Mouse proofing my Tacoma

as said, 1/4" mesh screen over the HVAC intake. I also screened the "exhaust" vent at the rear of the cab just to be safe. when I camp, I have to store food in the cab, no other option. I've had a marmot chew my underhood wiring and also carry off most of my underhood firewall insulation. And I had a pika try and get into my cab for hours. I could hear his head bumping against the floor above the transmission. He would not leave and I finally hit him with bear spray.

 

I can't keep mice out of my garage no matter what I try. So I just trap them using old fashioned snap traps with peanut butter and send them to Mickey heaven. I put the bodies out at the end of my drive. Fox & coyotes come at night to retrieve the carcasses, but this Northern Goshawk will take one in the day. He (she?) in unusual as the bird walks around for a while before picking up the mouse.

 

How would you do that while camping/sleeping?
It seems hard to just wake up randomly at 2am, grab a .22, find one near the engine, then fire hoping it doesn't miss and hit the engine

 

I had rodents get into my engine's air filter box. I screened the input.

 

I had a family of red squirrels nesting on my cabin air filter and acorns, leaves, in my air filter.

I used 1/2" square screen to cover both and haven't had a problem since. The cowl is easy to remove. There inner fender well, not so much... Remove the air intake from the engine bay to cover the intake. I used tyraps. Insert from the outside so that you can roll the locks into the intake. It'll be easier to reinstall.

 

Yes, that would be difficult which is why any shooting is done during the day. Around here, we prefer to see what we are shooting at.

 

If that is fiberglas screening, mice will chew through it.

 

Aluminum

 

Moth balls in a net bag. Parked snowmobiles outside, once we started using moth balls zero mice.

 

Keep hood up when camping.

Wrap truck in chickenwire and hope for the best if porcupines are nearby.

 

Yep. This is why cats ended up being domesticated.

 

where'd they get all those sticks?
hopefully they didn't have to carry/bring all that
would take up a lot of space

 

I just pulled another nest out of my cabin air filter last weekend. Spraying peppermint oil on the filter seems to do the trick from keeping them out of that spot, but the smell is pretty potent to us too and you have to respray pretty often.

 

Considering the extra lard on that cat, it's been overly domesticated.

 

For me ABT. Always Be Trappin! And bait outside.

They’ll have preferred routes along the garage walls that they’ll use. The yellow paddle traps are the best. Don’t use the ones with the little copper paddle.

 

Try spray peppermint oil. They sell a few variations on Amazon. I live on property out in the boonies and I have been able to keep the field mice at bay by just spraying down my motor.

Fortunately for me, I like the smell of peppermint, but some folks may not. Small price to pay either way

 

The park supplies the wood, rocks and chicken wire rolls at the trailhead parking lot.

 

My issues have been mice nesting in the vent system and squirrel cage fan. Fix for that is to keep air circulation on the "cabin air" setting. Especially important as the cold air set in during Michigan's Fall time. I am not sure if this works for all vehicles.

Simply turning on the ventilation fan also gets rid of the mice! It has a mincing effect along with blowing mice part (especially tiny hairs) distribution directly through your vents into your mouth and coffee. Scrumptious! But it only lasts for six months. My Altima currently is on month 4. I call it the "Kid no longer asks to borrow car Assist."

 

I need to do this. When I replaced the cabin air filter I found a mouse had chewed up the plastic and shredded the baffles. Never found the mouse.

 

Where do you put the screen on a 2015