Beware of Mice !!!!

[kenmyfam]

While away in Northern Ontario on vacation we left the Jimmy parked for over a week. Went to start it up to get the trailer ready and retrieve the boat and I only had the air bag light and checkj engine light on the dash !!! headlights, radio, instruments, power mirrors not functional. Checked under the hood and there is a mouse staring at us !!!! It ranaway immediately. Jiggled some wires and all was well again....till a few days after we got home. Then back to how it was. Spent all weekend finding the issues and found 2 wires from the main fuse / relay box under the hood leading to the interior sub fuse box with breaks, insulation and mouse poop around them. Replaced 2 wires and repaired another that was "nibbled" All is now well and everything is working again.
Lesson Learned is to take the vehicle for a drive each day so that rodents do not "find a new home" during a rainstorm. I think that is what the root cause was as we had a 7 hour torrential downpour the day after I parked the Jimmy !!!!
At least I eventually found the problem and am ready for our next trip !!!!!

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

In Florida it's the squirrels and the fruit rats. Retired men and ladies just drive one or two days every other week and come out to start em and nothing works. The rats love the insulation on the wires. Squirrels will eat just about anything.

 

[199675hpforce]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

Ha i bought a 1985 bmw 325e 5sp 55k original, the car was like new lol except for when the blower was used nuts,sunflower seeds dog food would shoot out. For the price $5500 was a steal for this car owner thought squirels had messed with it. One day while the hood was up i saw these whiskers poking out well i grabbed a pair of pliers and pulled five out. O yes i had night mares.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I've had lots of problems with chipmunks here, they're worse than squirrels in that they get in tighter spots. I've had them chew everything from wires to tires.
I got two big cats now, and they keep them at bay.
Where I used to live, the problem was all of the above and with the added thrill of finding snakes all over the place as well. I pulled the hood off my 70hp outboard one day to find a huge black snake coiled up inside. He had found his way in through the lower pan somehow and made himself at home. Mice are common all over, I had one ruin a headliner in my old car, I had left it sit for a week while away on vacation, came back to find a bad odor in the car and a lump in the headliner. Mice had made a nest out of the back seat cushion foam in the headliner. Several had died either from what they chewed or from the sun's heat on the roof. It was a fairly new car with no obvious openings for them to get in, and I never figured out where they did get in, but I could see where they traveled from under the rear seat to the headliner. They most likely had to get in through the heater ducts some how. They also like boats, outboards, motorcycles, tractors, etc. I'd still rather find a mouse than a snake, especially in the dark.

I got a real surprise the other day, I had washed down the boat after a day out, and left the cabin door open to let it dry out a bit after I washed down the inside of the windows and dash. I went in the boat to close it up after dark and awoke about a half dozen bats that had decided to call it home for the night. I actually grabbed one as I reached around the back of the door for the keys that were on a hook hanging from the roof. I think I had hold of two, but one wriggled free and flew out past my head while I had the other firmly in my hand thinking it was the foam key chain float. I realized what it was a second after I realized what had flown past my head. It didn't bite but made quite a racket squealing. After a close look at the critter I let it go. Pretty much just a mouse with wings. Hopefully they don't make a habit of spending time in my boat.

 

[Fingernip]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I had chipmunks chew through the return fuel line in the flex section on my astro. Didnt realize till i was standing in a pool of gasoline while it was running.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

In college years ago, a squirrel clawed through a perfectly good screen window at my third floor apartment. What did it eat? It ate two Green Bay Packer foam cheeseheads. They were only partially eaten since I came home and scared the thing.

Squirrels will eat anything.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I did have a problem a few years ago with a squirrel chewing it's way into my plastic garbage cans, but it was hard to tell the squirrel damage from the shot gun damage after I finally got tired of it.

 

[SANDMAN91290]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

Hi everyone. I have a big German shepherd who hates cats. I mean he just salivates when he sees one. One day I stepped out my front door and saw the fender wells and wiring harnesses ripped out of my Tahoe on both sides. I raised the hood to find a little kitten sitting back behind the throttle body. He didnt get the cat but he cost me about 700.00 in repair costs.

 

[alamosaddles]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

Had a pristine 1996 4x4 Ford Bronco, lifted very well on 35's....We had a litter of puppys, Neapolitan Mastiffs. Had the truck under the carport cover without using it. When we finally went to make use of th etruck again, it would not start. Looking at the undercarriage, we discovered a slew of wires and connections, all ripped down, apart, chewed, knawed...all in all, the puppies had found something to entertain themselves with. Ended up literally giving the truck away for $500 due to the frustration of the whole thing.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

Had a family of mice living under the hood of my moms car once, we fed them good mouse food!!!! RIP
I had one living in my glove box for a while!!! I have know idea how it got in in the first place. I never did see the critter only a nice bed made of napkins.

They also got in my boat and destroyed my lfe jackets and chewed the wire loom protecting my boats wiring.

 

[FusionFrank]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

As an Auto Appraiser for a major Insurance Co. I have inspected numerous rodent damaged vehicles over the years and YES, as everyone knows they can cause quite a bit of damage. But, if you have Comprehensive coverage on your Insurance policy - rodent damage is a covered loss. Best of all, it does not cause your rates to go up if you put in a claim - pretty much free money so to say, in addition most people have a much lower deductible for their comp coverage as compared to collision coverage.

As a new boat owner, I was very worried about rodent damage to my boat when I stored it for the first time over the winter last year. I posted on here and got great advice. Moth Balls & dryer sheets (the smelly flowery ones). When I stored my boat last fall for the winter I put mothballs and dryer sheets in every nook & cranny I could find and guess what? No rodent damage in the spring - just a heck of a time remembering & finding all the places I stashed the mothballs & dryer sheets.​

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

Since I live up here where boating is out of the question in the Winter, I turn my boat over on the trailer at first freeze. Last Spring, I went out and turned it right side up to get ready for the ice to be off the lakes.

A squirrel had built a nest on what was normally the underside of the bow seat in the boat. Nice nest of sticks, twigs, etc. It was empty, so she probably had abandoned it for some reason.

This year, I'm going to fill that space with something, to prevent it from happening again.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

My first car I bought from a local farmer who had it sitting in a field since his daughters (who used it before) left for college.

After getting it rolling with a lot of work and money, I took it with me to college. I eventually had to put in some wiring in the dash, which had always smelled like a mouse nest.

No mice. But pulling the dash wiring out I did find a snake skin twined between the wires... it seems a snake used the wires as a handy scratcher

I eventually accumulated enough unburned fuel in the cat. converter for it to start on fire while I was driving. So I junked it

Erik

 

[Kessi]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

In the real world (or at least the working one) I'm an equipment manager at a golf course.
Last year one of the members came up to us and said that our dump bed truck was running on a Saturday night with no one in sight. He let the pro shop know at the time but when they came up the truck was off.
Getting the report on Monday I went out to look at the truck. As I opened the door the thing fired up, this is with the keys in my hand!
Pop the hood and took a look around and guess what I found!
Little bug eyed devils.
Dealer had to put in a whole new fuse/relay box.
Wish I had know about the insurance covering it then.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

we used to have a rodent issue but then we inherited two cats. the trick was to only feed them enough to keep them around. we havent seen a squirrel, chipmunk or rabbit since.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

In the real world (or at least the working one) I'm an equipment manager at a golf course.
Last year one of the members came up to us and said that our dump bed truck was running on a Saturday night with no one in sight. He let the pro shop know at the time but when they came up the truck was off.
Getting the report on Monday I went out to look at the truck. As I opened the door the thing fired up.

Was the trucks name Christine??

 

[jtexas]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I keep the boat at a storage yard, but I don't worry about rodents because of a healthy population of semi-domesticated cats.

Found a kitten in the boat one day, luckily *before* we left home for a 3-day camping trip. Keeping it wasn't an option -- poor thing hadn't even opened its eyes yet. Boxed it up & took it back -- hopefully momma cat found her lost baby in time.

No evidence that an actual birth occured on board, probably just sheltering from previous night's thunderstorms.

From all indications, the cats don't seem to be coming aboard at all -- could it be 'cause my first mate is a big ol' yella hound?

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I had an outboard today full of mice, an older 40 HP that's been stored for about 30 years. It was actually in a guys basement, but when I pulled the cover, it was one huge nest, full of foam stuffing, cloth and anything else they chewed up. The motor wasn't touched in anyway. The odd part is I can't see any real opening for them to get in other than a thin gap at the bottom of the pan. There were several small mice inside that ran for cover the minute I lifted the lid. They were just using it for a home, they hadn't chewed on any wires or any part of the motor. It looked like furniture stuffing inside making up most of the nest.
The boat that went with it was full of hornets and large brown hairy spiders of the likes which I've never seen. The spiders were about 2" across counting the legs, light brown or tan in color with two long mandibles or fangs. They had black markings. The boat came from south FL, so they may have been from that area. We have nothing like that around here. The hornets left home on the ride home, with the nest falling out at a gas station.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I had an outboard today full of mice, an older 40 HP that's been stored for about 30 years. It was actually in a guys basement, but when I pulled the cover, it was one huge nest, full of foam stuffing, cloth and anything else they chewed up. The motor wasn't touched in anyway. The odd part is I can't see any real opening for them to get in other than a thin gap at the bottom of the pan. There were several small mice inside that ran for cover the minute I lifted the lid. They were just using it for a home, they hadn't chewed on any wires or any part of the motor. It looked like furniture stuffing inside making up most of the nest.
The boat that went with it was full of hornets and large brown hairy spiders of the likes which I've never seen. The spiders were about 2" across counting the legs, light brown or tan in color with two long mandibles or fangs. They had black markings. The boat came from south FL, so they may have been from that area. We have nothing like that around here. The hornets left home on the ride home, with the nest falling out at a gas station.

Is this a project boat for you ????

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Beware of Mice !!!!

I got all the critters out of that boat pretty fast, a couple of cans of bee spray and a pressure washer with the boat laying over on it's side with pump running to pickup the water. Its all clear now, after a dose of insecticide and about 1500 psi of general detergent, it looks like new again.

I had a better one the other day, I picked up a 16' boat which was in the water beached about a mile up from the nearest ramp behind some woman's house. I was told it ran fine, just get it out of there, (free!). I hopped in it, checked the paperwork and numbers against the title, all was good, the battery was too dead to crank the boat so I gave the recoil a shot and fired on the second pull. I rocked it a bit got it free of the muck and lowered the motor and off I went. I had my trailer waiting at the public ramp ready to load. A buddy was there and ready to load when I came into the launch area. I motored it up the trailer, shut it down, pulled it out, drained out about ten gallons of rain water and strapped it down. After getting it back to my place, I pulled the cover to see what I had found, and to my surprise, when I pulled the cover, it was one solid mass of grass and stuffing. A mouse or something had made one huge nest. There was no sign of anything still in it, just the odor of them being there for a long time, no wiring damage either. I took a broom and swept away the bulk of it and got out the pressure washer and some WD40. It cleaned up well and turned out to be great motor. I was most surprised that they hadn't done any damage other than the mess of stuffing and nesting materials. The boat was OK, but I sold the motor. Maybe I'll use this 50hp on one of my 16' boats here.

If they were in there when I started it up, they must have jumped ship mid way or learned to swim. I normally wouldn't have just started it and gone with out pulling the cover, but since it started so quick and had current registration, I just figured I'd better just make a run for the ramp right away in case it had any hard to start issues when hot. I even found a receipt from a local marina from two months ago for a tune up and new water pump and thermostat, so it was maintained and those critters had moved in fairly recently. The motor still has the odor of rodent about it but another good wash job should fix that.