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Squirrels under car hood...how to stop them


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When we returned after 6 months away we had a mess under our car hood of squirrel food remnants and poop

Now it has started again...and we use the car every day!   How to stop this before they damage wiring, hoses, etc.  

So far only a mess and no damage.......but very annoying.  Mothballs do NOT help at all.    Help!!!

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Squirrels are amazing little things and I sure would not like them to nest under my hood, I bet they can do major damage..Do they go under the hood because it is a safe place to nest or for the heat or some other rason. If the hood is left up would they still go? WOuld cats or dog chase them?

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8 hours ago, poptarte_22@yahoo.com said:

When we returned after 6 months away we had a mess under our car hood of squirrel food remnants and poop

Now it has started again...and we use the car every day!   How to stop this before they damage wiring, hoses, etc.  

So far only a mess and no damage.......but very annoying.  Mothballs do NOT help at all.    Help!!!

Same thing happened to my spouses truck, they chewed two vacuum lines apart, had to move the truck. That solved the problem for now. The only problem now is she has to walk a far ways to get to her truck now,

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7 hours ago, Guiness said:

Way too mean.  Just get a can of Raid and spray it under the hood.  NO more mice or squirrels!  And nobody gets hurt!!

What do you mean 'nobody gets hurt'?  Raid would be highly toxic to squirrels and maybe kill them.  Plus, spraying under the hood probably wears off after a little while.  Brushing a coating of peppers and oil onto the wires would stay on there much longer and won't kill them.  I know some people who had squirrels chewing up their wiring.  After putting this on, they never had a problem again.

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What do i know? Always Learning!

The 2" fruits ripen from an emerald green to a gorgeous chocolate brown. 300,000 - 475,000 Scoville Units. Originating from the Yucutan Peninsula in Mexico, this pepper variety is twice as hot as a standard Habanero Chile and over 80 times hotter than an Jalapeño Pepper.

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9 hours ago, Guiness said:

Way too mean.  Just get a can of Raid and spray it under the hood.  NO more mice or squirrels!  And nobody gets hurt!!

Being too nice to the little darlings can result in them eating your car's electrical wiring which costs many pesos and much time to repair. A little hot pepper won't do permanent damage but keeps them away. Might also try dog or human hair clumps or used cat litter under the car.

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Ammonia on a rag, or 2 rags keeps all the critters out.   The ammonia stink evaporates and fills the engine compartment with a strong smell that keeps the squirrels out,  WITHOUT contaminating wiring etc with nasty pepper    that   is not good   for future mechanics.

I really cannot imagine breathing pepper smell,   or RAID,  etc..    blown into the inside of the car when the A/C or heat is on.  Imagine having pepper or RAID saturated air   blowing out the vents    into our face. :(

The Ammonia stink does not persist when we remove the rags,    and we can just remove the ammonia-soaked rag(s)  from under the hood when we want to drive the car.
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For those people who are convinced that stinking up the inside of your motor with peppers  would somehow be a good thing

think what it's like going into an apartment that reeks of curry spices     for months    after Indians have lived there.

Then think of how long the ammonia smell persists after washing a floor.

The ammonia smell goes away fairly quickly when the rag is removed,     while pepper stink (like curry) would stick to the plastic surfaces and metal surfaces,   including your cabin air plastic vent tubing     for months. :)

 

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When I stored my car for the winter I would place moth balls in the engine compartment as a deterrent to the rodents. The damage can be disastrous and extremely expensive...

You may also wish to stuff some rags in the intake and exhaust of the car to prevent any surprises...

 

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Mothballs have not worked...they sit right on top of them and chew the nuts/seeds they carry into the engine!  Even super mothballs that a neighbor used.

Yesterday I was nearly sick with the mothball smell as we drove around....   I put bounce sheets in the engine today...they did not poop but ate their food on top of them!!  I placed chili pepper seeds on the engine and around the tires...didn't seem to fix them.     But they did not take away the bounce sheets for nesting as I suspected they might.  I am at my wits end!

I hate to use Raid...as it will affect us in the car......and I dislike the idea of killing them...but do need to deter them!!

When we leave for 6 mths we place a rag in the exhaust and mothballs under the hood, and this is the first year they are causing such a problem.

Will try the ammonia rags next.............     Thanks for all the suggestions........stay tuned.....

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On 11/25/2016 at 7:15 AM, snowyco said:

Ammonia on a rag, or 2 rags keeps all the critters out.   The ammonia stink evaporates and fills the engine compartment with a strong smell that keeps the squirrels out,  WITHOUT contaminating wiring etc with nasty pepper    that   is not good   for future mechanics.

I really cannot imagine breathing pepper smell,   or RAID,  etc..    blown into the inside of the car when the A/C or heat is on.  Imagine having pepper or RAID saturated air   blowing out the vents    into our face. :(

The Ammonia stink does not persist when we remove the rags,    and we can just remove the ammonia-soaked rag(s)  from under the hood when we want to drive the car.
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For those people who are convinced that stinking up the inside of your motor with peppers  would somehow be a good thing

think what it's like going into an apartment that reeks of curry spices     for months    after Indians have lived there.

Then think of how long the ammonia smell persists after washing a floor.

The ammonia smell goes away fairly quickly when the rag is removed,     while pepper stink (like curry) would stick to the plastic surfaces and metal surfaces,   including your cabin air plastic vent tubing     for months. :)

 

That may work, but most people would forget to remove the rags before driving away, and that would be extremely hazardous to the humans!

I don't think that breathing ammonia while driving can be considered a 'good thing'!

At least the smell of hot peppers won't kill a human being while driving!

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That may work, but most people would forget to remove the rags before driving away, and that would be extremely hazardous to the humans!

I don't think that breathing ammonia while driving can be considered a 'good thing'!

At least the smell of hot peppers won't kill a human being while driving!



Fortunately, ammonia is only an irritant.

The vapors off a rag are not toxic ...  unlike the definitely toxic Raid vapors and toxic moth ball vapors.

Chilis ... unfortunately ... don't work.
:)

 

 

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2 hours ago, snowyco said:



Fortunately, ammonia is only an irritant.

The vapors off a rag are not toxic ...  unlike the definitely toxic Raid vapors and toxic moth ball vapors.

Chilis ... unfortunately ... don't work.

 


:)

Actually they do, snowyco!  Many people have tried that remedy and it has worked for them.  No more chewed-up wires!

 

2 hours ago, snowyco said:

 

 

 

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What are the immediate health effects of ammonia exposure?

Inhalation: Ammonia is irritating and corrosive. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in air causes immediate burning of the nose, throat and respiratory tract. This can cause bronchiolar and alveolar edema, and airway destruction resulting in respiratory distress or failure. Inhalation of lower concentrations can cause coughing, and nose and throat irritation. Ammonia's odor provides adequate early warning of its presence, but ammonia also causes olfactory fatigue or adaptation, reducing awareness of one's prolonged exposure at low concentrations.

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A few years ago Lladron's animal clinic let me borrow a cage with a trap door. Not sure if they still do this, but I would be interested to know. The idea is that you trap the wild animal and release it somewhere leafy and green but not near houses. Also works for capturing feral kittens to be released to good homes. Lladron's might require a deposit--I can't remember about that. Other vets probably have these cages, too.

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On 11/26/2016 at 9:50 PM, suegarn said:

What are the immediate health effects of ammonia exposure?

Inhalation: Ammonia is irritating and corrosive. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in air causes immediate burning of the nose, throat and respiratory tract. This can cause bronchiolar and alveolar edema, and airway destruction resulting in respiratory distress or failure. Inhalation of lower concentrations can cause coughing, and nose and throat irritation. Ammonia's odor provides adequate early warning of its presence, but ammonia also causes olfactory fatigue or adaptation, reducing awareness of one's prolonged exposure at low concentrations.

Fortunately, for the 100's of millions who use ammonia to clean their home's floors, as described earlier posts, ammonia is just an irritant.

Unfortunately,  the chiles did not work for poptart_22.

We've also tried both chiles & ammonia to keep squirrels out of attic eves.   Chiles also failed there to keep squirrels from chewing new holes through soffet & facia boards, while ammonia on rags worked very well.    We tried jalapenos and then habeneros.

In what situations did chiles work for you?

Which chiles did you use?      How did you use them?     

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6 hours ago, snowyco said:

Fortunately, for the 100's of millions who use ammonia to clean their home's floors, as described earlier posts, ammonia is just an irritant.

Unfortunately,  the chiles did not work for poptart_22.

We've also tried both chiles & ammonia to keep squirrels out of attic eves.   Chiles also failed there to keep squirrels from chewing new holes through soffet & facia boards, while ammonia on rags worked very well.    We tried jalapenos and then habeneros.

In what situations did chiles work for you?

Which chiles did you use?      How did you use them?     

 

When people use ammonia to clean, they dilute it a lot in a large bucket of water.  Quite different than soaking a rag in pure ammonia, then forgetting it's there under the hood while driving.  The caustic fumes will come right through the air vents.

As I said in my original post, you mash up the chili peppers in some olive oil and brush it onto the wires in the engine.  Squirrels are smart enough not to eat the seeds, but they won't realize that the mixture is on the wires until they try to chew them.  I haven't had to use this method personally (I don't own a car here), but I know of several people in Ajijic who had wires chewed up, then tried this treatment and it worked for them. 

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