Mice Like Porsches Too

Inasmuch as I live in the great white north, my 996 sits from "first salt" till Spring rains wash the salt away. I cleaned it, covered it and put the battery maintainer on it. It is parked in a closed garage. I uncovered it today to do some minor work in the engine compartment and observed mouse crap in the corners of the engine compartment. This scares the ..... out of me because I don't want the wires chewed. My first move was to put all the bird food in the garage in a sealed container with a lid that I can barely open... I put D-Con mouse traps down and hopefully the little rodents will overeat and die. Now I want to make sure that I protect the car from any possible problems. Anybody have any sure fire solutions to keep them away? Protect my baby?

spray poisoned food all around the car... and beware, my granpa tought me never to touch the poisoned food with bear hands, not in fear of getting poisoned, but because the buggers are so smart they smell your flesh on the food and realize it's a trap.. otherwise, a lot of cheese leading to mice traps?! Nerve gas??? Ok, good night! Waz (Mighty-Mouse fan) 996 C2 99

Be sure and cover the tail pipe tip openings. They can nest inside the exhaust manifold and ruin the engine

Moth *****, or cyanne (sp?) pepper they don't like the smell.

I'm an expert at this, having kept all sorts of garage queens over the years. First of all, they don't like 'dry' so get some dessicant if you can, especially for the interior of the car where they'll find the upholstery and the dash area quite cozy. I've always used mothballs -- cookie tins, whatever, left open with a layer of mothballs across the bottom so the stink fills the car, one on the floor in the front & one on the floor in the back, and two with the engine (one on each side, one high one low), and one in the bonnet area. Keep all these areas open a crack, btw. Good for the seals and good to let some of the air freshen itself. I've always used D-Con, too, a few feet away from the car. The only downside of it is that they think the stuff is grain and will hoard it if they're not hungry, which means finding a small, dark opening and stashing as much as they can carry. If it's your car, it can be a mess, but easily repaired in the spring with a vacuum. This is why I try to keep it a few feet away, along the walls say, where they'll find other dark nooks and crannies. There will be some, however, who won't stay away no matter what. These are easily recognized. They're the ones in the little helmets, driving gloves and Pilotis. Good luck! By the way, where you see one, there are a dozen. Get goin'! J

In addition to sealing any openings, I place moth ***** in a tin try inside the engine area, under the car, and in the trunk. I also set some baited mouse traps in the garage. Inside the car, I place fabric softner cloths. If you found what you think indicated a mouse got into your car, I would be concerned that it found a nesting area. I would start and drive the car, and than remove your bird feed, and start d-con and moth *****. Unfortunately this is not too unusual for stored cars.

I've had good luck using regular mice traps with just a dab of peanut butter. I caught 3 in my attic that way. Make sure you place some of them along the wall. They tend to take that sort of route, at least that's what a pest guy told me. Charlie Charlie

I use a product called "JI's mouse deodorizer". Boat dealer friend of mine who stores boats throughh the winter swears by this stuff. Put it in the engine bay and inside the car. I have never had a problem thus far...

The service rep at the dealership showed me a cabin air filter from a 996 loaded with nesting material and hair. That's one more place you can check at the end of the storage period.

get some snow tires and drive your 996! it's depreciating anyway--might as well enjoy it! spring is just too far away!!

I heard a while back from a classic car guy that putting mint leaves throughout the car keeps them away. Apparently they hate the smell. AND your car will probably smell better with mint than mothballs! *I haven't tried this myself but maybe you could go to the local pet store and drop some in the mouse tank and watch what happens.

Does this stuff smell? I HATE the smell of moth *****, I don't know how anyone can bear to use them in their car. I would think the car is ruined forever.

Since you're concerned with the smell, I wonder if those electronic "Pest Repellers" work. If they do that might be the best solution. Has anyone used one? I did a quick Google search and came up with this: http://ultimatepestrepeller.com/ Looks interesting. Charlie

pete01_996 Has a slight sweet scent not overwhelming or overpowering. Dissipates quickly when airing out. "Instructions: place four boxes about the area to be deodorized, making sure you put at least one of the four boxes where the nest was originally located. replace every six months or more often if necessary. Before you store your tractor, combine, boat, RV, etc., use for clean fresh results". They forgot to say Porsche...

you know i see a bunch of bad disasters waiting to happen by using poison, what if one eats this poison and dies while in the car or even around it and rotts, your car would be ruined forever

Get a garage Cat!! Seriously though, I get mice all the time in my garage so I just set traps all over the place, use dog food as bait. Catches the mice and keeps them out of the car.

BTW, Don't waste your money on Electronic Pest Repellers. I bought two for almost $40.00, put them in my garage, and they don't work worth a crap. I get at least 1-2 mice per week using traps with dog food as bait.

This is the reason I don't use decon, around the house, in the shop or to protect the cars during winter storage. I use the mothball technique, only not quite so liberally as others here..... I get 4 traps and put them at each wheel. I use peanut butter and check the traps frequently. As one lister here has said, if you catch 1, you probably have several others, so keep baiting the traps......... In the spring, you want to check the air intake at the filter for both the engine and the passenger compartments.............. I hadn't heard of them nesting in the intake manifols, that must be nasty........I imagine driving for a few miles solves that problem though.......

I can't verify if this works, but according to an email I received recently about Bounce fabric softner sheets reads: "It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice.. spread them around foundation areas, or in trailers or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle." Just thought I'd pass that on. Charlie

I have to agree with 996 aero, get a cat! We have 2 cats and no mice.