Packrats Suck

[marcfj60]

Spent the morning clearing a pack rat nest out of the engine by of the 2002 4Runner that's been sitting for a while because I need to replace the thermostat and put new coolant in it. I didn't take any pictures because they'll just piss me off if I see them again. Going to move it to another location and put some traps underneath it.

 

[Mauser]

Spent the morning clearing a pack rat nest out of the engine by of the 2002 4Runner that's been sitting for a while because I need to replace the thermostat and put new coolant in it. I didn't take any pictures because they'll just piss me off if I see them again. Going to move it to another location and put some traps underneath it.

Once the smell is in there they will find it no matter where you park it. You gotta leave the hood open at least alittle bit or they won't stay out. Packrats suck.

 

[pappy]

Packrats suck.

Agree. They even get into my stuff. I'm not kind to them when they do.

 

[banjo1981]

Spent the morning clearing a pack rat nest out of the engine by of the 2002 4Runner that's been sitting for a while because I need to replace the thermostat and put new coolant in it. I didn't take any pictures because they'll just piss me off if I see them again. Going to move it to another location and put some traps underneath it.

I’ve heard Irish spring soap shavings are a hood deterent.

 

[alia176]

Spent the morning clearing a pack rat nest out of the engine by of the 2002 4Runner that's been sitting for a while because I need to replace the thermostat and put new coolant in it. I didn't take any pictures because they'll just piss me off if I see them again. Going to move it to another location and put some traps underneath it.

so, are ya selling this 4runner since you're in the for sale section

Pack & wood rats plain suck. Been my nemesis for the last 18 years in this house. The dogs drove out the snakes but I can sure use them.

Still better than living in the asphalt jungle.

 

[marcfj60]

so, are ya selling this 4runner since you're in the for sale section

Pack & wood rats plain suck. Been my nemesis for the last 18 years in this house. The dogs drove out the snakes but I can sure use them.

Still better than living in the asphalt jungle.

I must have been high from the smell of the urine and turds and posted in the wrong thread.

 

[marcfj60]

I posted this in the wrong thread the first time because I wasn't paying attention. Then figured I'd just start a new thread instead of post in the "what did you work on today" thread.

I spent the morning clearing a pack rat nest out of the engine by of the 2002 4Runner that's been sitting for several weeks because I need to replace the thermostat and put new coolant in it. I had changed the oil and put some new radiator hoses on it a while back but I couldn't get the temp gauge to sit where I wanted it and there was a little weeping out from the new hose where it connects to the top of the engine. So I decided to have my son drive the '05 4R while this one was down for repairs.

I didn't take any pictures because they'll just piss me off if I see them again. Going to move it to another location and put some traps underneath it. I discovered the vermin had also been using the air filter box as a toilet too. So I had to disassemble/remove the airbox to spray it out. Used my flexible grabber tool to extract what seemed like hundreds of little cholla cactus spines. Their urine trails/streaks are in multiple locations and won't wash off with a high pressure stream of water. I had to scrub with a toothbrush where I could reach.

To my knowledge, there aren't any packrat nests nearby where it is parked. It just hasn't moved in several weeks because I've been too busy to work on it. I guess it was an industrious little focker. I recalled seeing some chewed up cholla chunks in the driveway earlier this week and lifted the hood to scope out the work I need to do after pouring concrete on some shed foundation piers yesterday. I'm going to move it over to onto the concrete pad by the garage, leave the hood popped open with a 2X6 propping it open. I'm sure that will mean that a bird will nest in there now. And I'm going to put some extra rat traps out underneath it to try to kill the damn thing.

The best I can tell, only a little section of wires got chewed on adjacent to the next. It doesn't look like many conductors were lost, just some insulation. So I'll just tape that up and hope for the best.

 

[marcfj60]

If you want, you can start the thread, and I can move everything so far into it.

Can you move my packrat posts over to the dedicated post too so it's not messing up the for sale thread?

 

[pappy]

Can you move my packrat posts over to the dedicated post too so it's not messing up the for sale thread?

Yep.

 

[marcfj60]

Once the smell is in there they will find it no matter where you park it. You gotta leave the hood open at least alittle bit or they won't stay out. Packrats suck.

First night report has droppings appearing where the nest was previously but no reconstruction occurred. The hood was propped open about 6" with a 2X6 holding the hood open above the latch and a battery charger placed inside the engine bay. The live trap I put next to the vehicle with peanut butter did not catch anything.

 

[Mauser]

The live trap I put next to the vehicle with peanut butter did not catch anything.

A live trap? What the hell you gonna do, relocate it like the hippies do with prairie dogs?

If you want to catch it, use a big Victor snap trap. For bait, peanut butter melted into a cotton ball wired to the pan of the trap works great. If you use just peanut butter the S.O.B.s will just lick it off. If you don't tie the trap to something there is a good chance that they will take it if it gets sprung without killing the rat.

I have tried Irish Spring soap, all natural sachets, and lots of other "home remedies" only to find that I was just giving the little mofos nesting material. I won't use poison for quite a few reasons.

When I was a kid, we had squirrels getting into the house. One day while my mom and sisters were away my dad and I went through the whole house moving everything around looking to kill them with a .22 rifle loaded with birdshot. I remember him shooting one and the mess it made.

 

[marcfj60]

A live trap? What the hell you gonna do, relocate it like the hippies do with prairie dogs?

If you want to catch it, use a big Victor snap trap. For bait, peanut butter melted into a cotton ball wired to the pan of the trap works great. If you use just peanut butter the S.O.B.s will just lick it off. If you don't tie the trap to something there is a good chance that they will take it if it gets sprung without killing the rat.

I have tried Irish Spring soap, all natural sachets, and lots of other "home remedies" only to find that I was just giving the little mofos nesting material. I won't use poison for quite a few reasons.

When I was a kid, we had squirrels getting into the house. One day while my mom and sisters were away my dad and I went through the whole house moving everything around looking to kill them with a .22 rifle loaded with birdshot. I remember him shooting one and the mess it made.

A live trap because all my rat traps were already set in the little black boxes around the house and it was 10:30 at night and the live trap was just sitting on the shelf unused when I was looking for something. I wanted to be able to look it in the eyes when I smash its skull with a rock, or when I dump it in a 5 gallon bucket 1/3 full of soapy water. I do have a .22 rifle. I even have some QUIET-22 (necessary since I live in the relatively populated part of Bernalillo County). Buy Quiet-22 for USD 5.99 | CCI - https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/quiet-22/6-960.html Just hope I don't end up punching an extra hole in my live trap mesh.

I need to buy more rat traps. I do like your suggestion to tie it to something. I had a gopher get caught in a snap trap I had left near the chicken coop. It carried it away and then got wedged into the entrance of its burrow when it end up dying. I did put some overpriced essential oils from my wife's collection on a cotton pad because her doterra bible said to do it. It's probably using it now to apply hippie perfume.

Your squirrel in the house story reminds me a little of an incident when I lived in Farmington and a chipmumnk/ground squirrel got into the house and I was chasing it all over the place trying to catch it while the useless cats just watched the show.

 

[juane]

Any experience with these devices?

Amazon.com

 

[alia176]

Any experience with these devices?

Amazon.com

I have these devices in all of my cars.

 

[alia176]

I found a cozy next in the glovebox of my '03 4runner. They got in through the cabin air filter but that stops now..

 

[marcfj60]

I found a cozy next in the glovebox of my '03 4runner. They got in through the cabin air filter but that stops now..

View attachment 3637185

Why don't automakers put metal mesh screens at the fresh air intakes to start with? I've had mice make nests in my ES350 under the cowl adjacent to the fresh air intake and then shred the cabin air filter for nesting material. The last time I replaced the engine air filter in my '05 4Runner I discovered something had been stockpiling seeds in the airbox. Why not put some kind of large mesh hardware cloth at the entrance to the intake inside the fender? We can't be the only people that have to deal with significant rodent problems.

 

[Mauser]

Why don't automakers put metal mesh screens at the fresh air intakes to start with? I've had mice make nests in my ES350 under the cowl adjacent to the fresh air intake and then shred the cabin air filter for nesting material. The last time I replaced the engine air filter in my '05 4Runner I discovered something had been stockpiling seeds in the airbox. Why not put some kind of large mesh hardware cloth at the entrance to the intake inside the fender? We can't be the only people that have to deal with significant rodent problems.

Beacuse that makes sense. Auto engineers don't do things like that.

 

[alia176]

Had to do the same thing to the 80 cabin air filter.

 

[alia176]

Beacuse that makes sense. Auto engineers don't do things like that.

They're too busy making beefy drivetrains, suspensions, and million mile engines. They don't care about our rodent problems

 

[marcfj60]

Beacuse that makes sense. Auto engineers don't do things like that.

I guess they don't have automotive engineers that grew up in the country working on the designs. Either that, or the bean counters wouldn't allow the extra cost of a vermin excluder on engine and cabin air intakes.