Packrats

[jor]

I hate these damn things!!! Took me a couple of hours to repair all the wires the little ******** chewed through.
jor

[dcbullet]

Wow, I've never had something like that happen before. Maybe we don't have rats around here...

[Thunderfoot]

dang Jor, that really sucks! Need to leave them some of that special food for that... Or maybe get some rat traps...

[FORDification]

Holy cow!! If I had those kinds of problems here, I'd seriously be looking into getting some flexible steel conduit to use as a wire loom to protect my harness!

[fordman]

if you leave the hood open part way. packrats tend not to nest under the hoods of cars and trucks not being driven.

[FormerMarine1981]

Yeah, I've been there before. Even if the hood is closed they still find a way in.

[jor]

I've done some reading on the packrat issue. They are virtually impossible to eradicate; you can only make the environment less hospitable. They will continue to nest in the same area for generations. Around here (Tucson, Az) they are a big problem. As fordman said, if you leave the hood open or drive the vehicle frequently, they will stay away. Right now, I have a 15 watt light bulb burning in the 67 with the hood partially open (first latch). They are still showing up nightly, dragging in some building material but not nesting. I also have a 62 Fairlane 500 in the driveway and they took a stab at that one too.

You can use traps but the progeny takes over where the unmourned deceased parent left off. I use mothballs too. They eat them and die but again, the little ones move right in. I've tried peppermint oil. I don't know if it works but the candy smell is interesting. Today, I'm going to try soap shavings as I just read something on that method. Check out the 62!
jor

[hardtailjohn]

Take a length of stove pipe, put a gopher trap in it and you'll have your rat. They LOVE to run through...can't resist!!!
JH

[fordman]

barr bait works too. just keep buying it until they are gone. or you could try wetting down the bed material they are bringing in and they may think that the roof leaks when they get back to the nest. as far as the spark plug wires they smelled the salt off of your hands and tried to eat the smell. if you can keep from directly touching the new ones by wearing gloves they probably won't eat them again.

[flyboy2610]

Put a bullsnake under the hood.
They LOVE packrats! (They think they're a tasty snack!)