Squirrel got me.
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Junior User
Joined: Jul 2009
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Squirrel got me.
A squirrel decided to make a home on the passenger side under the hood. It chewed through some vacuum hose and the yellow stater wire. The vacuum hose I can get from ford. The yellow wire is part of an assembly that I don't want to buy. So my question is what is the guage of the yellow wire? I'm going to just cut out the couple bad inches of wire and splice in new.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,589
Likes: 20
Not sure of the wire gauge. Take a piece to Lowe’s and match the gauge. To resolve your squirrel problem, or as I have my mouse problem, get some Tomcat rat and mouse killer. I have gone thru 4 cubes so far this winter under the hood of my X, two in my ZR and apparently they don’t like my charger hellcats since the two cubes are still there. It will make the squirrel go away.
Ed
Ed
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,950
Likes: 510
From: Foothills, CA
Similar problem with Rats and Mice. I was mowing through the Tomcat, but I also, like you guys, placed it in the shop with the vehicles. I believe it was Bismic that pointed out, it is such a powerful attractant that I was luring them in to what I was trying to protect! Here's what I did:
Moved the baitstations outside and away from shop.
open all the hoods of anything in the shop.
put tons of bounce towels all around and under the engines - anywhere safe that had wires.
bought and placed several electronic zapper traps along walls and where the baitstations used to be (these have been hugely successful).
bought a couple T3-R ultrasonic noise emitters - I think they might help, only because in my barn shop I still have bait out and any that are near a T3-R have gone untouched, where they hit ones 15 or so feet away. Oh yes, I also found the Tomcat Meal Bait is the bomb - they love it - I put it in the zappers it works so well...
Here's some links:
On edit I see the zappers are out of stock. These things are all over - I bought another 4 of them off eBay last time...
Good luck!
Moved the baitstations outside and away from shop.
open all the hoods of anything in the shop.
put tons of bounce towels all around and under the engines - anywhere safe that had wires.
bought and placed several electronic zapper traps along walls and where the baitstations used to be (these have been hugely successful).
bought a couple T3-R ultrasonic noise emitters - I think they might help, only because in my barn shop I still have bait out and any that are near a T3-R have gone untouched, where they hit ones 15 or so feet away. Oh yes, I also found the Tomcat Meal Bait is the bomb - they love it - I put it in the zappers it works so well...
Here's some links:
On edit I see the zappers are out of stock. These things are all over - I bought another 4 of them off eBay last time...
Good luck!
Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 27,307
Likes: 549
From: Spanaway
There is a recipe for something that you can apply to
surfaces that makes them very undesirable to chew on.
The mouse, rat and squirrel seems to come up every few years.
Maybe John should make a sticky and place it in the Tech Folder.
https://www.howtopreventratsfromeatingcarwires.com
https://catchpiece.com/stop-squirrels-chewing-wires/
surfaces that makes them very undesirable to chew on.
The mouse, rat and squirrel seems to come up every few years.
Maybe John should make a sticky and place it in the Tech Folder.
https://www.howtopreventratsfromeatingcarwires.com
https://catchpiece.com/stop-squirrels-chewing-wires/
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Junior User
Joined: Jul 2009
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I will put out some bait to see what happens. I pretty sure this was an isolated incident. I park my truck in the same spot everyday. It's a daily driver. Didn't drive it for 2 days. That squirrel did a lot of work in short time. Forgot to say that I know it was a squirrel because it was nice and cozy when I popped the hood.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 27,881
Likes: 3,595
Personally I have had poor luck with poison's in a trailer or vehicle. They work by attracting the pest. After they get under the hood, they don't always stick to just eating the poison.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,589
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I have been using Tomcat for years with great results in cars and boats. I have an oil rag under the hood of each vehicle. Before Tomcat it was always chewed up and full of dropping and urine. I never had an issue with them chewing any wires. After Tomcat, the rags are unmolested. Tomcat really attracts the rodents and after they eat it, it dehydrates them to the point they really seek water. While seeking water, the poison gets them. I normally go thru 4 blocks a year under the X hood. Two on each battery. I have about a third on each battery left. They go thru 2 blocks under my C6 ZR1 hood. Hungry little suckers and it fends off the wire chewing in my vehicles.
Ed
Ed
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Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Foothills, CA
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