Critter control again

First I apologize for the long post.......Several have posted issues with mice, rats, squirrels in our Tacomas. As some of you know I am fortunate to live on 28 acres in West Virginia, however this is inevitable for mice. My shop/ garage has mice living under the floor and in the roof and I am sure they have been there for years. We bought the property in 2019. I am doing what I can to control this. They is no trash or any type of food or water in the shop. I keep the truck in the garage and leave the hood up and have had good luck with cotton balls soaked in peppermint. I do not drive it as much due to working from home but I check it daily and ensure it has no signs of critters. The other day I looked in the passenger side front and immediately saw shredded foam on my floor mat. First time any signs of them inside, I was pissed and stressed out. I HATE mice! Now one got inside. Opened up the cabin filter door and one had been chewing and I think I caught it before any real activity. I checked everything else and no other sign. Replaced the filter, Cleaned it out and vacuumed everything. I bought some gutter guard to cover the fresh air opening in the cowl. Many have done this and I took their advice. I covered it and checked my air filter box as well. Acorns under my air filter. I think these were from before I started using peppermint because they were whole and nothing else was in there.

A few things I noticed is the hole in the fender directly into the airbox, obviously the point of entry. Also in the cowl area an entry point on both ends. I put guard over this but before buttoning everything up, I decided to remove those due to thinking water will not be able to escape and possibly cause issues.

With the 3rd gen they did a half ass job of a screen that was not on previous generations. However as you will see it was chewed through and that is how it got to the cabin filter.

As stated I know people have posted, so nothing new but hopefully this is seen by someone not aware of this issue and helps them out. Due to current conditions people are driving their trucks less and if you catch it early you can save yourself from some major damage like others have posted with wiring.

Scott





Updated and added more today (12/30/20) to finish it off................

 

My old Ranger had one of those Truck Snakes (TM). Not sure where I got it from, though.

YMMV

 

Wow, that would freak you out driving down the road and it decided to crawl on you!!

 

I think I will put some screen on the air box and cowl ends so air and water can still flow...........

Here are the others. Also Toyota instructions on removing the cowl, pretty simple.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cabin-air-intake-screen-mod.566441/page-3#post-24336049
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cabin-air-intake-screen-mod.566441/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/has-anyone-removed-this-piece.538174/

 

That would take care of the truck mice. Now you just need a truck mongoose to solve the truck snake problem.

 

Yeah. I'm not scared of much, but I am terrified of snakes. That was what I saw when I opened my door leaving the vets office. That sucker must have been in there for at least the ride over.

My dog had been very interested in the bottom of my truck for months sniffing and barking at it. For the life of me I could not figure out why.

 

My 2001 tundra looked the same way but full of hickory nuts. They even chewed a hole through the air box plastic casing. Been waging war on mice and chipmunks for years now.

 

Not afraid to admit it, as small as there are I am terrified of Mice and Rats.............something about them freaks me out.

 

Never ending battle!

 

Yeah I saw this stuff in my searching.

 

Fabric softener sheets scattered around the engine bay seem to work for a lot of people around here. Some manufacturers use soy based wire loom that rodents like to chew on too.

 

Yeah I have those in my camper and seems to work.

 

I don't recommend screening off the side holes in the cowl at each fender, eventually you'll have debris buildup and water drainage issues.

The air intake at the fender and cabin vent should be screened off imo.

Along with screening off those 2 possible entry points I do recommend:

1. If you have to eat in your Tacoma's cab do so carefully, discard any and all food leftovers and trash asap. Food odors are what attract mice. Keep plastic garbage bags handy and place food trash securely in your bed temporarily till you can discard it. Do not ever leave food trash in your cab, that is a big no-no! Fast food is the worst culprit, food odor molecules will permeate your cab's interior and attract mice like a magnet.

2. The main point of entry for mice seems to be the cabin air intake. One can buy peppermint oil in a small bottle, and keep it stashed in the glove box along with some cotton balls in a HD ziplock. Every few months re-permeate a loose cotton ball and stash it in the corner of your glove box. The goal here is to keep the peppermint oil smell/odor molecules active near the cabin air intake so as to keep the little bastards away. If you store your peppermint oil and cotton balls in your glove box it makes it easier and gives off peppermint fumes as well. And it smells kinda nice. Make an entry on your smartphone calendar to replenish your glovebox peppermint cotton balls every few months at minimum.

3. Pine Sol, its a strong smelling known bear deterrent and might possibly keep mice away as well. Keep a bottle handy and wipe down your rubber floor mats, bed, wiring harnesses etc. Use with cotton balls in certain areas, a little goes a long ways. A squirt bottle comes in handy for hitting under the cab at strategic areas.

https://pestbreaker.com/smell-that-mice-hate/450/

 

Great info, Thanks!

 

We have a ton of critters, mostly pack rats and mice, where we park our 5th wheel and we've strung LED rope lights around the exterior and have never had an issue. Whether myth, legend or truth, it seems to work or we're very lucky. Maybe something to try?

 

For the engine air intake you can do this to keep critters out of the air cleaner housing:

 

I've done the same for my 15 year old polaris snowmobile. Use steel wool in the exhaust also.

 

Yep, I had a mouse get into my truck while it was parked in an airport parking lot. Clever little bastards

 

Thanks for the write up and the links, Scott. This gives me the motivation to get mine done. Question: The fourth picture looks like the passenger side cowl area (with the plastic removed). That vertical piece of metal is covering a big gaping hole? Is that how you think they got in to the plastic mesh installed by Toyota? Curious to know before I start dismantling and head to the hardware store to get some supplies.
Thanks again!