Rodents In Cars – Should Catharpin, VA Residents Be Worried?

Many people in Prince William County have not been using their cars like they normally would, thanks to the ongoing stay-at-home guidelines. However, one resulting issue that many people have encountered in the last few months is that of rodents taking up residence in their now-immobile cars. Like many others, you might be surprised to find a huge nest next to your car engine.

Not only that, but rodents also tend to gnaw through everything they can. Car owners are finding some of their car systems disabled due to wires that have been chewed through. Experts offer some tips on how to prevent this:

• Spray commercially approved rodent repellent around the lower perimeter of the vehicle and wheel wells.
• Peppermint oil sprayed around the car works too.
• Some automakers make a tape with chili oil on it. It wraps around wiring and has a repelling taste to rodents.
• Keep bird feeders far away because, “Bird feeders aren’t just feeding birds; they’re feeding rats,” Dantzer said.
• There are moving fake owls or scarecrows that will scare away rodents.
• Look at the car daily, open the door and the hood, shine lights on the engine.
• Cats and dogs are predators, so you can leave them in the garage for awhile, if the temperature is safe for them.
• Set traps near the front wheel well where rodents enter. Read more at Freep…

It’s worth noting that cars also attract rodents because they offer multiple items to chew on. Because their teeth are always growing, chewing on a variety of items helps to keep them from getting too long. Unfortunately, this almost always guarantees costly damage for car owners.

The most effective way to keep rats off your car is to actually use your vehicle. Rodents are unlikely to make a car that’s in regular motion their habitat. That’s a no-brainer for those of us who have, ironically, found our cars to be our safe spaces in this stay-at-home season.

Even if you don’t understand Hebrew, you can probably relate to the rant that Shiri Koenigsberg Levy, 41, a special-ed teacher in Israel, recorded when she hid in the car from her four kids.

“Listen, this won’t work! This home schooling is really impossible. It’s not normal!” Levy vented. For a moment, her car was her safe space, her spa, her therapy chamber.

Funny, because the car is usually the crazy-making place for parents who log long-haul-trucker hours during seasons of practices, tournaments and games, rehearsals, shows and gigs. Read more at Washington Post…

Immobile cars are not the only attraction to rodents. Having our online orders delivered right at our doors is a convenience that many of us enjoy, especially now. However, it would seem that rodents are also taking advantage of the situation. Rodents can chew through cardboard in search of food, so the box may not be all that you’re bringing into the house with you.

You might assume that because rats generally avoid human contact, they are finding it increasingly difficult to get into our homes. On the contrary, the fact that more people are in home isolation actually seems to be attracting rodents.

With millions of Americans tucked away in home isolation, people are spending significantly more time in their living environments than ever before. This time at home is changing our routines, increasing the amount of food we are consuming and the waste we are generating – and pests are catching on. New research reveals there were more than 303,000 online engagements in March 2020 on the topic of finding rats in the kitchen,* and reports of pest encounters are intensifying in certain parts of the country. Read more at PCT Online…

Rodents can cause lots of different diseases in humans. That’s why it’s important to keep rodents away from you, and that includes your car and your home. Backyard Bug Patrol has a track record of effective commercial rodent control for over a decade. You can, therefore, trust us to deliver residential rodent control solutions that work. Call today.