I found a mouse nest in my VW Golf engine bay yesterday ! Thank goodness they haven’t taken up residence in my MX5 parked right next to it ! The mouse had chewed up the battery protective jacket made of insulation material. I’ve now removed both the nest and jacket … fortunately not much damage done.
My question is how to ensure they don’t come back ? Has anyone bought one of those ultrasonic rodent deterrent boxes for the engine bay . Do they work ? Any other suggestions? Thanks all …
Mice seem to hate citrus, mint ,ammonia, eucalyptus, chili oil etc
You could try some scented oils in or around the cars to keep them away.
Had a similar problem with a mouse last year ,used peppermint oil mixed with water ,sprayed around the engine ,but dont use it on the sound deadening attached to the underneath of the bonnet
Hi
Used all the above ingredients to put off the male spiders looking for ‘nookies’ in my home this year AND they worked [plus leaving the plugs in the sinks etc] 
Now then…bought a neglected home in the 1990’s which came with a resident mouse…used to hear it at night scuttling around under the floorboards. Bought a humane trap and coated it with ‘peanut butter’…advice at the time to ‘capture and release’ …Didn’t Work !
Then had Gas Central Heating installed [3 level Town House] and my belief to this day is it was the NOISE that made the creature depart…and it never came back
Hope this helps
We used vinegar as it’s pet fiendly compared to things such as peppermint oil, though we use bowls round the place as opposed to spraying acid everywhere since it only requires the smell to deter the animal.
We had Lotus Elan +2s in bits and the little perishers ate the insulation off all the wiring looms - I do now have a plug-in ultra sonic rodent deterrent (not in the engine bay as wires all through car) and a humane trap. This has to be checked really regularly.
Seems to work so far 
Nothing in trap - and I have caught them before.
I’ve also sprayed a rodent deterrent all round the floor where the ND is parked and scented deterrent sachets are placed at possible entry points as this is the time of year when they move indoors.
Feels like siege mentality, but I do not want chewed up wiring in my MX-5!
Now have to connect the C-TEK to ensure the battery does not lose power in the cold.
Already had to beef up the tyres with air as the cooler weather has lowered the pressures and the warning light came on - OK after the extra air levelled them up!
Keep ahead of the game, and hope your little friends don’t return JBCCDU - nice looking car by the way!
Went to put some coffee grounds in the compost bin this morning and caught sight of a scaly tail disappearing under the top later of peelings/leaves.
It’s that time of year when our rodent friends come in from the cold. In my case Rattus Composticus.
Thanks for the replies, I’ve been spraying the engine bays with peppermint and lavender spray. Hoping I don’t get caught by one of the neighbours as they already think I’m strange ! Seems to work so far. I’ll also concentrate on driving it regularly over winter, shouldn’t be too much of a chore in the case of the ND !
Nice warm place, with comfortable bedding and a regular food supply, it’s much more attractive than a cold draughty garage or scrabbling underfloor in a house.
Snag, they will be so comfortable they’ll have nothing better to do than procreate, and suddenly there will be lots of them soon being kicked out of the family home and being forced to fend for themselves.
During the winters our neighbour’s cat spent hours on our compost heaps’ tarps enjoying the warmth, and listening (it looked fast asleep, but its ears tracked the movements below) and hoping for a little plaything to pop its head out for some fresh air.
We no longer have any compost heaps, it’s now a parking space for the DD.
Use mouse traps, lots of them with chcocolate on them.
I had a nest under the plastic engine cover in my last NC. The little blighters had chewed that white insulation under the cover for nest material.
I’ve blocked up entry points mainly around the metal up and over door and it’s seems to have done the trick. Humane trap under my work bench has caught some in the past plus not so humane trap loaded with peanut butter.
Thought I’d check up on Rattus Composticus this morning and found it curled up in a ball in the centre of the bin, scuttling off down an escape hole when my face appeared above. Droppings scattered around too and no doubt it’s been doing No1’s as well.
Health hazard. Note to self … “action required!”
If you hover over the reply button it reads “begin composting a reply to this post” - or at least it does when you’ve read “composticus” too many times 
If it’s the same as with mice then apparently they have no bladder control so where ever they go the “No1’s” will be there.
Since the center is accessible I’d put in a jam jar and pour in spirit vinegar from the bottle (unless it’s easy to place a pre-filled jar in there), I guess everything else will have to compost down unless you have a vacuum you can use.
‘Neighbours…They Already Think I’m Strange’
Join the Club I’m already in 
Saw a rat for the first time a few weeks ago [been here since 2014]. Was OK with this as Bullit now garaged away from property due to one persons anti-social behaviour
New neighbour called in a Rat Catcher…Hope he is using humane methods
With all of this I find myself conflicted…Don’t want to harm critters but don’t want them harming the things I care about…it’s dilemma 
Hmm, a bit like the multiplicity of mega-businesses and bureaucrats who want to ru(i)n our lives…
On a lighter note, I once had a ferret living in the inner wing of an MGB which was laid up over winter. Used to rip open my bin liners, limbo dance under the Henderson up-and-over door and chew on the chicken bones at leisure in a rudimentary nest of paper and leaves.
Caught him on my camcorder (wondering what the red light was for) looking very much like this.
Dunno…just know I’m increasingly abnormally tired & weary with too much change too fast and struggling to keep on top of things…so many jobs…so little time…trying to learn modern tech but then more powerful folk shift the goal posts again…
This has been going on for years…we used to joke about it in the Public Sector…‘This Month Orange is Red…Last Month We Told You Orange was Green but Now It’s Red Again’
Get me drift ?
Bless U 
Lifted My Spirits and Motivated Me to Tackle the Wider Issue of ‘How to Live Alongside Critters’
David Attenborough & Charles III ahead of us on this 
Historical Joke: So Glad Charles III more like Charles II and not Charles I 
i found that strawberry jam works well in mouse traps! as they cant pick it up and run away without setting the trap off! like thay can with a bit of chocolate or biscuit!
Cheaper than honey, but honey is like a magnet for them.
