Oh RATS!!!

Started up the Dodge Ram yesterday and the parking brake light and ABS light stayed on. Popped open the hood and immediately saw that rodents had been VERY busy overnight. They pulled down a bunch of insulation, and chewed through several wires

I initially didn't see where the ABS wiring had been cut, and I wasn't 100% sure that it even had been cut, I thought that it may have just been a coincidence so I took the truck in to a local shop and had them put their ABS scan tool on the system. Showed up as a bad right front ABS sensor. Followed the wire up from the wheel and sure enough, the rat had chewed through the wire loom, and both of the wires running to the sensor.

Besides the ABS, the rat also chewed through both the positive and negative leads for my digital gauges. One of the wires had been completely severed at BOTH ends, and the wire had been taken to the opposite side of the engine compartment where the ABS wire had been chewed

I spent the last couple hours rigging up sheets of semi-rigid plastic, and aluminum as barriers to prevent the suckers from getting back under the hood.

Additionally I bought four adhesive strips and placed them under the front of the truck. I'm hoping to catch the sucker!! I figure if it gets stuck to the strip, Clyde can take care of it from there

 

[Blee1099]

get a snake

 

[Rick]

We've got a hell of a snake... Bull snake 5ft long last time I saw it. I think he lives under our agave plant

 

[Thuggsy]

put a bowl of rat poison under your truck overnight.

 

[Burns]

put a bowl of rat poison under your truck overnight.

It would eat it. Crawl up in the truck somewhere (you wont be able to reach it). Then die.


Not sounding to pretty. I have always feared this but its not a problem you hear of here much.

 

[zukman]

order some T-rex rat traps and end the problem

 

[Turdle]

Maybe that is why Clyde was up on the trailer?
Those little guys do work quick, once they get a smell of something they like. I think you need to call the Turtle man for some live action!!

 

[Rick]

:d

 

[Stic-o]

Well what the hell is that big old warehouse you just built good for? You can't tell me the Dodge doesn't fit:

 

[rookieshooter]

What are rats doing in Rattlesnake country? You mentioned about them before out near your garage.

 

[JDraper]

Had the same problem here, but with mice. They were trying to chew the cover off the engine on my Explorer.

Now that I have the new garage, they haven't been able to get to the truck

 

[Rick]

Scratch the rats. I caught the culprit on video. It's a jackrabbit

I put a light under the hood (hope that doesn't make his work easier) and I also sprayed some nasty ass smelling repellent right on the insulation they've been chewing and around the perimeter of the truck.

Hopefully the nasty smelling "repellent" isn't pregnant jackrabbit urine which would drive the male into a electrical wire chewing frenzy!

 

[Bruces expo]

Sorry to hear this Rick , Field mice Did the Same to my 89 thunderbird SC , Chewed up all the Spark plug wires , Fan wires , Brake hoses and Vac hoses , It was a Nightmare , I still have yet to touch it Since 08

 

[Anime]

Jackrabbits eat electrical wires?

Maybe take some scrap wire and put it near the truck for it to chew on instead.

 

[Rick]

Turns out we have a rat too... Caught this guy on camera last night. He's living under a yucca plant and has been digging like crazy. I thought it might have been the big horned lizard that was making the mess, but no, a rat.

 

[rookieshooter]

I'd bait the area to get him coming in each night then place a Victor Rat trap or something similar among the eats.
Even if you catch him, i'd still do a few more nights of trapping for others. If you do the poisen bait then he might crawl into some small opening and then stink up the whole place.

 

[Maniak]

I'd bait the area to get him coming in each night then place a Victor Rat trap or something similar among the eats.
Even if you catch him, i'd still do a few more nights of trapping for others. If you do the poisen bait then he might crawl into some small opening and then stink up the whole place.

^^^^^
Oh yea.. I Know how that is.. I had to dissemble our stove because of this. The mouse died on top of the oven part (in the insulation) and when we turned on the oven it cooked him good.. Boy did the house stink.

A couple hours to disassemble and use a pressure washer and then replacing all the insulation with new insulation and then another hour trying to get it all back together took care of the issue..

We only use the Vector electronic traps now... I just wish Home Depot still sold them.. I have to get them from Amazon.com now.

~Mark

 

[rpenner54]

I have heard that irish spring works too. You put it in the areas that they get into and the smell deters them.

 

[Rick]

Sneaky sucker... He went and sniffed the peanut butter, but didn't set off the trap. Same with a cat that came by at 4:45am.

Mark, I ordered one of the electronic traps on Amazon.

 

[rookieshooter]

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