snowyco Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 23 minutes ago, suegarn said: 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. Regardless of the dilution or not diluted, Ammonia is not toxic, does not cause cancer, and ammonia's vapors off a rag are just irritants. In the world of biohazards, toxins & carcinogens that we expose ourselves to, it's important to differentiate between things that are just irritants versus things that are far greater health threats. Chile pepper vapor & ammonia vapor are irritants - not toxic when inhaled. Keeping things of our daily lives in rational context: RAID, diesel bus exhaust soot, and cigarette smoke are examples of real health hazards as toxins & carcinogens. We tried crushed peppers & crushed peppers with oil on rags, and it did not work for either raccoons or squirrels. Ammonia on rags has worked for us with both raccoons & squirrels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poptarte_22@yahoo.com Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 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..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poptarte_22@yahoo.com Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Well....the mothballs did not seem to work....placing chili seeds near all tires and under the hood plus Bounce sheets did!! So far!! We have done this every nite for 5 and seem to have resolved the issue...for now! I am not about to begin trapping and then dropping the creatures for someone else to deal with....and as for toxic to them...I do not really care much...its about saving the wiring on my car at this point!! Today I bought small dried jalapeno peppers and placed a few of them on the engine. We will remove them if a mechanic has to work on it. Now I have to get rid of the mothball smell in the car.....using bounce sheets inside it I guess...but so far...the squirrels have moved on and out! They have probably just moved on to other cars here who have not discovered them as yet! I did warn neighbors about them tho...so its now out of my hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suegarn Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 3 hours ago, poptarte_22@yahoo.com said: 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..... 2 hours ago, poptarte_22@yahoo.com said: Well....the mothballs did not seem to work....placing chili seeds near all tires and under the hood plus Bounce sheets did!! So far!! We have done this every nite for 5 and seem to have resolved the issue...for now! I am not about to begin trapping and then dropping the creatures for someone else to deal with....and as for toxic to them...I do not really care much...its about saving the wiring on my car at this point!! Today I bought small dried jalapeno peppers and placed a few of them on the engine. We will remove them if a mechanic has to work on it. Now I have to get rid of the mothball smell in the car.....using bounce sheets inside it I guess...but so far...the squirrels have moved on and out! They have probably just moved on to other cars here who have not discovered them as yet! I did warn neighbors about them tho...so its now out of my hands. Okay, poptarte_22, which is it? You posted two different statements at the same time. In the first one, you said the chili seeds didn't work, yet in the second one.posted immediately after, you said that they did. I hope that you've finally eradicated the squirrels, and that they don't return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poptarte_22@yahoo.com Posted November 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 Ok...for the record...I said that MOTHBALLS did not work...not that chilis did not work! I have just read thru this whole ramble and cannot see where I said Chilis do not work! Maybe someone else said that. Possibly snowyco....but not me! They so far are working..with bounce sheets...which we remove when we drive away. Thanks for all your suggestions....for now we have it under control... Maybe they just moved away!! Or are in a neighbors car...but today the tall palms are being trimmed of the huge heavy seed bunches...that may help deter the squirrels further... Adios pesky squirrels.......... smile........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suegarn Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 poptarte, please read your first post that I quoted back to you. Here's the line where you said the chilis didn't work......" I placed chili pepper seeds on the engine and around the tires...didn't seem to fix them." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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