roadbike56

My freind at work owns a 02 Porsche Boxter. She just informed me that her car was inspected by the insurance adjuster, and it's a total loss, estimated at over $25K to repair. Did she hit a wall, get rear ended? NO, Some mice got into her garage and, because she was busy working and not driving the Boxter (she has two cars), ate the wiring and some of the seat internals. The car still ran, but to correctly fix it, the entire interior would have to be removed and all new wiring installed. This happened over a relatively short period of time, less than three months, maybe only two months.
I mention this because from reading other posts, its that time when many members put their Vette's away for the winter. Don't forget to take measures to discourage those little fury things. Moth ***** in the engine compartment, if the Vette's in a garage with electricity, those high frequency plug-ins can work. Just don't under estimate what another species has in mind for your prize vehicle. They might want to call it home for the winter.

Vetteman Jack

Good reminder for those of us who store their cars in the winter. Thanks.

El original

Porches are cheap a** cars any way! lol. Seriously, Wow!, not convinced it was a mouse...probably a rat or squirrel, but a miesly mouse?! As far as prevention, mouse/rat poison and traps, mothballs are for moths. Also dont forget where you placed your traps or in the spring could be in for a surprise. Rob

olbear1962

Mice hate dryer sheets
I put them in the engine bay interior, read about in the forum and haven't had a problem yet ( touch wood)

1999corvettels1

Lol, when I was 19 I bought a 1981 Z28 Camaro, it was pretty beat up but I liked it, the engine lost oil pressure and I opened it up, the main bearings were toast, no $$$ to fix it so it set for 2 or so years.

Next thing you know there was a wasp or hornet, bee whatever nest just inside the door, had to get spray killer to kill them, then remove the nest.

Then I saw all this mushy stuff on the floor, it was foam and seat cover material shredded and made into nests, mice ate up the seats and carpet, more stuff to fix, need a rebuilt engine, paint and body, and now interior, so it sat more.

Then when I was 25 and got the C5 vert, I sold the Z28 to a salvage yard, as I knew I was never going to fix it up and it was too far gone.

The wires could have been eaten also, but since it did not run I did not notice.

So I went from a junky Camaro to like new Vette!

QCVette

I hate mice!

My house is surrounded by a corn field and there are always mice. It is a constant battle. I have lots of traps, poison, sonic repellents, etc.

The best seemed to be when we had a stray cat hanging around, and we have had a hawk living in one of our trees. When we were seeing the cat and hawk a lot, we didn't get any in the traps.

I hate mice!

MSG C5

In Florida, we attract "roof rats" who work their way into the house through the attic and piping.

Even though our winters don't get that cold, this is the time of the year rodents like to move inside. I'm currently fighting some type of pest that has worked it's way in through the AC pipes. I found it building a seed/twig nest in the garage where the AC pipes run and now I've set traps. Who knows, it could be a squirrel.

Another reason why I keep my vert top up when the car is parked in the garage. When I lived in Chicago and put the car away for the winter, I placed the dryer fabric sheets in the interior and engine bay and then stuck some rolled up MF towels into the exhaust pipes. To be safe, I taped my list of winter storage/protection actions to my steering wheel to make sure I didn't forget to undo anything come spring time.

Do those sonic devices actually work? I've read articles that claim they don't really do anything.

LoneStarFRC

Tree rats, known to some people as "squirrels". Not sure about sonic repellers, but rat traps loaded with peanut butter nails 'em.

0Double D Mods

I had a customer call and rip me a new one for his rear camera not working. It was a 350.00 KEnwood CMOS310. We said no problem it was under warranty to remove and send it to us for replacement.
Next day I get a phone call from him with his credit card number to buy another camera as he said the wiring was all chewed up by a mouse or something.
Oh and an embarrassing apology too
FYI
It was a Viper owner.

Aerovette

MSG C5

It might be a squirrel as I did exactly as you mentioned. I loaded up one of those "Tom Cat" rat traps with peanut butter in the attic. When I checked it had been tripped but no catch. I might need to get a cage trap if it is indeed a squirrel.

PhilsFRC

Had a problem with squirrels in the attic a while back. Problem is that once they settle in, they consider that home and the grown babies will come back and use the house like a condo. They used to run across the power line, jump to where the air conditioning freon pipes entered the second floor of the house (they had chewed through the insulation), and would get into the attic. Solution was a lawn chair, couple of beers, and a Benjamin .22 pump pellet rifle. Took a couple of days but that solved the problem. Some people say they make good eating!

MSG C5

I like the pellet gun idea however I have to make sure the HOA ***** don't see me. I see 2-3 squirrels hanging around the house lately, so that might be my next course of action. I still need to figure out how they are getting in as I climbed up on the roof and don't see any holes.

johnson-rod

Friggin' mice ate the wiring on my Laverda.

Damn. I loved that bike.

GoldenFlame

That's what I've heard. The last two years I've put sheets in the engine compartment and around all four tires.

andy46

A constant battle with mice and rats on the farm and I've learned a lot about them in the mean time!
The dryer sheets, only work for a very short time, change them often, and once they get used to them, they won't be bothered by them anymore, they adapt to any changes over time very quickly, especially rats.
The electronic noise things are same story, they work for a limited time until the varmint gets used to it.
Bars of smelly soap do not work, irish spring does not work!
Do not use poison, they get sick and crawl in where you'll never find them and die, leaving an absolutely horrible stench for months (My GMC truck had this issue over a year ago, and even though I cleaned it out, and found the bastard, I still swear I can smell it in there!)
If you have mice, use a mouse trap, use a rat trap for rats, mice will trip a rat trap but not get caught in it, its too big, and a rat will walk off with only a mouse trap there.
A squirrel will laugh at a rat trap.
Peanut butter is king!
Do not set your traps around or inside your car, they will get in because of the peanut butter smell, you don't want to attract them to your car!
Set them around the inside perimeter of the building along the walls, you will figure out which traps go off most often, and you will know which way they're getting in eventually by moving the traps around.
If you have a big problem, a bucket with six inches of water in it, and a tin can coated with peanut butter, and drilled on both ends, with a wire through it across the top of the bucket works great, they jump for the can, and it rolls and into the water they go, they can't jump out of the water, and they drown.
Just make sure theres stuff around it so they find their way up to the top of the bucket.
Every little crack or seam in your garage, seal it shut, this is the only way to keep them out period. If you can get a pencil tip in a crack, they can get in!
I have a 35 X 55 shop and used 48 tubes of caulking and an entire weekend finding and sealing up gaps, and have not had a single mouse since, and this was in a pole barn that had twenty traps set in it, and killed at least three every week.
You have to be persistant, because once they set up shop, its a chore to get rid of them!
Sorry for the long ramble, but please don't let this happen to your prize possesion
Good luck!

TNX ZORA

Great write up - thanks!

duramaxsky

I hate mice and rats!!!

Rickster6744

Had the same problem with mice when I lived on acreage. Dryer sheets work!!!!! But only the scented ones. Unscented didn't seem to have any effect. Thank god it was a honda and not a vette. Put them under the hood and along the floor of the car and the trunk. Wasn't taking any chances. Also changed them once every two weeks to be on the safe side.

Choreo

Forget the dryer sheets and peanut butter... give them what they want... surround the car with wire harnesses!