on my IAC valve.

 

So I bought a rodent deterrent spray off Amazon and so far, it’s been good. No mouse prints under the hood. I check and re spray every other day to be sure