Mice Getting In Cabin + Air Filter Question

Hello everyone--longtime reader, first time poster.
This is a great forum and was instrumental in deciding on our 2017 Prius v two. Bought in 2017 from a dealer as a 6 month old courtesy car with less than 4000 miles, now at 57000. 42.5 lifetime MPG since we've owned it via Fuelly...

It's been excellent have been happy with it, but we've found mouse droppings over the course of the last several days IN THE CABIN!! Mostly in the back hatch area and the passenger seat. Sad times....
I've been reading all the content on here about mouse-proofing the car.

-As of today, it's been really well cleaned out and some traps will be put out this evening in and around the car.
-There were a few mouse droppings on the right side under the hood (top of inverter?), but no other visible damage or signs of critters being there.
-No other signs ever of mice in our Matrix, or Corolla that preceded the Prius v parked in the same spot.

-Luckily, no smell or signs of nesting or droppings in the cabin air filter behind the glove box, but.....

Check out the 2 photos--the fabric is torn above the filter and its all exposed. Any ideas how I could fix that? I'd hate to have to go the the dealer and have the whole thing disassembled to replace that little piece of fabric.

Thanks so much for the help!

 

Update:

Caught a mouse in a trap on the passenger front floor overnight.
Saw 1 mouse dropping in the cabin air filter.

-Could use steel wool to fill in that spot where the fabric membrane is torn above the air filter. Thoughts?
I did this in the past in a house that had some space around pipes where they came thorough the wall. Plumber told me mice don't like to claw around with that stuff. Maybe tape of some sort if that's no good?

-I had the "recirculate" button pressed in to block that opening from the outside, but the retracting/moving piece seems to more forward again after the car is shutoff.

I have read about the screening in the engine compartment below the windshield. Could be what I'm looking at here. Will set traps out for a couple more nights and see what happens.

 

I will look those up thanks.

After catching the mouse on the first night, never saw sign of any more.
I plan to put the screen over the fresh air intake in the future.

I’d also like to repair the cloth membrane above the cabin air filter (shown in the photos above). If anybody has ideas on the best way to do that please let me know, I appreciate it!

 

Yikes! Glad you were able to fix that without a trip to the mechanic.
Did you see any other sign of mice around?

 

Indeed. Glad the mouse traps are working.
I had luck with the cheap Victor ones.

 

Thanks for the response. I’ll use that video when I dig into the project.

 

I may try some sort of soap or scent, and keeping it very clean will help. Haven’t seen any sign of them since I caught the 1 on the first night.

Anyone have thoughts on how to repair that spot where the fabric membrane was torn over the filter? Thanks!