Is there a way to keep rats from nesting in my engine?

[Kansas Terri]

That is twice this year that they have chewed up my radiator belt. I TRY to remember to check the engine regularly, but life gets busy and I always seem to forget.

And so now I need to order a new radiator belt

 

[thepumpguysc]

They say, dryer sheets do the trick..??
I saw on one of the car shows, there’s a plug-in device that’s guaranteed to keep them out of your building..& it’s sized to your building..
Sorry but don’t remember the name..

 

[oosik]

Hi Kansas Terri - I feel your pain. Forty years out here in the Scabrock and I've only had rats once. My rats are called Pine rats or Wood rats. VERY easy to eliminate. They are not the least bit afraid of humans. Walk right up to them and "BANG" with my 22 pistol.

Mice and Chipmunks - a totally different matter. I've tried most everything and, usually, it will work for a while. Dryer sheets, peppermint oil, bright lights, loud sounds - they eventually learn to ignore.

I've trapped them. But out here - for every mouse/chipmunk I trap - there are two more out there in the brush, waiting to "come on down".

I've found one thing that seems to work for the long haul. I keep the hood of my vehicles open when parked. This includes - pickup, ATV, tractor & riding mower.

Apparently these little critters do not like open spaces. No nests, no piles of gathered food, no chewed wiring. I keep them out of the passenger compartment of the pickup with dryer sheets and bars of Irish Spring soap.

I have eight boxed bars of Irish Spring and around 24 dryer sheets in the cab of my pickup.

 

[Thomas]

I spray heavy coating WD40 on engine wires etc. yet to have issue with rodents.

 

[oosik]

Thomas - I thought about using WD40 on the engine wires. BUT - I get so much blowing dust - the sprayed wires would, likely, turn to a muddy mess.

I wash the Taco Wagon. By the time I get to the tailgate - the freshly washed hood has a thin dust coating. And it not just dust from dirt. A whole lot of our dust is volcanic ash. Mt St Helens - 1980. It's still in the bark on the pines and I have a few ash exposed areas on my 80 acres.

 

[Hay Dude]

Couple semi-ferral cats
Cool off the tractor before you bring it in
Leave hood open
Leave cab doors open

Don’t create a warm, enclosed shelter for them.

 

[Kansas Terri]

Oosik, does your tractor live outside? I hesitate to leave the tractor hood open because mine is outside 24/7.

Dryer sheets and irish spring would be easy enough to put under the hood!

As for cats, I have a very good hunting cat but he can rarely catch a rat. I am not certain if that is because there are only a few rats out here or if it is because the rats are a bit large for him.

 

[2manyrocks]

Fresh peanut butter has worked as good rat bait to use in a rat snap trap for me.

 

[scootr]

Plus 1 on the feral cats.
I put the tractors in the barn along with my car. Like to see the cats have been sleeping on the equipment. Mice problem is non existent. The cost of the free spaded cats is dry cat food and walmart cheap kitty litter. Going on 3 or 4 yrs now, still can't touch them. Hard as I try it nets me a swat and dental display faster than a snake bite. Okay killer, that's fine ...
Previously we had serious damage to cars, carts, and such. We're good.

 

[2manyrocks]

Two of the most affectionate cats I've ever had started off as ferals, but took months to tame. Thick welders gloves were the only way I could touch the last one who is now a house cat and probably useless for rodent control at this point.