-- Grab EHS RSS FeedRodent an example of what can be an expensive problem in vehicles, says pest control worker
Nadya Crossman-Serb is laughing now but she wasn't laughing this weekend when she noticed something very strange on her rear-view mirror.
"I was at a red light, and I looked up, and there was a mouse on the rear-view mirror," Crossman-Serb said.
She admits she had a bit of a "freak-out," when she noticed her unexpected guest perched on the mirror.
She said she thought about swatting it down, but didn't know if that would make things worse.
"So I just left it and we drove home together," said Crossman-Serb.
The mouse stayed on the mirror the whole way home, but when the family gathered around the car to see the hitchhiker, it retreated back into hiding. That's when her dad sprang into action.
"He laid a sticky-pad on the [floor] of our car, and it got stuck. I don't know what he did with it after."
Shaun Jeffrey is a branch manager with Abell Pest Control and the president of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Pest Management Association.
It's rare for mice to seek shelter in cars that are used on a daily basis, he said, because mice are very wary of new objects in their environment. But if the car is stationary for a long period of time they get "curious" and might try to make a nest, Jeffrey said.
A vehicle is only as secure from rodents as the structure it's in, he said, and "paying someone $85 to protect your garage may save your $85,000 vehicle."
It's not hard for a family of tiny mice to cause big damage to a vehicle over the winter, Jeffrey said, and Winnipeggers should be especially concerned this year if the volume of calls at Abell Pest Control is anything to go by.
As for Crossman-Serb's mouse, she figures it may have been in the car for weeks, possibly hiding in the sunglasses holder by the mirror.
"A few weeks ago my dad and brother went to the dump [...] and I think they just threw the tarp in [the car] and didn't shake it out, and there was a little mouse in there."
To get rid of rodents and mice safely, contact EHS Pest Control.
Source: cbc.ca
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