What would have chewed my truck wiring in Colorado?

[Lilleybee]

Hi all,

This past August my wife and I did some scouting in #25 in Colorado. We left my truck parked at the trailhead in reasonably short grass for about 3 days. After returning home I've discovered everything from the felt on my battery cover to foam insulation on the firewall to various wires with chew marks in them. Varying in size from what I'd guess would be a rat to small like a mouse. So far only thing to show up was a broken wire to the box light. I'm nervous about what other wires have been compromised. Was this just mice and is it a big problem leaving vehicles parked?

 

[ezmorningrebel]

mice probably. we have to deal with them in the winter even just parking overnight. both my wife and I have had them somehow get into our air filter boxes and make nests by chewing up the filter.

 

[oldgoat]

We have packrats! Even above treeline! Chipmunk and a lot of other rodents will chew them too. I've heard some of the car manufacturers experimented with soy based wire insulation and critters love them! Also any coolant on wire can make it taste good to them!

 

[Beendare]

Yeah, all kind of varmints like that wiring for some reason.

I have a client that had a place backing up to a state park and they left their BMW 750 in the garage for a month and found that mice/rats had started to nest under the hood and did $15,000 in damage to the wiring

 

[ckleeves]

My brother had a marmot take up residence in his Tacoma one time. Chewed up just about everything!

It ended up going home with him and he didn't realize it until he looked out in his yard the day after he got home and it was feeding in his lawn. Walked outside and it made a run for the truck and climbed up underneath it.

Him and I looked in every nook and cranny on that truck and couldn't find it. You wouldn't think a Tacoma could hide a something the size of an adult marmot but it sure can!

We fixed the chewed wiring that day then it destroyed more that night. He ended up taking the truck up in the mountains and letting it sit for a day or two and it left. That was the only way he thought he could get rid of it since we sure couldn't find it lol.


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[TJ]

I've had problems with packrats at some trailheads. Chew up stuff and start making nests.

 

[GFY]

I've had both mice and packrats chew on wires. Last year while heading to another spot we were doing 65 mph down the hwy and my partner yells "there's a f'cking mouse" I'm like what?? He points to the windshield and says RIGHT THERE. And sure enough there was a mouse running back and forth across my windshield wiper. So we headed to town and bought some mouse traps to place under the hood and ended up trapping 4 mice in 2 night out from under my hood.

 

[gelton]

We have had problems with rats on a deer lease in South Texas but I never considered it a problem while leaving my truck at the trailhead for 10-14 days at a time. I dont know why but I never thought it would be a problem in Colorado...thanks for the heads up.

We have a jeep down there and they tear the hell out of the electrical wires. When we leave it we open up the hood for sunlight exposure and put pans filled with diesel on the ground under it. Supposedly rats cant stand the smell of diesel. Something to consider.

 

[mtswampfox]

My brother had a marmot take up residence in his Tacoma one time. Chewed up just about everything!

It ended up going home with him and he didn't realize it until he looked out in his yard the day after he got home and it was feeding in his lawn. Walked outside and it made a run for the truck and climbed up underneath it.

Him and I looked in every nook and cranny on that truck and couldn't find it. You wouldn't think a Tacoma could hide a something the size of an adult marmot but it sure can!

We fixed the chewed wiring that day then it destroyed more that night. He ended up taking the truck up in the mountains and letting it sit for a day or two and it left. That was the only way he thought he could get rid of it since we sure couldn't find it lol.


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Had a woodchuck bite thru two spark plug wires on my honda civic. Caught him in the act all snuggled up around the engine. 22 lr pistol to the rescue

 

[dotman]

Chip monks! They are horrible about doing this, my parents put moth balls under their vehicles and trap/kill them to almost extinction at their place in CO.

 

[JDeanP]

Id also guess those dirty packrats. I hate those thieving, chewing, rat punks.

 

[Jeff Martin]

My brother had a marmot take up residence in his Tacoma one time. Chewed up just about everything!

It ended up going home with him and he didn't realize it until he looked out in his yard the day after he got home and it was feeding in his lawn. Walked outside and it made a run for the truck and climbed up underneath it.

Him and I looked in every nook and cranny on that truck and couldn't find it. You wouldn't think a Tacoma could hide a something the size of an adult marmot but it sure can!

We fixed the chewed wiring that day then it destroyed more that night. He ended up taking the truck up in the mountains and letting it sit for a day or two and it left. That was the only way he thought he could get rid of it since we sure couldn't find it lol.


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Funny! You should have bought a snake from the pet store. Let them fight it out. LOL

 

[Orion81]

A buddy and I were duck hunting some tidewater with his new 18ft John Boat with Mud Buddy motor. Tide was coming in and we were positioned in some tall grasses. When the water reached us we noticed dozens of small mice swimming in the grass. He thought is was a good idea to pick a couple of them up and let them in the boat. He said, "what could happen, there is no place for them to go" It took <5 seconds for the mice to squeeze into the smallest cranny. Next day...Nothing on that boat worked. They left no wire untouched.

 

[LostArra]

Two solutions:
Leave the hood up. They hate sunshine but still occasionally find a dark spot to hide and chew.

Fresh Cab: toss a bag on top of the engine when it's going to sit a while. I was skeptical but I was leaving a pickup with truck camper at a deer lease. Everyone getting mice except me.

 

[ckleeves]

My brother was pissed about the damage but even he thought it was funny. He was living in town at the time and I think about the entire neighborhood stopped by at some point in time to see what was going on.

Something about 2 guys with welding gloves, a mechanics creeper and poking trekking poles in every tight spot in a truck really brings out people's curiosity!


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[realunlucky]

Fresh cab?

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[Beastmode]

We had this pop out of our hood after getting back from a scouting trip a couple years ago.

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[Beendare]

Those dang mice and rats can be a real pain......some of the loincloth types will get upset reading my gear checklist as it has 'D Con' on it.

I don't always put it out [I use it sparingly] sometimes sprinkling a little under my truck....and around my tent....otherwise you can end up with this;


my Icebreaker merino shirt had been worn a couple days straight and I guess they wanted the salt....jumped up on my totes to get to it.

 

[5MilesBack]

Ya, packrats can be really bad. A couple years ago they made a nest in the engine compartment of both trucks, and up in the spare tires under the trucks.

 

[TJ]

We had this pop out of our hood after getting back from a scouting trip a couple years ago.

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I had this happen a couple years ago.

Poor guy got displaced a few miles from his home.

Jumped off the hood going about 20MPH, it must have been a fun landing!