While we love our 2010 Toyota Tundra for doing truck stuff, doing truck stuff is not an everyday occurrence. Our Tundra will occasionally sit for as much as a couple weeks in between trips, which presents its own set of maintenance hazards.
We recently learned this the hard way when the check engine light glowed. We’ve had CELs before on …
I heard great things about the Tundra on RatYelp.
Honda Rat Tape, and Mothballs
There is company called Grandpa Gus that sells repellent bags that work well in our RV. I know that part of the problem is that some electrical wiring is made from soy bean based material which attracts the rodents. Until I found the Grandpa Gus products, I was even considering a cat. That is a tall order for someone with four jack russells. They love to hunt vermin but the collateral damage is probably higher.
I've used some repellent bags, too, for the garage my Caddy is in. It seems to keep the mice out of the car, but not out of the garage. I take it the repellent bags work best in enclosed spaces.
Every few months I come back to the area where the car is and refill a big bowl of mice bait/poison in the garage. Every time it's gone. I haven't seen any rodent damage but they're obviously still there if they're eating it.
Squirrels chewed a harness in my son's CX-5.
The YouTube algorithm knows me well, and one channel it sends my way is called Just Rolled In, which is comprised of videos submitted by auto technicians and the absolute garbage that people bring in and want fixed...most often it's completely botched DIY things.
Anyway, one recent clip had a customer who was complaining about mice. The tech opened the door to find a large snake, with a mouse in its mouth, retreating back into the dash from the pedal area. The customer failed to mention his DIY solution of putting his pet snake in the car to get the mice.
At least Nature solved one problem.
So yeah, you live in Florida...there are all kinds of snakes there. Find one and let Nature run its course.
Mouse tape.
Part number 4019-2317
It is about $40 per roll.
The mouse tape is supposed to be infused with some sort of hot pepper.... Stuff.
I wonder if you could just squirt some sriracha sauce on there. That stuff goes on anything.
J.A. Ackley said:I've used some repellent bags, too, for the garage my Caddy is in. It seems to keep the mice out of the car, but not out of the garage. I take it the repellent bags work best in enclosed spaces.
Every few months I come back to the area where the car is and refill a big bowl of mice bait/poison in the garage. Every time it's gone. I haven't seen any rodent damage but they're obviously still there if they're eating it.
We had a specialist company come out and completely seal the exterior of the house, no more mouse problem. They don't use bait/poison as they said if they eat it then die behind a wall you're going to have a stinky problem for a long time.
My Kia Forte GT's engine harness got munched on by some critter a few summer's ago. Stupidly, Kia decided that not having an engine sub-harness was a perfectly good idea so the entire electrical harness had to be replaced. With all the attendent delays and headaches you might imagine that entails. Fortunately insurance covered it... 
Coniglio Rampante said:The YouTube algorithm knows me well, and one channel it sends my way is called Just Rolled In, which is comprised of videos submitted by auto technicians and the absolute garbage that people bring in and want fixed...most often it's completely botched DIY things.
Anyway, one recent clip had a customer who was complaining about mice. The tech opened the door to find a large snake, with a mouse in its mouth, retreating back into the dash from the pedal area. The customer failed to mention his DIY solution of putting his pet snake in the car to get the mice.
At least Nature solved one problem.
So yeah, you live in Florida...there are all kinds of snakes there. Find one and let Nature run its course.
I have never watched one of those videos. Just seeing the icon and title is enough. 
We had a truck we kept parked at a hunting lease for long stretches and found that disconnecting the battery stopped the rats from chewing all the under hood and under dash wires. (The truck's name was No-Doors. That's how they got under the dash.) This was South Texas - the rats there are very aggressive. They would come out of the brush and bite our shoes if we weren't paying attention.
This happened to both my '08 Tundra and my '21 Tundra. The second of which was a pretty expensive/involved repair (done by the dealership & covered by insurance, luckily.) Best thing I've found to stop it is the mint spray, this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Mint-Repellent-Vehicle-Interiors/dp/B08WJWNDYS/
Ugh...rodents LOVE my Tundra wiring harness too. Couple of years ago, they got in and ate up the harness under the main junction block. What a mess, not to mention a total PITA to solder and tape back into some semblance of functioning!
Ive tried Cab Fresh, peppermint spray, and moth balls. Moth balls seem to work. Unfortunately, it's like nuclear deterrence...you only know when it doesn't work and ,by then, it's too late.
Kpgarage said:There is company called Grandpa Gus that sells repellent bags that work well in our RV. I know that part of the problem is that some electrical wiring is made from soy bean based material which attracts the rodents. Until I found the Grandpa Gus products, I was even considering a cat. That is a tall order for someone with four jack russells. They love to hunt vermin but the collateral damage is probably higher.
I've tried mothballs, dryer sheets and some chemical I've forgotten about for Miata winter storage. They all failed. This winter I used the Grandpa Gus bags and no signs of mice this year!
Every thought about how much some kitty cats would help.....
Noddaz said:Mouse tape.
Part number 4019-2317
It is about $40 per roll.
The mouse tape is supposed to be infused with some sort of hot pepper.... Stuff.
I wonder if you could just squirt some sriracha sauce on there. That stuff goes on anything.
Your little plan doesn't work so good if I'm then the one gnawing the wires in two.
Hey JG,
I don't drive my Excursion except when I go to race events. Several years ago I opened the hood and found hundreds of nuts from a nearby tree had been stashed by squirrels. They gnawed at the hood insulation and made several nests. I cleaned it up but a few months later I had driveablilty issues and found the squirrels had chewed on the fuel injection harness. Almost $800 later I decided to get serious. I bought two large plastic (reusable) rat traps and fastened one on each of the two batteries. Over the next month I "captured" 6 squirrels. Their friends must have got the message and left the truck alone. I always keep the traps baited just in case. A few weeks ago I "captured" a large chipmunk.
I've been told that the insulation on the wires is soy based and the varmints love it. I highly recommend the rat traps!
You have to refresh the repellant packs every couple months, else the mice shred them for nesting.
Of course, there may be other interested tenants.
BillKeksz said:You have to refresh the repellant packs every couple months, else the mice shred them for nesting.
Of course, there may be other interested tenants.
Living in Michigan all my cars go into winter storage in the garage. When I first started doing this a few years I used the Irish Spring soap bar method that I had found on the internet. I always check the cars about every other week. The first time I checked, something had eaten all the soap bars. There were just scraps left and I could clearly see teeth marks on the remains. Soooo I would not recommend using IS for a critter deterrent.
We just finished a multi location Squirrel attack on a Tacoma this morning, nasty business. Now he is trying cayenne pepper on the harness. Time will tell if that works as a deterrent.
The plastic TOM CAT snap traps found at LOWE's or ACE hardware do work, with a small dab of peanut butter. I've placed them in trunks, on floormats, and atop engines, etc. If your vehicle is garaged (best), search for any openings they can enter, and seal them up.
The only thing I've heard that works is to leave the hood open.
In reply to Noddaz :
I tried that sriacha on the mouse tape once. Still got stuck to the roof of my mouth, but boy did it taste good.
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