If you only care about how to fix this problem as fast as possible and don’t care about understanding why these solutions work, this is the page for you (if you want to know why I am recommending these steps, please visit the Home page). Here is the exact formula that I have used to keep rats out of my car.
Step 1: Pop your car hood up and leave it up.
Step 2: Place 6 Tomcat Rat Snap Traps on the front, back and top of the tire tread of your front two tires. Bait them with peanut butter and replace the bait once a week. Set these up anytime the car is parked.
Here is a picture to help illustrate the positioning:
Step 3: Spray the inside of your engine compartment with Rodent Defense at least 2-3 times a week.
Step 4: Shine a bright flashlight underneath the car at night.
Step 5: Place a decoy owl in front of your car on the ground. Move it to a different spot every 2-3 days.
You should follow the above steps exactly if you have just found rodent damage in your car. Once you have noticed that there is no new rodent damage after a period of time you can loosen up the routine a bit. If that’s the case, congratulations!
I would also highly suggest you review the following articles to gain some direction on how to continue to keep your car protected:
- So I’ve Successfully Evicted The Vermin. Now what?
- The 5 Minute Check That Can Save Your Car (And Your Sanity!)
I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please add them below!
Thank you!!
-Rat King Dave
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I have been battling rats for several weeks now. Sportage has been to dealer 2times with $600 wire damage, they have shredded foam that is on underneath side of engine cover 2 times and i have actually opened the hood taken the engine cover off to find the rat sitting there!!
I have been leaving ‘barr’ rat poison sticks under the hood hoping they eat it go off & die!! Also been putting fox pee spray on a towel leaving it under hood when the car is parked. I debate on whether to continue to use the ‘bar’ poison it may be attracting them.
I will try the pepper spray, open hood & traps. What would you suggest to clean the engine with before using the pepper spray? We also wrapped the visible wiring in copper mesh & gorilla tape, that has seemed to steer them away from that area but theyre still visiting my 6mth new car!!
Hi Michelle! Wow, I can’t believe the rat was there when you lifted up the engine cover!! Part of me would have been scared for a second and then I would instantly be filled with RAGE!! ARGH! Damn Verminnnn!
Regarding the poison, I would move the poison outside the car to a better location. You need to identify the path that the rodents are traveling to get to the car, so look for any rodent poops around that car that might give a clue if their general direction. Then look for any nearby walls that they may be traveling along. Rats will always run along side a vertical wall to travel from one place to the next. If you can figure out this path, place the poison then along this path.
For cleaning the engine, to be honest I’m not sure what the best product would be for that. I know that that CDC recommends using a solution of water and bleach to cleanup rodent droppings but not sure if that would be safe for an engine. Sorry I can’t help out with that.
For the visible wiring, copper mesh actually will not help as rodent can chew through copper. You would want to use a stainless steel mesh or wiring if you can.
Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions! RKD