mice in cars

I live in the hills, not far from Lexington Reservoir. Rodents are thick in this area and my wife is rodent-phobic. Not a good combination...

Yesterday my wife found signs of mouse activity in her practically new CRV. So I set a trap and caught the critter within a couple of hours. This morning I found signs of a mouse in my car (old beater CRV that smells like fish guts). I'm sure I'll trap that one soon too. The cars are parked far apart, and we've never had a mouse in either one before, so it's strange that they both got hit at about the same time.

Anyways, I've got a lot of experience doing battle with rodents. When we first moved in, rats and mice had practically taken over the house (in the walls, chewed up most of the insulation, damaged wires, etc., etc.). I fixed the damage and ultimately won that rodent battle. The key to success is that I sealed every possible entry point.

I'm thinking that for cars, the same principle should work. That is,   if I can block all entry points, then at least they won't get inside the car (I know they can cause problems in the engine, but that I can deal with).

How do mice get into cars? Is it possible to seal off their entry points? Any ideas/suggestions will be appreciated.

Eek!! 

I have never looked underneath the steering column and dashboard. Perhaps the access is via the heating vents? Baby mice are much tinier? Is that what you're finding?

I don't think there's a way to seal all entry points because if they can fit their skull through, they can squeeze their body through.

Also the big problem with rodents is that they'll chew on wiring and tubing, so even if they never get into the passenger area, they're causing problems in the engine, firewall, etc.

In the Army, we used to just throw mothballs everywhere if we were going to be in the field for an extended period of time. They'll not only climb the tires but jump into low hanging parts.

Best defense might just be to have a cat roam around.

Found a nest on the exhaust manifold why it didnt catch on fire I do not know.  I drive it everyday so Who knows were it came from.

We had mouse sign in our trailer, freaked the GF out, so I was forced to get a can of Great Stuff and seal wherever I could see.  Never had another incident, of course a trailer is a whole lot easier than a vehicle.

I've seen a mouse jump up into the undercarriage of a car before so yeah they don't need to climb up a tire.

Good Luck.

Moth Balls

Or you can get fancy.


http://www.mouseblocker.com/?gclid=CPaFq4eOjcQCFdKGfgodM3UAog

Try a product called FRESH CAB.  Its a smallish bag of balsam that I have used successfully in a summer cabin in Cazadero to keep mice and deer mice out of closets and bedrooms. Can't get the inlaws (city people) to appreciate that open doors are an invitation to mice encroachment.
  People here use it in their vehicles with good results and it smells nice, kinda christmas like...good luck

a mechanic friend of mine said a lot of the newer cars are using soy based materials for electrical connectors.  the organic material lures rodents.  hopefully this isn't the case and/or you can find a solution.

I use those sticky traps under the hood.  Those mice like to chew wires!  If you have mice, they will first go under the hood where it's warm before migrating into the cabin. 

The AC drain hose is one easy way they get in.  I had 'em once build a nest in the squirrel cage of my AC and cost me hundreds of dollars to tear it apart to get to and fix. 

I catch at least a mouse a month with those sticky traps under the hood.  I put one on my battery and one on the air cleaner.  They once made a nest in my air cleaner and that threw an engine code. 

I thought of Juan when I saw this one

Sorry for the late response but work has been too much like work this past week...

Thanks for the suggestions. After a little more investigation, it looks like the mice came in near the glove compartment. So, I thought I should replace the cabin air filter on all 3 of our cars (new CRV, old CRV, and a Civic), since that filter is directly behind the glove compartment.

After doing so, it's clear what's going on. The mice had apparently got into the vent system in all 3 cars, and made their way into the cabin in 2 of them (both CRVs). In the 3rd car (Civic), they'd built a nest near the fan, but they were not able to make it into the cabin (much better design, IMHO). But, in both CRV's if they make it to the filter, they can easily get thru to the glove compartment area.

The photo shows the area behind the glove compartment on the newer CRV. The cabin filter slips into the slot. I don't know how the white cottony stuff got in there---I removed all of that, but strangely, it doesn't look like it was contaminated by rodents. The real problem is that the gray foam area near at the top is actually a flap, which makes it easy for any rodent that gets that far to get into the cabin---they'd simply walking thru that black plastic grid. The difference on the Civic is that that grid is replaced by solid plastic, so there's no way to get beyond that point (the mice had built a nest there in the Civic, but at least they didn't get inside).

So, now I've got a specific question: Where does this vent pull air from? It seems to me that if I can cover the entrance with 1/4" wire mesh, the problem will be solved.

I use those sticky traps under the hood.  Those mice like to chew wires!  If you have mice, they will first go under the hood where it's warm before migrating into the cabin. 

Yes, I use those too, but never thought to put them under the hood. Do you leave them there permanently, or just at night? If the former, where do you put them so they don't melt?

I put my sticky trap on top of the battery.  It stays there fine and the mice tend to find it.  I will also put a dab of peanut butter on the center of the trap to encourage them to step on it. 

I'll post up a photo later today.