For no earthly reason I can delve, rodents have decided that my mom’s 2003 Cavalier (standard trans) is an awesome place to store acorns and to live in. The car is used at least 3 times a week, so that’s the puzzling part.
So far:
squirrels stuffed the engine compartment full of acorns, which got under the, um, cord? that moves the throttle, and it got stuck open when said acorns rolled under it while driving causing the engine to race dangerously.
mice built a nest in the fan area, and pieces of mice had to be removed by the mechanic to solve the “funny fan noise” problem she was having. ick.
Obviously she now looks under the hood for acorns, but it’s not like you can easily see the fan…
What can she do to make the car less appealing to rodents? Her idea was maybe buying some predator urine to spinkle in the engine compartment, but the possible smell makes her hesitate. Suggestions, hopefully cheaper than “build a garage”?
Has all of this happened in the last month or so? About this time of the year, when the nighttime temperatures drop, field mice will sometime move into a car engine compartment. They just want to keep warm. I notice you’re in New Hampshire where it might be getting a bit cooler these nights and early mornings.
Mama Plant would sprinkle ground black pepper on her car to keep cat footprints off. Perhaps it also works under the hood. Cheap in a big box at Kroger.
No, the problem with the acorns happened during the late spring, and the mice bits about six weeks ago. We were talking about it this week when she brought up needing to check for acorns again, and I volunteered to ask if anyone had suggestions.
