Are rodents a threat to the Lightning?

[Barrels]

I live in a rural area and have mice and ground squirrels aplenty around. My ICE F150 suffered wire damage (NOX sensor) due to their chewing which was expensive to repair. Now with my new Lightning I see the same potential problem

I have motion sensor area lights, wheel well liners, and have tried bait, sonic repellers (several), flashing lights in the engine compartment of the ICE truck, dryer sheets and anything else I can think of short of trapping - thats next.

I have seen the squirrels get into the old truck through the wheel wells. The wheel well liners must leave room around the suspension for it to move and thats the weak spot in rodent defense. I am now aiming solar powered lights at those areas during the night. Not sure that will work and they are temporary for now.

Has anyone come up with a better solution to keeping the critters away from causing what I perceive will be a very expensive repair ? Especially in the wheel wells? I wonder if I can block them from climbing the tires.

I will be putting out the large rodent live trap today and try to reduce the nearby population. Note: the hawks and owls here are at work but too many people have shot the coyotes trying to protect their chickens so the natural predators are insufficient to do the job.

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[RickLightning]

The Lightning is as susceptible as any other vehicle.

 

[jimfigler]

I live in a rural area and have mice and ground squirrels aplenty around. My ICE F150 suffered wire damage (NOX sensor) due to their chewing which was expensive to repair. Now with my new Lightning I see the same potential problem

I have motion sensor area lights, wheel well liners, and have tried bait, sonic repellers (several), flashing lights in the engine compartment of the ICE truck, dryer sheets and anything else I can think of short of trapping - thats next.

I have seen the squirrels get into the old truck through the wheel wells. The wheel well liners must leave room around the suspension for it to move and thats the weak spot in rodent defense. I am now aiming solar powered lights at those areas during the night. Not sure that will work and they are temporary for now.

Has anyone come up with a better solution to keeping the critters away from causing what I perceive will be a very expensive repair ? Especially in the wheel wells? I wonder if I can block them from climbing the tires.

I will be putting out the large rodent live trap today and try to reduce the nearby population. Note: the hawks and owls here are at work but too many people have shot the coyotes trying to protect their chickens so the natural predators are insufficient to do the job.

like Rick said, any vehicle is at risk. But I do think EVs are possibly more at risk as the ICE vehicles engine when started scares them off. So typically it happens to vehicles stored unused for months or used infrequently.

 

[The Weatherman]

I live in a rural area and have mice and ground squirrels aplenty around. My ICE F150 suffered wire damage (NOX sensor) due to their chewing which was expensive to repair. Now with my new Lightning I see the same potential problem

I have motion sensor area lights, wheel well liners, and have tried bait, sonic repellers (several), flashing lights in the engine compartment of the ICE truck, dryer sheets and anything else I can think of short of trapping - thats next.

I have seen the squirrels get into the old truck through the wheel wells. The wheel well liners must leave room around the suspension for it to move and thats the weak spot in rodent defense. I am now aiming solar powered lights at those areas during the night. Not sure that will work and they are temporary for now.

Has anyone come up with a better solution to keeping the critters away from causing what I perceive will be a very expensive repair ? Especially in the wheel wells? I wonder if I can block them from climbing the tires.

I will be putting out the large rodent live trap today and try to reduce the nearby population. Note: the hawks and owls here are at work but too many people have shot the coyotes trying to protect their chickens so the natural predators are insufficient to do the job.

I suffered the same fate with a new 2022 Ford Maverick last year. In my case it was a rabbit that chewed thru multiple wires in a harness that ran along the back axle. I know it sucks and it’s hard to reduce the risk if you don’t have a garage to store it in.

I did everything you mentioned, but also found some spray on products that I applied to the most vulnerable wiring under the vehicle. It has to be reapplied on bi-monthly or monthly bases depending on weather.

 

[H3IMDALL]

Rodents caused 33k worth of damage to my Porsche (ate the electrical harness). Porsche used sustainable rubber compounds in their wiring that they found very tasty. Ford doesn’t do that and so far they haven’t destroyed the Lightning. Ofc I’m trying very hard to kill all the little bastards (although they are big for rats) now lol.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I live in a rural area and have mice and ground squirrels aplenty around. My ICE F150 suffered wire damage (NOX sensor) due to their chewing which was expensive to repair. Now with my new Lightning I see the same potential problem

I have motion sensor area lights, wheel well liners, and have tried bait, sonic repellers (several), flashing lights in the engine compartment of the ICE truck, dryer sheets and anything else I can think of short of trapping - thats next.

I have seen the squirrels get into the old truck through the wheel wells. The wheel well liners must leave room around the suspension for it to move and thats the weak spot in rodent defense. I am now aiming solar powered lights at those areas during the night. Not sure that will work and they are temporary for now.

Has anyone come up with a better solution to keeping the critters away from causing what I perceive will be a very expensive repair ? Especially in the wheel wells? I wonder if I can block them from climbing the tires.

I will be putting out the large rodent live trap today and try to reduce the nearby population. Note: the hawks and owls here are at work but too many people have shot the coyotes trying to protect their chickens so the natural predators are insufficient to do the job.

TLDR: Get cats.

I too live in a rural area. I use a number of different traps and in a given week I'm replacing about half of them - we're talking half a dozen plus rodents caught in the "indoor" traps in addition to the outdoor poison. We've got brown field mice, we've got rats, we've got chipmunks, squirrels, bunnies, bats, possums, all sorts of rodents...

After years of fighting with it, trying to seal up the garage, trying chili plants, mint plants, various oils, moth balls, etc. I gave up. I sold my 3rd "fun" car (convertible) as I was constantly hunting down the nests and repairing wiring. When we bought our Tesla, we didn't find a difference.

If the vehicle was driven daily, it would be fine. If it was sitting for a couple of days, we'd find droppings around and inside the vehicle. So we stayed an "active vehicle" family...then the pandemic hit.

I resorted to desperate measures. I have never been and will never be a feline person. But I reached out to my local shelter and inquired about "barn cats" They delivered 2 to my house with the only requirements being - provide shelter, food, and water.

These cats are not people friendly. They aren't aggressive, they simply run away when you approach. Shelter comes in the form of a box, I started with a blue bin with some straw. Food comes in the form of a $25/40lb bag from Walmart that lasts about 2-3 months, and water - my property has flowing water that they drink from.

My trap count dropped to maybe 1 every to every other week within the first month. I called the shelter and asked for 2 more cats. I now have 4 cats roaming my property. The 40lb bag lasts 1-1.5 months and I splurged ($100) on a heated shelter, they've earned it. They'll come and go, sometimes disappearing for a week. When they do, I think they're dead - eaten by a fox, coyote, hawk, vulture, etc. But to my constant surprise they always come back.

Two months in, my neighbor called me to ask if I got cats. They make it out to his property now and they triggered his outdoor motion sensors and he pulled up the cameras and saw them. I apologized and he goes "Dude, they've cleared out the barn! Not a single mouse!" He occasionally leaves food out for them too now.

The 4 of these guys..I still don't like them. But it's the only thing that's worked for me. My traps are still there, but I haven't caught a rodent in almost 2 years now...

 

[Henry Ford]

Thread over...

 

[Barrels]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree that cats are probably the best solution. Our dog doesnt like them but I suspect they would ‘deal’ with the dog. The killer is my wife doesnt like them. Ill have to work
On that.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree that cats are probably the best solution. Our dog doesnt like them but I suspect they would ‘deal’ with the dog. The killer is my wife doesnt like them. Ill have to work
On that.

It's the opposite, the dog will learn to deal with the cats. Ours will run from the dog, but the dog is quick enough to catch the occasional bunny for a snack so it's quick enough to catch up to a cat every now and then..but they're very good at swatting at him. After landing couple of blows the dog knows to keep his barking at about a 5-10ft distance.

We also put a bell on the door the dogs goes out of. The cats know when they hear the bell to be prepared to run.

We don't like them either. Wife and I are both allergic to them. Aside from feeding time, we don't interact with them.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I was a dog lover and never cared for cats until our youngest daughter dumped her cat on us after graduating from college. It was a fantastically athletic animal. We have roof rats in our part of Texas. They're very pesky arboreal rodents that can get into your attic and chew up your home wiring, never mind your car wiring. While our cats were alive, I never saw a roof rat on our property (our former dogs were useless in this regard), and all the squirrels kept well away from our house. Our first cat and a number of other cats in our neighborhood, though, have met their demise under the huge claws of great horned owls. Although the birds only weigh 4 to 6 lbs, they dive bomb their prey (any small mammal or other bird) and usually kill it instantly by breaking the prey's backbone. The owls can carry off prey two to three times their own weight.

If you want an indoor/outdoor cat, get one while it's young, and pick a kitten that lets you hold it. For our second "replacement" cat, we had an electronic Cat Mate Elite door that read the animal's biochip (an RFID device) and let the animal in and out, and locked the cat inside at night (not what you folks want, though - the 24x7 outdoor sentry). The main hassle of owning an indoor/outdoor cat for us was humoring all the "I want to go out" and "I want to come in" requests, and the automated cat door handled that perfectly.

Regarding any allergy to cats, both the wife and I started taking a 10 mg loratadine tablet a day (brand name: Claritin). It really helps avoid allergy problems. All the cat fur is something else, though!

 

[ooSHAZAMoo]

Would these be a good idea to keep in the garage?

https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Howell-...ocphy=9009677&hvtargid=pla-304728754213&psc=1

 

[MRButtler]

I was a dog lover and never cared for cats until our youngest daughter dumped her cat on us after graduating from college. It was a fantastically athletic animal. We have roof rats in our part of Texas. They're very pesky arboreal rodents that can get into your attic and chew up your home wiring, never mind your car wiring. While our cats were alive, I never saw a roof rat on our property (our former dogs were useless in this regard), and all the squirrels kept well away from our house. Our first cat and a number of other cats in our neighborhood, though, have met their demise under the huge claws of great horned owls. Although the birds only weigh 4 to 6 lbs, they dive bomb their prey (any small mammal or other bird) and usually kill it instantly by breaking the prey's backbone. The owls can carry off prey two to three times their own weight.

If you want an indoor/outdoor cat, get one while it's young, and pick a kitten that lets you hold it. For our second "replacement" cat, we had an electronic Cat Mate Elite door that read the animal's biochip (an RFID device) and let the animal in and out, and locked the cat inside at night (not what you folks want, though - the 24x7 outdoor sentry). The main hassle of owning an indoor/outdoor cat for us was humoring all the "I want to go out" and "I want to come in" requests, and the automated cat door handled that perfectly.

Regarding any allergy to cats, both the wife and I started taking a 10 mg loratadine tablet a day (brand name: Claritin). It really helps avoid allergy problems. All the cat fur is something else, though!

Now I wonder how many cats I've lost to Bald Eagles.

 

[gregoryhcain]

I have two homes, one in the county on a small saltwater bay, the other in a small suburban township. In the suburban home, in a garage mice damaged my 4Runner, totaled my Audi A6. At the county home they invaded my shop, twice infested my boat and only my cell game cam alerted me in time to spare heavy damage. Tried every trap known to mankind. What worked you ask? A cat. Got some great game cam shots of the cat feasting on both mice and rats. Cats are the ONLY rodent killers/trappers I would ever entrust my vehicles to, especially in a rural area.

 

[intensifi]

I obtained electronic rodent repellants (speakers and flashing lights) to protect the cars. There is a big unit for the large garage area. The high value cars have the small and louder device slid under the engine compartment. The cars that live outside, have the devices installed in the engine bay.

before you say it, I tested these with a rodent I captured in a trap. It was perfectly happy in its temp home until I turned the unit on.

 

[dirtdiver]

Very interesting info above. The typical issue with outdoor cats here in San Diego is the coyotes. I am constantly battling rodents myself. I hired a service that puts poison in little black containers around the property. That has helped.

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