WTF? Squirrel's Ate My Wiring!

BBShark

BBShark

Garage Monkey
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2008
Messages
4,864
Location
Right here
My daily driver is a Chevy Tahoe. The other day I get in, start it up and drive away. It starts cutting out and bucking like it's like it's going to die. I turn around and head back home, pop the hood. This is what I see. The wires to a couple of sensors and the coil wire are all chewed up. The culprit? SQUIRELLS!

My property has about 20 black walnut trees on it. Walnuts are the favorite food for squirrels. Also, I have to park the Tahoe outside because I don't have space for it in my garage. One more complication. These bastards love the engine compartment of the Tahoe. I don't know how many times I have cleared out nests that they build on top of the engine overnight. A buddy of mine told me that is one of the most common causes of engine fires.

So, what to do? I thought about mounting a horn under the hood with a motion sensor. That might take a couple of sensors to do that however AND squirrels are difficult to scare. If i blasted them with the horn, they would probably freeze and then go back to work on my wiring. The other option might be mounting an "inviting" platform in the engine compartment with wires for them to chew on. Then, when they chew through, they get a nice jolt! I don't want to kill them in my engine compartment though. I don't want their corpses burning up on my exhaust manifold.

Apparently this is a big problem with no solution. A buddy of mine that owns a garage see about 5-10 of these per year and there is actually a website SquirrelsAteMyWiring.com. Some of the people on there have spent $1000 getting wiring repaired.
 
a cat will solve your squirrel problems, they think squirrels taste just like chicken :D

There's a boatload of (some really clever - such as one that uses range finding, character recognition, and a motorized squirt gun) ways of chasing away squirrels. Problem is: eventually the squirrels adapt

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPgqfnKG_T4[/ame]
 
:D:D:ghost:

Not even a couple weeks ago, I found what I thought of as a rat nest under the motor home engine hatch cover, van 30 chassis.....they ate some insulation off a couple of wires.....guess I need pull the hood and shine a light in there before starting it....damnit....

and we have about 5 cats outside, the wife insists on feeding the strays in the burb.....:crutches::flash:
 
Since my rat terrier joined the family no squirrel ever dare to land in my backyard.
Squirrel are "rat with thick taill" in rattie lingo.
 
denpo said:
Since my rat terrier joined the family no squirrel ever dare to land in my backyard.
Squirrel are "rat with thick taill" in rattie lingo.
Click to expand...

our yellow lab and Rhodesian ridgeback divide the spoils of the rabbits, squirrels and rats. The bloodhound, is merciless on gophers :)
 
One word...Dog. The dog doesn't have to catch them, a few chases and they find somewhere else to go.
If you dont have one, borrow one to "mark" around your truck, that helps. Hair from dogs help too. Scared away my rabbits using the hair cuttings from mine.
If you want to go high tech, there are companies that use predator "scent" for wildlife repellant. My neighbors used it to get rid of the deer. You can google for that. Here ya go.....fox pee...lol
http://www.predatorpee.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=LE&Category_Code=FU
 
Last edited:
They also make some pretty nifty 'scarecrows' now days. Things like a plastic oversize half-eaten goose to keep the geese from landing on golf courses, half submerged alligators to keep ducks out of pools & ponds, coyotes, large snakes, various birds of prey some witch move in a breeze. Owls don't work to scare squirrels because they sleep at night and know owls are night predators. But falcons or coyotes they are scared of.
 
I've tried the fake owl and snake at my marina to keep away birds, ducks, etc. They dont work very long. For the last 3 years my dog patrols the docks twice a day. Result, no more ducks on the dock. People can kick them off and they come back. Dog goes after them, they're gone for days.
In the off season, he chases rabbits and squirrels out of my front yard. You can see his pride when he chases the vermin away.
Since this is vettemod, a pic of 6lbs of squirrel chasing fury on my vette.

dogcar-1_zps64bf89ea.jpg

JPhil said:
They also make some pretty nifty 'scarecrows' now days. Things like a plastic oversize half-eaten goose to keep the geese from landing on golf courses, half submerged alligators to keep ducks out of pools & ponds, coyotes, large snakes, various birds of prey some witch move in a breeze. Owls don't work to scare squirrels because they sleep at night and know owls are night predators. But falcons or coyotes they are scared of.
Click to expand...
 
Garys 68 said:
I've tried the fake owl and snake at my marina to keep away birds, ducks, etc. They dont work very long. For the last 3 years my dog patrols the docks twice a day. Result, no more ducks on the dock. People can kick them off and they come back. Dog goes after them, they're gone for days.
In the off season, he chases rabbits and squirrels out of my front yard. You can see his pride when he chases the vermin away.
Since this is vettemod, a pic of 6lbs of squirrel chasing fury on my vette.

dogcar-1_zps64bf89ea.jpg

Two vettes, interesting, but that old chebby station wagon from daze far past....what year?? I want to say 70's something.....olde tyme grocery getter.....looks in decent shape too.....

My niece had one for her kids....been a while now....


:thumbs:
Click to expand...
 
no idea on the chebby, but thought the StL sharks could use a mascot. So I brough my rescue guy. Then found the local real vettefolks already had a few rescue dogs. So mine is just there for support...and to chase squirrels, rabbits, and ducks.
All the dogs put a smile on my face though.
 
Some of them (us) may piss and moan about 'ratter' dogs, those little ankle biters. But they serve a very great purpose when allowed to do their Dog given work. The bigger dogs have their glory, but the little dogs are no less. A good dog is a good dog, no matter what his size.
I often wish I could be as pure and true and honest as a dog, or even a cat for that matter. A good cat won't let you get away with any shit either, and looks out for you too, won't back down when it comes down to it.
 
We have a similar but far bigger problem( not car related) where they use a solution that might help you.

The problem here is wild pigs. I can tell you definatly one thing : you don't want to have a group of 15 of those pigs ending up in your garden....looks like a bulldozer went through it.

Anyway farmers use electric wire these days to protect there crops. The kind they use to keep cattle in their place. Surround your parking place with a metal wire net and put current on it. Very effective.
 
mrvette said:
:D:D:ghost:

Not even a couple weeks ago, I found what I thought of as a rat nest under the motor home engine hatch cover, van 30 chassis.....they ate some insulation off a couple of wires.....guess I need pull the hood and shine a light in there before starting it....damnit....

and we have about 5 cats outside, the wife insists on feeding the strays in the burb.....:crutches::flash:
Click to expand...

Well we have a tomcat running around here. He only goes after mice if he is hungry. One time I saw him playing with a mouse he caught to subsequently letting it run away when he got bored with it. I didn't feed hem for 2 days and then locked him up in my shop. No mice after that anymore.
 
Belgian1979vette said:
mrvette said:
:D:D:ghost:

Not even a couple weeks ago, I found what I thought of as a rat nest under the motor home engine hatch cover, van 30 chassis.....they ate some insulation off a couple of wires.....guess I need pull the hood and shine a light in there before starting it....damnit....

and we have about 5 cats outside, the wife insists on feeding the strays in the burb.....:crutches::flash:
Click to expand...

Well we have a tomcat running around here. He only goes after mice if he is hungry. One time I saw him playing with a mouse he caught to subsequently letting it run away when he got bored with it. I didn't feed hem for 2 days and then locked him up in my shop. No mice after that anymore.
Click to expand...

PETA is going to nominate you for human of the year :rofl:

(PETA = people eating tasty animals)
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
Belgian1979vette said:
mrvette said:
:D:D:ghost:

Not even a couple weeks ago, I found what I thought of as a rat nest under the motor home engine hatch cover, van 30 chassis.....they ate some insulation off a couple of wires.....guess I need pull the hood and shine a light in there before starting it....damnit....

and we have about 5 cats outside, the wife insists on feeding the strays in the burb.....:crutches::flash:
Click to expand...

Well we have a tomcat running around here. He only goes after mice if he is hungry. One time I saw him playing with a mouse he caught to subsequently letting it run away when he got bored with it. I didn't feed hem for 2 days and then locked him up in my shop. No mice after that anymore.
Click to expand...

PETA is going to nominate you for human of the year :rofl:

(PETA = people eating tasty animals)
Click to expand...

lol, I think he got the message. He never let a mouse slip away either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top