For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By seanxair
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1872790
Mrs Xair's Touareg recently went for a service and a significant mouse nest was found inside the airfilter when stripped down. Our other car just sold also had evidence of mice eating the insulating foam around the firewall.

Has anyone got any useful tips to discourage the little blighters. Cars are kept outdoors. Got mice in garage too as usual for time of year...
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By tr7v8
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#1872810
Paul had it right; a BBC Big Black Cat!
Get it sorted quick, one of my work colleagues had £3K worth of damage on a brand new Audi because of Mickey & his mates.
We get them in occasionally, I suspect the cat brings them in, plays with them & then gets bored. Mouse runs off. I use the plastic traps baited with mars bar or twix or peanut butter. Never fails although may take a few days. This s the best style I have found.
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By seanxair
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#1872816
Cat is a no go in this household! Have got some traps eg the big cheese ones but don't want to be setting one every night under the bonnet. Have heard of sonic scarers and sprays but not sure what to do for the best. Have a nice new EV and don't want the buggers eating that.

Now that harvest is done and the weather is changing they will be everywhere.
#1872823
Never had meeces but we have a rabbit infestation at Staverton and once had one under the Audi bonnet. Got itself caught in the belts on startup. Didn't half make a mess - and bu**ered the A/C, power steering etc.
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#1872837
TravellerBob wrote:Volkswagen Toerag and two Audis mentioned thus far.

I smell a rat mouse :oops:


Let me add to your theory. Another VAG tale (tail?) of woe.

I have owned two Skoda Fabias. Mice chewed their way into the boot on the first. Traps with peanut butter sorted that one. The second Fabia -bought new - developed a bad misfire. A look under the bonnet showed mice had chewed the HT leads. That one is now kept in the garage.

Traps don't need to be placed in the bonnet, Sean. Just stick lots of them on the ground nearby.

They are a real nuisance at times. They chewed through the piping to a full 47kg propane bottle we use to fuel our cooker hob. That resulted in a bill for armoured piping and a refilled gas bottle.

I hate those meeces to pieces. :evil:
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By johnm
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#1872839
The advice to lay traps baited with peanut butter etc. in strategic places is about the best you can do. As others have said traps laid where they are likely to find a route up to the bonnet e.g. near inside edges of tyres rather than under the bonnet should help.

Cheese doesn't work but raisins and peanut butter have been found effective round here.
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By seanxair
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#1872844
Generally use peanut butter or nutella. We actually caught one inside Mrs Xair's previous car having seen where it chewed the leather sleeve on the gear selector.

And at what point are you actually attracting them more by putting traps down with nice smelling goodies on....
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By Paul_Sengupta
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#1872855
seanxair wrote:Cat is a no go in this household!


Doesn't have to be yours. I'm sure Rob P will rent you one of his for a modest fee... :D

Paultheparaglider wrote:They chewed through the piping to a full 47kg propane bottle we use to fuel our cooker hob. That resulted in a bill for armoured piping and a refilled gas bottle.


Could have been worse! :shock:

Might have solved the mouse problem. Though having watched Tom and Jerry as a kid, I suspect it wouldn't have.
#1872870
I suggest you play bagpipe music into the car area.

At best the mice will go all "Pied Piper" and drown themselves, and at worst they'll hate the awful noise as much as humans do and drown themselves. :oops:
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By rikur_
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#1872873
I use the ultrasonic alarms. In the garage, outbuildings and loft we've got mains powered ones ..... along the driveway we've got the solar ones sold as mole deterrents, but in practice mice don't like them either. They take about a week to persuade furry friends to move out.
By riverrock
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#1872886
Last time I had issues (spotted in church building) there were plenty of professionally set traps and bait boxes set, various holes blocked but they kept being spotted. I covered the ground at the various entrances with one of the repellent sprays and they haven't now been seen in over a year. I must admit - I was surprised - I thought they were snake oil!
#1872892
Few of those red poison blocks in the corner of the garage.

Keep replacing till no more mice.

They will also learn that your garage is not a good place to look for food, or go, and you’ll never have them again.

We moved into a house in Yorkshire with mouse infested barns. A few weeks of the red block poison and we never had mice in them again in ten years.

Traps don’t work the same as they have no chance to tell the other mice where they got ill.