Rodent proofing a stored car?

I'm getting ready to put the Miata up for the winter.  Last year . . . it didn't go well.  Critters (I suspect either mice or "ground squirrels") chewed through some of the wiring on my fuel sending unit and chucked the fuel tank area full of acorns.   The car is being stored at my dad's, which is a rural/country area.  The car will be in a three-sided building, so it's covered, but not totally "indoors".  My dad has rejected my suggestion that we cut rations for his barn cats.  (Kidding, totally kidding)  At a friend's suggestion, I'm putting dryer sheets in the cockpit, trunk and under the hood.  Any other suggestions? I don't want anything poison based because my dad does have cats that frequent the building, and I don't want "dead stuff" in my car.  

Mothballs inside the car, so the cats can't get them.

Moth balls have worked well for me. I put them under the hood,under the car,and inside the car and had no rodent damage and the car sat 2 years. Some people say it makes the car stink but we didn't notice the smell. I have heard about dryer sheets but have not tried them

NGTD said:

Mothballs inside the car, so the cats can't get them.

Do cats eat mothballs? Ours never did. Maybe we are feeding them to much!

How far off the ground Can you get it? Then all you have to do is mouse proof the jackstands or car lift

Cats don't have to ingest mothballs to be poisoned by them, I wouldn't go that route, even in the cabin knowing there are cats nearby.

 I would suggest feeding the cats near the car and maybe provide shelter they like nearby. Shelter can be cardboard or wooden boxes and old towels to sleep on. If they are encouraged to hang out near it, they have a higher probability of catching or detering ground varmints around the area.

BlindPirate said:

NGTD said:

Mothballs inside the car, so the cats can't get them.

Do cats eat mothballs? Ours never did. Maybe we are feeding them to much!

No idea, I'm a dog guy and specifically Labs. They will eat ANYTHING!!!

I throw mothballs under our travel trailer every winter and my dogs have always left them alone.

I put a couple of these in the 944 every winter. Even though it's in my barn, critters can still get in there. It seems to help, and the smell is non-offensive.

I buy peppermint oil and put it in little dishes inside the interior, trunk, and engine bay. Every month get rid of the old oil and pour in fresh. Tried dryer sheets, Irish Spring soap and mothballs. This has worked the best over the past 3 years I've been using it.

I use dryer sheets and have for years.... no problems to report...

Gordon

Was told about the dryer sheets.   Apparently they really hate the smell and will stay away.

Other than mothballs, I have no helpful input.

What's funny here, though, is that three or four weeks ago, my wife was looking for solutions to repel mice and someone told her to use a bar of Irish Spring and it will keep them away.  She decided to fact-check that and one of the first couple results from the google was this thread: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/mice-repellent-myths/63073/page1/.  She thought, "Hey, those guys know everything about everything, so that's the site I'll check out".  The first post is a photo of the mouse-chewed bar of Irish Spring.

Dryer sheets and steel wool stuffed into various intakes and exhaust openings have worked for me. My neighborhood also has a few feral cats, so small rodents haven't been a big problem.

close linkedin account

This is my suggestion and it’s coming from a guy who allows massive spiders to cohabitate and catches and releases stink bugs rather than kill them. 

Mouse feces carry potentially awful things for we humans. If you ask me it’s fire-with-fire.

And it’s not as if the the cat suggestion while awesome, is humane to the mice. They get tortured by the cats before they die while mousetraps kill quickly

My motor glider sleeps outside, I put aluminum coil stock coiled into a hoop around each tire.  The hoop is held together by tough binder clips for easy removal.  Keeps the little buggers from going up the struts.

I would put hoops around each tire.

Now how do I get that little bastard out of my attic right over my bedroom?

Dan

Put it high and take the wheels off.  How do you keep the cats off of it?

I've seen mice make nests out of dryer sheets, and seen their teethmarks on mothballs, so they may or may not work for you.  Since the area is exposed to the elements I don't know what you could do to prevent them from getting into the engine compartment, but otherwise plug any gaps or holes (air intake, exhaust pipes, etc.)

I used the plastic you put under.   A desk chair on carpet ,. It has. Plastic. Pinsx. That keep it.  From. Sliding.   ,. Turn it upside down. And the. Cats. Do not like laying on it

In my experience, I have had some success with one million unit hot sauce at keeping mice at bay, but not squirrels.  While the squirrels didn't chew on anything with the one million unit hot sauce on it, they did go nuts on making nests.  Like, I clean the nest out of the engine compartment on Sunday afternoon, Monday afternoon it is back.  Clean it out and it's started up again Tuesday afternoon.  After the Global War on Squirrels started, that has pretty much eliminated that problem for now.

I've had good luck with those electric plugin sonic rodent deterrent devices in multiple situations.

I put a pouch of 'Fresh Cab' in each of my cars during the cold months. It is a repellant, not a poison. So far I have not had a problem with rodents.

ebonyandivory said:

close linkedin account

 

 

Mouse feces carry potentially awful things for we humans. If you ask me it’s fire-with-fire.

Sure you know where you are going with that? 

Put a snake inside the car. Won’t help with the engine compartment 

nutherjrfan said:

ebonyandivory said:

close linkedin account

 

 

Mouse feces carry potentially awful things for we humans. If you ask me it’s fire-with-fire.

Sure you know where you are going with that? 

 

I’m not sure what you mean...

In reply to sergio :

It's Michigan, a snake would end up being a "snake sicle".