When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
HeadsU.P....Thanks for the info on the stress cracks from leaving the hood open for extended periods of time. I’ll take your advice and use the broom stick or dowel. Thanks.
Why leave the hood open? It's not like the engine compartment is totally enclosed.
What is the purpose of dryer sheets?
Yes the smell is supposed to deter them. I tried and after a while it wore off. The little monsters partied nearby anyway. Caution using them...I put some under my cover on some jet skis and they stained the vinyl real bad.
The Bounce Dryer sheets seem to work in confined areas to deter rodents, however, the life span of the scent is about 30 days. After that point, the mice really enjoy that sheet for their bedding.
Found another mouse deterrent scent on Amazon, with peppermint oil inside a plastic pod. I believe its made by D-Con? Supposedly peppermint drives mice away.
I believe the life of the scent pod is 60 days. Have only tested it about three weeks in a mice invested vehicle that sits in the woods. So far, so good.
Storage units:
Also, I highly recommend not allowing your tires to come in contact with the ground wither its gravel, blacktop or concrete during long term storage.. All three will leach the oils out of the rubber compounds after months of sitting. Instead, find a couple indoor carpet mats from a dollar store. Cut those in half, four pieces. Just as you pull the vehicle into storage, place the matts in front of the tires, then drive onto them.
Thanks HeadsU.P. Luckily the storage is simply used as “off-site” garage space as opposed to long term storage, so I’m thinking the carpet squares might not be too critical in my case. I thinking some battery operated, motion sensing, night lights might help as well. As of yesterday, there’s no sign of rodents at this time. Fingers crossed.
I’ll be installing some of these this week inside the storage space.
In terms of hood up or not - I have sometimes had my car in our open machinery shed instead of the garage when something else is being worked on in the garage. We have almost continually some issues with mice in there as my wife stores hay for her horses in there. The only time I've ever had mouse footprints (and admittedly these are small field mice) up on the body of the car was when I left the hood up - it appeared that they ran up the radiator and up onto the body of the car.
The question of storage is seasonal. When it is driving season, I use occasionally use a car cover when I do not want my Corvettes dusty. The animals usually do not bother trying to come inside when the weather is nicer because there is plenty of food out there in the wild.
In the winter months when the car is not being driven, I use a CarBag to completely seal up the cars from moisture and animals. The only time I ever saw an animal within the CarBag was when I opened it up in the spring and found a completely desiccated mouse (with no damage to the car). The critter must have gotten in before I had a chance to add the desiccant. To use, I drive the car onto the bag, put the softer car cover on, and seal up the bag which has a zipper that encloses the entire car. I've never had a problem and the car comes out looking exactly like it went in. I've been doing this for the past 30ish years so it works for me.
Mother than locking a cat inside with 21 days or when you can't get over there till 6 weeks of food, I would get the electronic device thing! Sometimes they work, some brands don't!
But trapping is an art! For everyone rat you see, there are 14 more you don't see!
12-15-2018, 05:02 PM
