Critters in Your Car? Keep Animals Out!
'Tis the season to keep rodents and other animals from climbing under your hood and hiding out in your car. Even the most devout animal lover will likely become more than a bit annoyed upon discovering a mouse, cat, rat, squirrel or other heat-seeking critter has gnawed its way through a car's wires and belts making the car unsafe to drive and necessitating costly repairs.
The great news is that you don't need to invest in one of the high-priced readily available potions to keep the animals at bay.
First, open your hood and look for signs of nests, nuts or debris. If you see any, you should have them cleaned out (or don gloves and clean them out yourself) taking care not to tug. Excessive pressure can displace wires and other engine components. Then, take your car to a service center that you trust. A technician will check the engine to make sure animals did not damage the wires or belts.
When you receive the all clear, head to your local craft store and purchase some netting to hold mothballs. Hang the mothball-filled netting under the hood of your car and the animals will be repelled, said Ed Kriston, approved auto repair specialists, Towson Office, AAA-Mid Atlantic, headquartered in Wilmington, Del.
Of course mothballs' scent can also repel you and other humans so make sure you hang the netting away from the windshield wiper area of the hood.
Keeping animals out of cars in chilly weather is far from an exact science but here are some other tips to keep your car critter free:
- Put traps around the car. Catching rats and other rodents may be the only way to stop those that have staked out your car.
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- If the car is sheltered and not in freezing cold, consider popping the hood at night. That will cool the engine faster and make it less hospitable to small guests.
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- Put bars or shavings of Irish Spring soap (the green bar) around the car. That odor repels many animals.
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