How to keep out the squirrels.

[Hoffman]

Hello O'Club of great and varied knowledge. 
I have now run across a very silly, but expensive problem. Yesterday, I discovered that squirrels have eaten my truck. More specifically, they built a nest right on top of the AC unit (ate right into the fan housing) of my '93 Ford Ranger, ate through the wiper fluid resevoir and chewed through a host of wires.  Including, I suspect, the wires that control whether or not the transmission shifts out of 2nd gear.   Truck ran perfectly fine right until I needed it to go and it wouldn't shift and the RPM went waaay up with no umph. (That's... not a good sign I say to myself as I pull into a convenient parking lot.) 

So now that it is in the shop getting fixed.  How in the hell do I keep the little buggers out once I get my truck back?  Aside from copius amounts of chili powder and camping infront of it with an air rifle at night?

[mbailey]

I feel your pain, my Silverado is currently at the shop due to (what i suspect) is a squirrel (or chipmunk) chewing threw a brake line.

[Hoffman]

I like that idea Bailey, however... one that would leave the truck intact afterwards. 

[Dichotomy]

mothballs.

I'm not joking.

Had a family of them that gnawed into and set up house in my attic last year.  Tossed a few up there and they departed shortly thereafter. 

[F22RaptorDude]

Camp out with a bb gun and a cattle prod, lol but to be serious i've never heard of this problem...  I would do something before they get to used to the area tho..

[ariansworld]

Camp out with a bb gun and a cattle prod, lol but to be serious i've never heard of this problem...  I would do something before they get to used to the area tho..

I see it with mice every now and then, they love to chew through wiring harnesses and croak in hard to get to places.

[Tupac]

[Dichotomy]

That was a gopher Tup.  Totally different rodent. 

But Bill     Murray is pure greatness.

[jimson]

I've had many such problems with mice. I've also heard of many repellents such as mothballs, mint leaves and dryer sheets.

One thing that has helped is leaving the hood up.

I guess it denies them darkness and privacy in which to wreak havoc.

Don't know about squirrels though, that might just give them easier access.

[eagl]

Leaving the hood up in most places nowadays would just result in 2-footed squirrels swiping everything under there to be sold for scrap.  Some thieves broke into my Mom's garage a few weeks ago and not only did they take every tool in the place, they also took both a trickle charger and removed the battery from her car that was being charged.

And that was in a "good" neighborhood.

[Rash]

Mice will do that too.  You will have to trap, poison, shoot, or get a predator.  After I got two Irish Terriers, all that rodent stuff has stopped. They kill them, like they hate them more than me.

[clerick]

You can also try things like fox-urine. Any smell that triggers an "Oh crap! I'll be eaten!" response is good.

This issue was addressed on last weeks Car Talk

[eagl]

You can also try things like fox-urine. Any smell that triggers an "Oh crap! I'll be eaten!" response is good.

This issue was addressed on last weeks Car Talk

Yea but then your car smells like fox urine.

[DaCoon]

if your car smells like fox urine would it attract more "foxes" when you're at a bar?

[DREDIOCK]

I see it with mice every now and then, they love to chew through wiring harnesses and croak in hard to get to places.

Yep. happened to me last year