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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 10:26am
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My van wiring got chewed right on my driveway at weekend cabin... ABS light on, etc. New harness was $$$... Short of tying a dog out or building a tight garage, any prevention strategies? If only the coyotes were as efficient as they’ve been with local turkey population...
SE Ohio
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paulz
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 11:30am - Edited by: paulz
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This winter I put those sonic doohickeys in three of my old cars, 12v little boxes, all over the 'net. Some say they work, some say they don't. I have had no rodents this year so far, knock on wood.
They say they eat newer car wiring which has soy based insulation, Honda and Toyota for two. Old cars have something else they apparently don't like. But they still like to get in and make a mess.
Get an old car! 
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 12:12pm
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We use some "smelly packets" we get from Tractor Supply. They don't have an objectionable smell to humans but rodents apparently don't like them... has worked for us. YMMV
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 12:52pm
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Paulz, I read where Honda and Toyota have a class action suit over the soy based insulation attracting rodents.
Nobadays, do you leave the smelly packets where you park, or affix to vehicle? Trying to protect ABS wiring by wheels.
SE Ohio
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FishHog
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 01:06pm
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Place some bucket traps around your vehicle baited with peanut butter. Sure they will chew new wiring, but if you give them a better option they will take it, and if you trap them you will thin the population at the same time. Put one on each side of your parking spot and you can just leave them there working 24hrs a day.
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Gary O
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 01:42pm - Edited by: Gary O
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Quoting: paulz They say they eat newer car wiring which has soy based insulation, Honda and Toyota for two. Old cars have something else they apparently don't like. But they still like to get in and make a mess.Get an old car!
Yup
In the five years at the cabin, the tree rats never chewed on my '93 Jimmy or my '99 Wrangler
They did do a bit of nesting at times, but no destruction
A guy a couple miles down the path, not so fortunate.
Had to have his new Honda towed to the dealer 200 mi away due to warranty coverage
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 03:36pm
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Mice and rats must always be gnawing, their teeth continue to grow. They next in engine room because of the under hood cover. Also, I see many engines will have a decorative cover on the engine itself, this gives varmints cover too.
They nest and will chew wiring that is handy or anything in their way. I've seen it all. First, get rid of mice habitat and food. Dont use bird seed at all, probably the worst item out there. Next, dont leave pet food outside, either in storage of in dog bowl. Clear tall vegetation, park cars in large graveled area. Do you have fruit trees? Trees that drop nuts, acorns etc?
We get a rash of it as soon as the first cold snap hits. And its sporadic through winter after that. I think the sub audible noise makers may work, I know smellt items like peppermint, I seen fabric sofetners under hoods. Not sure what works and what doesnt.
If you have mice trouble, I would adjust plugging heater inlet with metal fabric mesh, this is usually under wiper cowl area on pass side. Keep them outside of heater area anyway.
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HiLonesome
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 04:59pm
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It helps to know what critter is doing the damage. In my case it was wood rats (pack rats). I heard a commotion one night from my bed in the pop-up camper and went outside with a flashlight.
I popped the hood on my Silverado and surprised the biggest rat rave you have ever seen. Two or three immediately blew the scene, but one unfortunate rat froze and pretended to be a radiator hose. I just missed him with with my mag light before he got away. They had eaten or absconded with about a third of the insulation that is installed to the hood. No wire damage.
Naturally I declared war. I tried four kinds of traps, including one I invented. The one that worked best was a steel leg-hold, muskrat size. But they were smart and rarely got caught.
What solved the problem finally was when I completed a "firewise" perimeter, clearing all cover, downed limbs, low live limbs, and high grass. Both reduced fire risk and solved the rat problem. They just had nowhere to live near enough to be a problem.
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Nobadays
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 05:32pm
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I wedge the packets under the hood. They are pretty noticeable when you raise the hood and sometimes you will get a whiff even standing beside the vehicle. Here is a link to the product.
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Atlincabin
Member
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 06:32pm
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They like Ford wiring too.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 31 Mar 2020 06:56pm
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Quoting: Atlincabin They like Ford wiring too.
Yes, they eat all wiring, the "soy" deal and lawsuit is just some trip and fall lawyers trying to steal a quick buck. No truth to it, like I said, rodents need to be always chewing, they teeth continue to grow and if they dont, teeth get too long and they starve. Wiring just happens to be handy. Leaving hood open will keep them out too, but I only advise that in a garage, but in an emergency, it can be done. Clearing all cover works best. If its all open, they have nothing to hide, they stay clear.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 1 Apr 2020 07:17am
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Considering this could literally cause you to crash your vehicle I would not mess around with things that don't kill them.
We don't have pack rats but alot of mice. Every fall I set traps and poison blocks.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2020 07:51am
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If they chew through an ABS wire etc, the system will just revert back to std braking, the warning lamps will be on to alert the driver. Also, if a wire is chewed on the engine, it can set ABS VSC lights too as the systems work with each other. So they may be disabled (ABS VSC) because of an engine wire damaged.
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95XL883
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# Posted: 2 Apr 2020 08:30am
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My experience with a tractor on my 40 acres is once they start chewing they will continue almost no matter what. I baited proliferately (sp?). That slowed them down but if I missed one of my twice a week sessions, they were back, doing damage. One thing they didn't chew on was anything coated with liquid electrical tape. But they moved on to anything else they could chew on that wasn't metal. And while liquid electrical tape is easy to use, you quickly lose color coding of wires which is a concern if you need to trace anything,
The only thing that really worked was putting the tractor in something the pack rats couldn't get into. In my case, I bought a "new" (once used) shipping container. Unfortunately, shipping containers aren't big enough for a lot of vehicles.
My neighbors with barns have had little success if they are not in the barn frequently. The rats get in through very small openings. Those who are in their barns daily tend to have fewer problems. They also tend to have cats in the barns.
As TMT recommends, clearing a large area around the structure helps. If they can't hide getting to it, they tend to stay away from it.
HTH. Good luck.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 9 May 2020 11:13am
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I’ve been back to cabin a few times now, no more chewed wire damage.
I’ve parked in the middle of the parking area, and used a bucket trap by nearby porta-potty, as riders live underneath. I’ve had a few mice in bucket, no chipmunks.
Sad thing- Found drowned burying beetle in mouse bucket. They are rare/endangered. Very cool to see a little beetle fling soil like a much larger critter. They will bury a dead mouse and use it to feed their young (another reason I don’t use poison).
More on burying beetles in Ohio https://youtu.be/fDbxm-E4x0w
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