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Critters eating your wires are not covered under warranty.....

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MacJack

MacJack

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So you might wonder why mice are eating your wires. Turns out many plastics manufacturers started using a soy based plastic instead of petroleum based. They use in in insulation and irrigation applications. Friggin’ squirrels kept eating the valves on my neigbor’s solar pool heater. Anyway, the rodents smell the vegetable base and figure its food.

I would not use the Tomcat in your engine compartment. Put the bait traps near your jeep and they’ll go for it instead.
That makes sense... Good info... Who would think our JL are just feeding the critters....
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So you might wonder why mice are eating your wires. Turns out many plastics manufacturers started using a soy based plastic instead of petroleum based. They use in in insulation and irrigation applications. Friggin’ squirrels kept eating the valves on my neigbor’s solar pool heater. Anyway, the rodents smell the vegetable base and figure its food.

I would not use the Tomcat in your engine compartment. Put the bait traps near your jeep and they’ll go for it instead.
Wow.

This is the problem with environmentalism.

Conservation, I belive in, but "for the environment" has gotten out of hand.
 

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Good Job Bill.... I have had critters put corn in my tractor exhaust and after starting it up to plow snow, filled up my barn with popcorn... Now based on your stats for Rat Zapper, did you have to clean it out each kill.
@MacJack

Yes, after each kill, I spray the metal bottom of the Rat Zapper with some Windex, let it sit for say 5 minutes then rinse it off with water., watching to keep the electronics on the roof of the trap dry. After that I blow dry with compressed air from my compressor.

The critter's piss their pants when they get electrocuted........... so you clean a tad so future critter's are oblivious to.............
 

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@MacJack

Yes, after each kill, I spray the metal bottom of the Rat Zapper with some Windex, let it sit for say 5 minutes then rinse it off with water., watching to keep the electronics on the roof of the trap dry. After that I blow dry with compressed air from my compressor.

The critter's piss their pants when they get electrocuted........... so you clean a tad so future critter's are oblivious to.............
Your vermin wear pants?
 

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@Jondrew

I live in a very affluent area, deep in the country, in Upstate NY. Yup they wear pants around here.
 

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So you might wonder why mice are eating your wires. Turns out many plastics manufacturers started using a soy based plastic instead of petroleum based. They use in in insulation and irrigation applications. Friggin’ squirrels kept eating the valves on my neigbor’s solar pool heater. Anyway, the rodents smell the vegetable base and figure its food.

I would not use the Tomcat in your engine compartment. Put the bait traps near your jeep and they’ll go for it instead.
There was a member who had his bumper eaten by squirrels. Same theory, soy based plastics.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/help-squirrels-eating-front-bumper.15301/
 
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There was a member who had his bumper eaten by squirrels. Same theory, soy based plastics.
I’ve seen them eat my sprinkler heads. Of course they are notorious for eating the lead flashing on roof vents too. Doubt there’s any soy there
 

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I’ve seen them eat my sprinkler heads. Of course they are notorious for eating the lead flashing on roof vents too. Doubt there’s any soy there
I've seen them eat and chew all kinds of things that had no soy. I'm not saying the soy doesn't make it worse, though, but rodents didn't just start eating plastic and wiring when soy was introduced to it. Those little buggers have been doing this since the cave men came out of the swamps and discovered plastic, rubber, and cable TV.
 

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Has any of these ideas been tested or anyone out there have a proven protections.
Yes, I've used moth balls with great success. I had a Steeda Mustang years ago and I kept it stored in the garage (detached, primitive, basically a barn) every winter. The first year I had problems with rodents. After that I sprinkled moth balls around the car and dropped a couple inside the engine compartment for good measure. No problems with rodents, every year I did that.
The only down side is that my car smelled like moth balls in the spring when I got it out of storage. Not a huge deal, but something to consider. It was a convertible so I'd put the top down, and go for a drive to air it out. The same should work for a Wrangler.

As for Charcoal. It seems to work, but I can't guarantee results. After the Mustang, I had a Charger which I also stored in the winter. I heard about charcoal as a deterrent, so I decided to use it instead of moth balls. Mainly because I couldn't air the Charger out like I could the Mustang. I only used the charcoal 1 year but didn't have any rodent problems so it seemed to work. I'd like to have tried a few more years to verify the result.
The only down side to using charcoal is that it's dirty, so you want to be mindful not to touch your interior after spreading the charcoal around.

Also, like Dan said, an actual cat works too.

So to answer the question.
Moth balls - verified and results repeated. Charcoal - verified, but only once. Cat - verified, time honored method.
 
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Yes, I've used moth balls with great success. I had a Steeda Mustang years ago and I kept it stored in the garage (detached, primitive, basically a barn) every winter. The first year I had problems with rodents. After that I sprinkled moth balls around the car and dropped a couple inside the engine compartment for good measure. No problems with rodents, every year I did that.
The only down side is that my car smelled like moth balls in the spring when I got it out of storage. Not a huge deal, but something to consider. It was a convertible so I'd put the top down, and go for a drive to air it out. The same should work for a Wrangler.

As for Charcoal. It seems to work, but I can't guarantee results. After the Mustang, I had a Charger which I also stored in the winter. I heard about charcoal as a deterrent, so I decided to use it instead of moth balls. Mainly because I couldn't air the Charger out like I could the Mustang. I only used the charcoal 1 year but didn't have any rodent problems so it seemed to work. I'd like to have tried a few more years to verify the result.
The only down side to using charcoal is that it's dirty, so you want to be mindful not to touch your interior after spreading the charcoal around.

Also, like Dan said, an actual cat works too.

So to answer the question.
Moth balls - verified and results repeated. Charcoal - verified, but only once. Cat - verified, time honored method.
Thanks, I can see mothballs on the ground... good idea. I also purchase Rolling Log Mouse Trap for my 5 gal pales so I can see results.
 
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You’re right. Its nasty stuff. But there is a more eco friendly alternative. Does require some maintenance to dump the bodies

OK I ordered two rollers and made up two buckets.... It's been 3 days and no kill yet in the barn. I'm using these buckets to prove I can collect them. Now with all the bait I have around cause them to go for water so now they can go to the buckets, get some peanut butter and water. Last month I had a good share of dead mice so have not seen any lately but ready for them as moved equipment into the barn and protecting my wiring.

Thanks for the info...
 

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So you might wonder why mice are eating your wires. Turns out many plastics manufacturers started using a soy based plastic instead of petroleum based. They use in in insulation and irrigation applications. Friggin’ squirrels kept eating the valves on my neigbor’s solar pool heater. Anyway, the rodents smell the vegetable base and figure its food.

I would not use the Tomcat in your engine compartment. Put the bait traps near your jeep and they’ll go for it instead.
That exact thing (mice eating soy based wire insulation) happened to my neighbors... on their Audi. It was not cheap to fix.
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