# Keeping Mice out of an Truck Engine



## chelvis (Apr 15, 2013)

Hey Everyone,
I am going nuts dealing with deer mice in my truck. Two weeks back my 2000 Nissan Frontier started up and started to rattle and rumble like something terrible. I turned it off and started it up again and it still was bad, so I took it into the shop, I just did not have time to deal with it and I have a second car. We a week and a half later of replace wires and new parts and $2000 I got my truck back. The problem was that deer mice had been making nest and chewing on wires and what ever else they wanted. I thought great, it must be because I let it set for a few days without being ran. 

I read up online and put some moth balls throughout the engine as well as putting some rat block (please don't tell me how its bad for the environment, I know trust me, I need my truck to work so its got to be done). 

Well today I turn on the defroster (first time in a month or so) and the dash starts to rattle and rumble as well. I turn it off and start the fan slowly and listen, sounded like the blower fan was acting up. I take the dash apart and sure enough the dang fan is full of nuts! 

Now I don't know if the nuts were in there before the repairs and my moth ball and bait attempts. I just need some input on keeping mice out of my truck! I cannot park it inside (no garage), peppermint didn't work, a light left on in the engine compartment did nothing.


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## bfb345 (Apr 15, 2013)

No offense you can choose what car you want and all but your first problem is its a Nissan now on to the actual help just start putting traps out the rats are atracted to the warm of your engine so put out a little card board box or some sort of hide for them and use a heat pad or light and that will atract them use poison in the hide and try parking your car in a different spot or find where they are getting in and block it also i would try using the flower trap follow their tracks and find their real nest and do something to get rid of them there poison smoke bomb fire crakers stuff like that


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## bfb345 (Apr 15, 2013)

and where they chew cover it in the hottest hot sauce you can find and put it on the cords and all around they will hate it


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## Dubya (Apr 15, 2013)

Mothballs do nothing. I do not like poison because other animals eat the poisoned mice and get sick or die. Like the OP said, make a warm spot and put traps there. Use regular mouse traps. I bait with peanut butter and bacon because, like Elvis, the can't resist it. A cat in the garage wouldn't hurt either.


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## chelvis (Apr 15, 2013)

I don't have a garage and an outdoor cat would be mt lion or coyote food. I did traps for months and they are still getting in. No electric out where the truck is so can't make a warm area. Flour will blow away to easily. 

Don't knock Nissan, it has been a great truck and honestly don't know of a better small truck (don't say ford there is a reason people say Found On Road Dead). 

I have tried to block off the intake area with heavy gauged wired but the pulled it off, I might have to have it welded on. 

I hate to use poison but honestly it might be all I can do at this point.


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## bfb345 (Apr 15, 2013)

yeah yeah its just foreign cars in general lol im a dodge type of guy but any ways try the hot sauce they will hate that make sure it is really really hot sauce to the point were it will burn there little mouths


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## chelvis (Apr 15, 2013)

We used hot sauce at work to try and keep them out of the office, didn't seem to work there. Will give it a shot but deer mice are not your normal house mouse or woodrat they seem to like odd things.


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## bfb345 (Apr 15, 2013)

hmmm odd you could try a bucket of sugar water make sure there is a way in although once they fall in no way out


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## Dubya (Apr 15, 2013)

The bucket thing works, but I would bait the bucket with Frumunda cheese myself. make sure the bucket or barrel is too deep for them to jump out and you will have free tegu food.


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## chelvis (Apr 15, 2013)

With the bucket the key is to have six inches of water at the bottom. Makes it harder to jump and then they drown. It does really work. If I didn't live in a hunta virus zone I would use them as tegu food. Here hoping hot sauce works.


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## bfb345 (Apr 15, 2013)

yeah i never feel comfortable with feeding wild stuff you never really know


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## Dubya (Apr 15, 2013)

Now I feel nervous about giving Gwangi wild caught stuff. Too many pesticides. But he is moving to an outdoor enclosure . Mice will get in at some point.


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## bfb345 (Apr 15, 2013)

yeah lol it just worries me though although i would be more worried about birds dubya


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## chelvis (Apr 15, 2013)

The hunta is more for my safety, don't think that can be given to reptiles. There are some parisites that could be in wild caught food, but I do give the tegus some wild turkey when I hit them.


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## bfb345 (Apr 16, 2013)

yeah i was thinking of giving him some venison this year or if i get a turkey at my grandpas he has a herd of 20 to 30 huge toms that go around every year


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## laurarfl (Apr 16, 2013)

I feel for you, Chelvis. I have rats in my garage and in my attic. We found one nest recently and destroyed it.


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## chelvis (Apr 16, 2013)

#?*!*#!#&@*&#&^*&@#

I am done this this guys! Went out this morning and the little *beeps* chewed through more wiring. 

I slathered all the wires in ghost pepper hot sauce (had some on hand from a practical joke over April fools day. They ate at the starter wires right at the connection point, not somewhere I want to put hot sauce.

I got it all connected to get to work but that is it! I am hitting the hardware store, pickup up some giant destroyers and setting those off under the care. I will deal with replacing all the air filters afterwards, seems less of a hassle then dealing with repairs each morning! Then I am using rat bait, sorry I love the ecosystem, heck I work in wildlife conservation but I can't do my job without my truck. 

For those not familiar with giant destroyers they are a poison gas bomb that is used for gophers, plan is to roll up and the windows tape them from the inside and the outside, tape up the doors, remove all the filters and cover the truck with a tarp, the light about 5 of the suckers and roll them under the truck. My only worry is if these will hurt the engine... grrr.


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## Dubya (Apr 16, 2013)

They will not hurt the engine as long as the car is turned off. Cars are immune to poison gas.


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## bfb345 (Apr 16, 2013)

yeah you should be good worried for who you pranked with that hot sauce lol


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## Roadkill (Apr 16, 2013)

I don't know about mice, but in the interior of British Columbia, porcupines are often considered a similar problem when you leave your vehicle unattended for extended periods of time (hiking and such are very popular, people will leave their vehicles for a week or so). Many recommend wrapping the base of your vehicle with chicken wire while you're away. This won't work with mice, but you might try hardware cloth with more closely spaced wire.


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## Dubya (Apr 16, 2013)

Maybe you can sit in the garage at night with a good airgun with a night vision scope and a Keurig with a bunch of K cups. Watch Caddyshack for more ideas.


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## Josh (Apr 17, 2013)

Dubya said:


> Maybe you can sit in the garage at night with a good airgun with a night vision scope and a Keurig with a bunch of K cups. Watch Caddyshack for more ideas.


 
Eh. Make it more fun and at least drink beers, not caffeine.


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## chelvis (Apr 17, 2013)

the guy at the hardware store said not to use the giant destroyers  something about flame risk and what not, so that's out. I have tried to hit them with a paint ball gun and all I ended up with was a pokidotted truck. Gonna see if the hot sauce and the mouse bait work.


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## Dubya (Apr 17, 2013)

Rats and mice do not get along. You will not find mice in a place frequented by rats. I suggest releasing rats into your garage. Gambian Pouched Rats would be my rat of choice.


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## Josh (Apr 17, 2013)

Now that's one big rodent.


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## Dubya (Apr 17, 2013)

I have one of these. Works great, but make sure the CO2 stays warm. http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/EBOS_CO2_BB_gun/2042


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## chelvis (Apr 17, 2013)

I want a Gambian Pouch rat as a pet but they are invasive and get people sick and what not so I guess I won't get one. 

That's a nice BB gun, too bad intimidation doesn't work so well on mice.


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## Dubya (Apr 17, 2013)

I want a pouched rat too. The bb gun will kill mice.


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## BatGirl1 (Apr 18, 2013)

My rat ate a mouse before. Not pretty. Not to highjack but I want an armadillo. Soooo cute. Somebody send me a baby please


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## Dubya (Apr 18, 2013)

D, I will work on that armadillo thing. I am very resourceful. I am already on the waiting list for a Dama wallaby.


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## BatGirl1 (Apr 18, 2013)




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## chelvis (Apr 19, 2013)

lol...
getting back on topic. 

Hot sauce did not work, found the little bugger sleeping in the air filter again this morning. The moth balls did work but they need to be replaced ever week, that's what I was doing when I found her curled up. Needless to say that is one deer mouse who is no more. 

I did find that she had been using the felt from around the battery terminals as nest material. So I put new felt pads and placed the rat bait right next to the battery. The hope being that any future mice take the bait as well as bedding. I also mush wire mesh on the intake areas of the air filter case, here's hoping that works.


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## bfb345 (Apr 19, 2013)

yeah lol hope it works its weird how stubborn they are


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## chelvis (Apr 19, 2013)

I have lived at the same house and worked at the same location for two years now and never had a problem. Don't know what it is this year. Maybe the next rattle snake I catch I will let it lose in the engine to get the bugger.


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## bfb345 (Apr 19, 2013)

yeah lol good idea haha


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