Patrick Wong, one of my most respected posters, sort of got me thinking of this.... The Prius is a mouse magnet. I have my old car, a 1987 Corolla parked next to the Prius. I haven't had mice in there since last summer. My husband's '98 Camry is nearby. Last mouse attack on the Camry was last November. My Prius has a red bullseye on it when it comes to mice. Is there something about that "soybean and wire" theory....
Are they in search of their wheel to run on for alternative power. Everyone swears that mine is powered by a mouse
Huh...I've never had a mouse in any of my cars. Seems like your cars in general, and your Prius specifically, are particularly attractive to mice. However, I did have a mouse setup house in an empty (unused) fuel tank that was then installed in a boat....gave the poor outboard fits until we figured out what the heck kept clogging the fuel filters....
You need to pull off the wiper arms, then the cowel cover, and install metal mesh in the openings. There is a topic on this site detailing how to do it (including pictures).
Thanks, K. Consider that your aggressive trapping program may result in reducing the population but increasing the average intelligence level of the surviving mice. Also consider that your use of horseradish as a deterrent may result in highly intelligent mice with a taste for prime rib. That seems pretty scary to me! The long term solution is to eliminate the access points in the Prius which you already know about, plus making your property very unattractive to vermin by eliminating any places where they might nest. Good luck...
Cyber quote! "I do such things as pick up tree branches dislodged by the March winds that are lying across the road, or to shoo away the snakes that have come out of hibernation and are stretched across the road soaking up spring sunshine.... (don't want to squash my slithery friends)." Instead of shooing those snakes off the road you could take them home to help with the meese problem
Today's New Cars Smell Like Food to Rodents I think HardCase may have hit the nail indirectly on the head. Have people noticed that present day new cars have a lot less of that "new-car smell" than new cars did in the past? I think this is because of the decreased use of traditional, petroleum based materials/plastics, and the increased use of biobased, food based, eco-friendly, "PVC free" or "halogen free" materials/plastics in cars. Today's new cars, with their increased use of biobased or food based materials, may in fact have less "new-car smell" to humans, but more "new-car smell" to rodents searching for food. I think this move toward food based, halogen free materials -- especially PVC free wire insulation, covers and harnesses -- may have originated or had its biggest start in Europe. That may explain why the first cars I heard about as seemingly being more attractive to wire eating rodents were all German cars. But now, I've heard this soybased, halogen free, wire coverings theory applied to certain American and Japanese cars as well. In this regard, I understand Toyota and Honda are among the industry leaders in the use of halogen free, eco-friendly, food based materials in their cars. In fact, Toyota touts its reduction of PVC use and its development and increased use of food based "Eco-Plastic": TOYOTA: Company > Technology Anyways, what do I know .... Wish someone with actual knowledge about this stuff would pipe in.
Maybe you could just put a tail on the back of your Prius, whiskers in the front, and a horn that says "MEOW." The mice might get the message and you could give your Prius a cool name like "The Mousetrap" or "The Cat's Meow"...
Perhaps it's time to consider a http://www.amazon.com/Sharper-Image-Ultrasonic-Deterrent-SI310TNM/dp/B000A3I9QY-based solution. (Or perhaps those things actually work.)
Since my Prius is parked outside at our cottage I have become concerned that there will be mice in forbidden places inside the car. I have read the posts about removing the wipers etc. to access the drain holes and air intake and did not want to go that route. What I did do was place a 1/4 inch mesh galvanized screen directly over the air filter as seen in the attached photo. Since this is the point of entry to the fan and vent parts of the car, at least the mice will have to stop at this point which will make it much easier to clean out any nests or debris just by pulling the filter. In case there is a large quantity of stuff on top it will be wise to pull the filter out a little and slide a sheet metal plate in under the nylon filter case to prevent the debris from falling into the fan area. Next comes the back hatch area. Maybe the same mesh will come in handy here.
What a wonderful, wonderful, idea!!!!!! I may try to do the screening cowling route this summer, when the weather clears enough that I can actually do some work outside without freezing too much....or....since my husband Ken has gotten a bit less cranky about the Prius, it may be a good July 19th job for him. IN the meantime, I am going to stick a piece of screening across the filter. I have a lot of it, since my cat, Mr. Whiskers, loves to shred the screens on the doors. Speaking of.....between giving Mr. Whiskers a good talking to, spraying the engine compartment with Mice Potion #9 and setting out a variety of live traps, dead traps and "Just One Bite" bait bars, I have not caught a mouse for four days.....DAYLIGHT AHEAD!!!!
In my last post I showed the screen on top of the cabin filter. It Worked! Today I found the beginnings of a mouse's nest in my lower glove compartment. When I checked the filter screen at least there was no sign of mice on the screen...just the usual bits of leaf etc that normally stops there. How did the mouse get into that location? There must be a different route from the outside to the glove box NOT through the air intake filter route. My next step will be to remove the wipers and drain pan and screen off the openings that are there. Also I intend to screen off the air openings in the low hatch area which can be accessed from the inside by removing the hatch trim. I am also looking suspiciously at a couple of 3/4" holes that can be seen easily near the drain pan on the horizontal body inside the engine compartment above the passenger side wheel. Mice can go through a 3/4" hole. Wish me luck!
try cleaning the fast food bags, cheetos crumbs, and etc.. out of the car... ;-) regular fast food drive in for meeces!
