Any Rodent Experience Here?
Lexus Champion
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 13,184
Likes: 1,834
From: WA
It was a very long battle, and I did consider getting a cat but my wife is allergic to them. We considered a dog but we're just not home enough right now for a dog.
I tried everything. I had moderate success with peppermint oil, at least for a little while. Tried the sonar plug ins but with no success. At one point I had 17 traps in my garage. I had ones baited with peanut butter, with cheese, and with rat/mouse gel. I had poison out as well. This is all very difficult, by the way, when you have small children you also need to protect from the traps and poison. I also bought the Honda rodent tape and placed that in strategic locations in the garage and in the cars.
Every morning I'd open the hood of my RX and later my Highlander and find rat urine and feces all over the plastic engine cover. I'd clean it off, rub it down with some peppermint oil, and drive off. The car was only in the garage for the night as it's driven during the day. Finally I started leaving the hood open all night, with traps taped to the engine cover and other places under the hood, which I would have to remove every morning. The rat(s) would still just walk right around them.
I finally found where they were coming in to the garage (where my natural gas line comes in through the wall from the meter to my hot water heater. I was able to get that closed up, which helped for a while, but I'd still get one in occasionally, I suspect from opening the garage door when coming home. I finally caught him with an electrocution trap. Since then I haven't had any more issues, but I check both cars regularly (for whatever reason they've never been interested in my GS) and we only have the door open when we are taking a car in or out of the garage.
I'm just thankful that they never did any damage to the cars - just made messes, and I'm thankful they never came into the house, because frankly, if they did, my wife would have torched the whole place.
I tried everything. I had moderate success with peppermint oil, at least for a little while. Tried the sonar plug ins but with no success. At one point I had 17 traps in my garage. I had ones baited with peanut butter, with cheese, and with rat/mouse gel. I had poison out as well. This is all very difficult, by the way, when you have small children you also need to protect from the traps and poison. I also bought the Honda rodent tape and placed that in strategic locations in the garage and in the cars.
Every morning I'd open the hood of my RX and later my Highlander and find rat urine and feces all over the plastic engine cover. I'd clean it off, rub it down with some peppermint oil, and drive off. The car was only in the garage for the night as it's driven during the day. Finally I started leaving the hood open all night, with traps taped to the engine cover and other places under the hood, which I would have to remove every morning. The rat(s) would still just walk right around them.
I finally found where they were coming in to the garage (where my natural gas line comes in through the wall from the meter to my hot water heater. I was able to get that closed up, which helped for a while, but I'd still get one in occasionally, I suspect from opening the garage door when coming home. I finally caught him with an electrocution trap. Since then I haven't had any more issues, but I check both cars regularly (for whatever reason they've never been interested in my GS) and we only have the door open when we are taking a car in or out of the garage.
I'm just thankful that they never did any damage to the cars - just made messes, and I'm thankful they never came into the house, because frankly, if they did, my wife would have torched the whole place.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,810
Likes: 170
From: Colorado
While that may be true, a properly designed electrical system would be fused at all major circuits so that any external damage should never create a fire hazard. Especially a simple circuit like a headlight. Dead shorts = blown fuses. That's why they are there.
It just may be other way around, where the car would have caught fire either way, rat or no rat. Who knows?
It just may be other way around, where the car would have caught fire either way, rat or no rat. Who knows?
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 35,276
Likes: 305
From: ON/NY
I had a rodent chew up some wiring in the engine bay near a head light in my 4Runner. The service department just taped up some of the wiring at no charge. I have not had an issue now a few years later.
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