WARNING- Gross photos below... A few weeks ago I found my Bluetooth headphones torn to pieces, with the wire chewed through in several places and an ear cup shaved into bits. I also found what appeared to be black plastic dust on the rear cargo floor. Clearly a rodent had found its way in. We just flew home from a 5 day trip to Colorado, and drove the Prius to a restaurant for dinner. It smelled musty in the cabin, like water had caused some mold. Well, that night I went to work, and after a 13 shift, I came back to the car and the fragrance had changed from moldy, to dead animal. I decided to thoroughly clean the car, vacuuming everything, including removing the rear seat, washing the floor mats, and wiping down all surfaces. While cleaning, I discovered tattered napkins in the glove box; the tell-tell sign that it had been a rodent playground. After cleaning, the smell was just as strong as ever, and I realized I would have to purposely bury my nose into every cushion and crevice until I found the source. After about 10 minutes of sniffing around, I concluded that the strongest stench was emanating from the center console. I ran my hand under the plastic cowl where it met the carpet, and to my horror, felt something squishy. The shrew had died while clinging on to the white batting of the cover, and I had to pry it out along with a chunk of the white insulation. Although I hadn't eaten in over 15 hours by that time, I wasn't hungry. The car still smells bad, and I'm hoping there was only the 1 corpse. I drove the Acura to work today, while the Prius sits in the garage with the windows down, and a gallon of Febreze mixing with the aroma of death.
The Prius was the first new car we've had that didn't have "new car" smell. There's been mention (somewhere, can't find at the moment) that the plastics used on the interior are plant based. Maybe that's a factor in attracting rodents. We had a rat in the engine bay for a bit, nothing inside the cabin luckily.
I hope to never have this problem again, although this is at least the 2nd time I have found evidence of rodents inside the cabin. Maybe parking the car with the vents set to recirculate will block their way in? Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where a valet returns the car smelly.
Some people installed screens. Two trouble areas are the cabin vent system air intakes and the hybrid battery vent outlets.
How are they getting through the plastic screen below the windshield? Wire screen isn't as finely spaced as the plastic cover.
I have rat poison in my garage. My suspicion is that it ate the poison, and then found a comfy place to die.
How difficult is that hole to block, considering the hood hinge is so near it? Maybe with wadded metal screening or mesh? Even if that worked, mice could still easily chew through the plastic screen, I suppose. Semi-relatedly, I wonder whether under-hood air leaking into that same opening is part of the reason why air comes out of the "face" vents so much warmer than outdoor ambient when the heat is supposed to be off.
Could you provide any photos of your setup? Did you have to disassemble anything or is this an easy job to do?
If I may jump in: I put steel mesh over the cabin air intake. It's got a 1/4" grid, galvanized steel. Bent to follow the firewall contours, and secured with sheet metal screws. To do this you need to take off the wipers and their motor/linkage, and the cowl. For info on that removal see @NutzAboutBolts video on spark plug change, in a thread pinned at top of third gen maintenance forum. I put the same kind of mesh over the end of the engine air snorkel.
