RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

It's true: Rodents Will Chew on Your Car's Wires

Chew on this. Your warm car engine may also have a warm rodent nibbling on the wires.

"I had to replace some wiring due to rabbits chewing," a Times-Call reader said on Facebook.

"There is apparently an epidemic with squirrels and rabbits chewing electrical wiring and so forth under the hoods of cars," another called into the TC-Line on Jan. 4.

Not quite an epidemic, local mechanics say. But far from uncommon.

"It is a fact," said Scott Nichol of Hitek Professional Automobile Repair, who says he gets six or seven cases of rodent damage a year. "It is a cold, hard, nasty fact. Summertime, wintertime, fall, it doesn't matter. ... The more squirrels you have in an area, the more you see things like this."

Travis Paswaters of Hayes Automotive said he tends to see it a little more in the winter. Squirrels and mice aren't specifically looking for your wires, he said, they're looking for a place to nest -- and in the winter, a recently parked car that sits for a while provides a perfect home.

"We pull nests out of air boxes and intake valleys all the time," Paswaters said. "And if they get down and chew something you can't find, you can get a pretty nasty gremlin. One, I remember, chewed the ignition coil wires. The car would run rough because one of the cylinders wasn't firing."

And sometimes it can add up to more than just a rough ride. Last May, a car caught fire and burned; police later determined it was because of a squirrel nest in the engine.

"If they chew up the wiring, you can have a car-becue," Nichol said.

So what can a driver do?

First, keep the car in a garage if you can. You can't close off all the entryways a rodent would use -- they're openings that the car needs -- but putting the vehicle inside makes it less likely that squirrels will pay a visit. Mice may still be a risk, though, Nichol said, especially outside of town.

Second, open up the hood and check the engine regularly, Paswaters said. If you find twigs, bits of leaves or other nest-building material, you might just have a visitor. Having the oil changed regularly will help, too, he said, since the mechanic will be alert to signs of trouble.

One common home remedy is to use mothballs or paint the wires with Tabasco sauce to discourage chewing. That can work, Paswaters said, but it can also have unpleasant consequences, since the fresh air intake is near the core of the engine.

"It'll make the HVAC unpleasant," he said, referring to the passenger heating and cooling system. "You'll be getting that smell yourself."

Nichol advised not to try putting poison down near the car; the risk of a pet consuming it by mistake isn't worth it, he said. The best thing you can do, he said, is not to let the car sit.

"Don't keep it parked for weeks on end," he said. "Make sure the car moves."

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bats Disturbing High School

They're baaack. Bats are lurking in a Charlotte-area high school and it's not the first time.

Students first spotted one bat in a classroom at North Mecklenburg High School before Christmas break. The building was evacuated and the problem was supposedly taken care of. But Monday morning before school, a staffer found another one.

The N Hall is a building on campus that normally houses six classes. It’s closed and quarantined after the health department removed eight bats from inside.

Senior Guy McCrary admitted he’s grossed out. Other students are, too. But they’re not surprised because North Mecklenburg High is 60-years-old.

“It does freak you out. Bats, rabbits, cockroaches, mice—what’s next,” he added.

“They keep finding more and more. I don't feel safe with my daughter back in that hall,” said one student’s mother, who did not want to be identified.

Principal Matt Hayes says when they closed the hole the first time around, some bats were trapped inside.

“By closing the hole, other bats were hiding. We had bats hiding. Now that we closed the hole they don’t have an exit point,” he said.

Instead, he says there is a one-way door to flush them out. In addition, CMS has removed all ceiling tiles to verify there are no other holes.

The problem, they say, is that bats only need a hole the size of a nickel to squeeze through. A private pest control company is working with CMS to get rid of the bats and students are expected to be allowed back in those classrooms on Monday.

A health department spokesman says they tested one bat and it came back negative for rabies. He says they don’t have to test all of the bats because no one came in contact with the others.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA