Of Mice And Explorers

I have a '98 Explorer and after a shop visit, was told I have mice living in
it. (As I mainly walk to work, it sits for days at a time.) There were no
obvious signs of the critters except the mechanic smelling mice urine while
inside. Anyone ever have this problem with their Explorer? If so, where
would be the places in the vehicle that they would most likely find a nice
comfy home? How can I get rid of them? (The shop said mothballs would
work, but I have my doubts.)

Thanks,

John B.

John B. wrote:
> I have a '98 Explorer and after a shop visit, was told I have mice living in
> it. (As I mainly walk to work, it sits for days at a time.) There were no
> obvious signs of the critters except the mechanic smelling mice urine while
> inside. Anyone ever have this problem with their Explorer? If so, where
> would be the places in the vehicle that they would most likely find a nice
> comfy home? How can I get rid of them? (The shop said mothballs would
> work, but I have my doubts.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> John B.

We had mice in our '99 Explorer too. I set traps but they stayed away.
They ended up chewing some wires and my stereo quit working. I
called an exterminator and they laughed at me (pretty funny huh?) and
told me to use poison from Home Depot. I probably would have but they
suddenly left and never came back, problem solved.

- Greg

By all means - do not use the poison! The mice might die and start to rot in
an inaccessible place, requiring a lot of work to clean them out.
Use a trap, and I have found the best bait to be a candy bar - Bounty, Mars
or something similar.
If you capture them alive and release them, do so 1-2 miles from your home.
They have an uncanny ability to find their way back!


"Inlaw Biker" > wrote in message
ps.com...
>
> John B. wrote:
>> I have a '98 Explorer and after a shop visit, was told I have mice living
>> in
>> it. (As I mainly walk to work, it sits for days at a time.) There were
>> no
>> obvious signs of the critters except the mechanic smelling mice urine
>> while
>> inside. Anyone ever have this problem with their Explorer? If so, where
>> would be the places in the vehicle that they would most likely find a
>> nice
>> comfy home? How can I get rid of them? (The shop said mothballs would
>> work, but I have my doubts.)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> John B.
>
> We had mice in our '99 Explorer too. I set traps but they stayed away.
> They ended up chewing some wires and my stereo quit working. I
> called an exterminator and they laughed at me (pretty funny huh?) and
> told me to use poison from Home Depot. I probably would have but they
> suddenly left and never came back, problem solved.
>
> - Greg
>

I never had them in my Explorer but did in a S10. One ran up my leg while
driving.....It's amazing how high a person can jump with a seatbelt on!


"John B." > wrote in message
...
> I have a '98 Explorer and after a shop visit, was told I have mice living
in
> it. (As I mainly walk to work, it sits for days at a time.) There were
no
> obvious signs of the critters except the mechanic smelling mice urine
while
> inside. Anyone ever have this problem with their Explorer? If so, where
> would be the places in the vehicle that they would most likely find a nice
> comfy home? How can I get rid of them? (The shop said mothballs would
> work, but I have my doubts.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> John B.
>
>

Out here in Arizona, we have big mice (aka packrats). On a cool
evening, they will climb into the warm engine compartment of your parked
car and start nesting and chewing things. A couple years ago, a family
of packrats got into my '02 Explorer, pulled off big chunks of the fiber
blanket that is glued to the firewall, and made a nest on the top of the
V-8 engine. There is a big black fiberglass cover over the top of this
engine, so the area between the cover and the top of the engine was
especially nice for them. I discovered their presence when I found that
a couple wires and a couple vacuum lines had been cut in half. Don't
know how long they had been there, but when I took it to the mechanic,
he popped the black cover off the top of the engine - and found a whole
family of very dead, dried, baked packrats.

Sure beats poison!

Bill
-------------------------

John B. wrote:

> I have a '98 Explorer and after a shop visit, was told I have mice living in
> it. (As I mainly walk to work, it sits for days at a time.) There were no
> obvious signs of the critters except the mechanic smelling mice urine while
> inside. Anyone ever have this problem with their Explorer? If so, where
> would be the places in the vehicle that they would most likely find a nice
> comfy home? How can I get rid of them? (The shop said mothballs would
> work, but I have my doubts.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> John B.
>
>

I know about your pack rats, I was on vacation in 75 in Arizona and drove
one of them several days away before I managed to chase him/her out of the
vehicle in Oklahoma. Fortunately, only damage was done to the food stored
in the trailer I was pulling.

The worst chewing experience I ever had was a Gerbil that got loose in the
house. I later found all the insulation chewed off the wires that went to
the Electric Stove. It did not manage to short out the wires or electrocute
itself, but I was certaininly a surprise to see the damage. We eventually
found the Gerbil alive.

Art
"Bill Jeffrey" > wrote in message
...
> Out here in Arizona, we have big mice (aka packrats). On a cool evening,
> they will climb into the warm engine compartment of your parked car and
> start nesting and chewing things. A couple years ago, a family of
> packrats got into my '02 Explorer, pulled off big chunks of the fiber
> blanket that is glued to the firewall, and made a nest on the top of the
> V-8 engine. There is a big black fiberglass cover over the top of this
> engine, so the area between the cover and the top of the engine was
> especially nice for them. I discovered their presence when I found that a
> couple wires and a couple vacuum lines had been cut in half. Don't know
> how long they had been there, but when I took it to the mechanic, he
> popped the black cover off the top of the engine - and found a whole
> family of very dead, dried, baked packrats.
>
> Sure beats poison!
>
> Bill
> -------------------------
>
> John B. wrote:
>
>> I have a '98 Explorer and after a shop visit, was told I have mice living
>> in
>> it. (As I mainly walk to work, it sits for days at a time.) There were
>> no
>> obvious signs of the critters except the mechanic smelling mice urine
>> while
>> inside. Anyone ever have this problem with their Explorer? If so, where
>> would be the places in the vehicle that they would most likely find a
>> nice
>> comfy home? How can I get rid of them? (The shop said mothballs would
>> work, but I have my doubts.)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> John B.
>>