One eyed pack rat in engine

[TheObserver]

Was sleeping in my Truck last night scouting, took the old man up to get him out as well. I woke up to him telling me there is something trying to get at our food, so we get up flashlights and headlamps and hear the thing in the engine compartment.

Pop the hood and there is an absolutely massive pack rat with only one eye, thing was f***ing huge I thought it was a marmot at first!! We ended up spooking it off and moved up the road.

No damage, not yet anyways. I think it's good but there was a weird electrical noise like it stepped on something or started chewing.

Guys got any good ways to keep em away from the vehicle? My vehicle will be sitting in this general area when season opens for a week, or maybe two.

They ruined my Dads buddys truck in the Kootenays back in the day. Had to get it towed!

[TheObserver]

F***in thing had one eye, one eye!! It was nuts like something out of a movie one eyed pack rat from hell

[walks with deer]

Ya leave the hood popped.

[B.C.Boy(100%)]

I’ve been told to use Irish Spring soap bar in chucks placed here and there, but those buggers just remove the pieces, even regular rats do the same.
Peppermint oil or spray works well for me so far.
I grow peppermint in the garden, use the sprigs (stem & leafs) in the woodshed, layered in the rows, keeps the rats from making nests in there.

[Gr8 white hunter]

Shit I hate those things I had one make a nest in my engine compartment.

[Treed]

I hate those things!! Popping the hood has never helped me. Was elk hunting last year, sleeping in my truck canopy, and I heard a noise at around 11:30. Jumped out and lifted my hood all the way open and there was a packrat sitting on the engine. I grabbed the little ****er and threw him about 30 ft away. I ran over to stamp on him and he was off like a shot. Darn they are fast! About 2:30 in the morning I hear another one. I get up and my cousin hears me and gets up and asks what the hell im doing. I said we’ve got packrats and we gotta go. He doesn’t even flinch and nods his head and says let’s pack it up. We drove about an hour to where we were planning on hunting the next day, slept in out trucks and got up 2 hours later. Did I mention I hate packrats!

[gathto]

Moth Balls. Put them anywhere you don’t want rodents.

[Norwestalta]

Never seen one but funny stories. Can I guy set traps for them? May as well do them in and not worry about it again.

[mpotzold]

Rodents in engine compartment - Page 3 (huntingbc.ca) (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?143066-Rodents-in-engine-compartment/page3&highlight=rats+vehicles)

[walks with deer]

I hate those things!! Popping the hood has never helped me. Was elk hunting last year, sleeping in my truck canopy, and I heard a noise at around 11:30. Jumped out and lifted my hood all the way open and there was a packrat sitting on the engine. I grabbed the little ****er and threw him about 30 ft away. I ran over to stamp on him and he was off like a shot. Darn they are fast! About 2:30 in the morning I hear another one. I get up and my cousin hears me and gets up and asks what the hell im doing. I said we’ve got packrats and we gotta go. He doesn’t even flinch and nods his head and says let’s pack it up. We drove about an hour to where we were planning on hunting the next day, slept in out trucks and got up 2 hours later. Did I mention I hate packrats!

I think if you grabed a packrat you would be missing some fingers..did you leave the hood opem after the first encounter..and i cant believe you let him get away
.

[digger dogger]

My ol’lady was just attacked by a one eyed trouser rat!
Aggressive son of a bitch! :-)

Seriously tho, I’ve had to kill two while out hunting, both died from hiking pole wounds.
They’re wrecking buddies cabin, along with porcupines.

[TheObserver]

I'm going to put traps on either side of the tires and leave the hood propped with a 4x4 and spray peppermint or coyote piss (maybe both!) hopefully it works

[TheObserver]

Thanks for the tips fellas, if anybody has anything else thats worked for them let me know. Would be devastating getting back to the truck with Meat in Sept heat and those little scum suckers rendered the truck inoperable

[blazing billy]

Try scented dryer sheets tucked in various spots in the engine compartment.

[digger dogger]

Try scented dryer sheets tucked in various spots in the engine compartment.

I’ve heard that also.

[browningboy]

Most people just have the hood open on their truck, they want dry, covered places to stay... But guess they could hop on top of your gas tank too?

[Paddler]

I use a wire mesh “skirt” around the truck, weighed down with rocks. For packrats, smaller mesh is needed, smaller than chicken wire. Mine is half inch, and it works so far. Chicken wire works for porcupines, where the *******s have learned to chew rubber.

[browningboy]

I use a wire mesh “skirt” around the truck, weighed down with rocks. For packrats, smaller mesh is needed, smaller than chicken wire. Mine is half inch, and it works so far. Chicken wire works for porcupines, where the *******s have learned to chew rubber.

Couldn't the rats just climb the wire? Sounds like a good idea...

[Ron.C]

Try scented dryer sheets tucked in various spots in the engine compartment.

Lol, tried that, didn't to squat. F@#$ers shit all over them!

[Treed]

I think if you grabed a packrat you would be missing some fingers..did you leave the hood opem after the first encounter..and i cant believe you let him get away


.

Lol. I was fast and didn’t even think other than I didn’t want to hold on too long! Yes, the hood was fully open after that and the little bugger(s) still invaded.

[boatdoc]

Check out Mouse Blocker, not sure if it works on pack rats but it solved my mouse under the hood issue.
I also put a 110 volt version in my shop and the mice and rats stayed out.

[Paddler]

The wire mesh skirt idea depends on sealing it to the ground with rocks, and bending the upper edge to fit tightly around the shape of the vehicle. Heavier gauge half inch mesh is fairly rigid, at least beyond what the rats I have encountered can bend. They seem to focus on trying to get under the mesh, rather than in from the top edges. It needs to be higher than the wheel wells, to stop porcupines that might like to chew tires, as well as pack rats. The whole thing rolls up and rides on the roof rack.

I hope none of them read this, and get ideas..

[upperleftcoaster]

I’ve never had a pack rat problem, but it gets me thinking what if a fellow set some strategically placed connibear 110s…

[wideopenthrottle]

cat brought one into the house and let it get away...we tried for weeks to catch it...we would find balls of tinfoil and insulation from the stove in little spots for a short while but the cat finally caught it and finished the job...being more brown they are not so freaky as those ugly black wharf rats

[Drillbit]

My buddy had one get up into his fender last year on his big ford.

He put the truck in his shop and closed all the doors so it couldn’t get away when he took off the inner fender

There was a bit of shooting going on in the shop after that haha. The funniest part was he wounded it bad and it got back into the truck and died in the other fender!! Hahaha
Man, it was funny!
he wasn’t too happy about having to undo that side to get the body out, but I thought it was hilarious

[snakeplain]

Wow, that would have been funny, should have used a 410 in the garage and wore safety glasses for ricochet’s, ha, ha.

[Wagonmaster]

Had a pair of mice set up house in the travel trailer once. Chewed the canvas handle of my expensive fishing tackle bag which pissed me off greatly. Got up in the middle of the night and nailed one of them with a bread board. In order to reach where it was, I had to lean over the head of my son's bed and dangle my bare nuts about a foot from his face. I'm sure he remains scarred to this day. After reading this thread, I think I will go down and check under the hood of my truck for signs of damage. Would not rat traps on the ground around the truck, baited with various types of food, attract larger unwanted predators into camp?

[TheObserver]

Check out Mouse Blocker, not sure if it works on pack rats but it solved my mouse under the hood issue.
I also put a 110 volt version in my shop and the mice and rats stayed out.

I'll check that out, thanks!

[TheObserver]

Had a pair of mice set up house in the travel trailer once. Chewed the canvas handle of my expensive fishing tackle bag which pissed me off greatly. Got up in the middle of the night and nailed one of them with a bread board. In order to reach where it was, I had to lean over the head of my son's bed and dangle my bare nuts about a foot from his face. I'm sure he remains scarred to this day. After reading this thread, I think I will go down and check under the hood of my truck for signs of damage. Would not rat traps on the ground around the truck, baited with various types of food, attract larger unwanted predators into camp?

I will be putting up a perimeter as well, but if something big wants in it won't stop it your right. For the first 5 days or so someone will be at camp but then i'll be on my own and thats when I will use the extra precaution. Unless I were to punch my tag before that

[tigrr]

Buy a bag of the moth balls at walmart. They come in a blue bag, 2 disks in a sleve. They work great keeping packrats out of campers. I even throw a few under the camper.
PARA-ZENE Moth Ballshttps://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/para-zene-moth-balls-white/6000194854901

[Paddler]

Kokanee Park is where I learned the hard to way to use a wire skirt. My worst was camping on a Kootenay lake beach, and having a squad of packrats galloping through camp at 1am. We had to collect everything chewable and pile it in the tent to protect it from damage. They still put 20 holes in a lightweight towel, and dragged a quick dry t shirt off a hammock line, and chewed it beyond use. I felt him do that. They tried to drag it away, but couldn’t manage it because of the rough rocks, so just chewed it right there. We found a spoon 50 yards away that they abandoned.
I look for, and smell check every beach we think of camping on, and choose less “ratty” locations. Packrats have a skunk like stink, because they make nests out of forest debris, and cement the whole thing together with their piss. They like rock piles and scree slopes particularly. I think most people out in the bush will catch this scent from time to time. I have learned not to underestimate how much trouble they can cause.

[Treed]

Packrats have ‘broken’ into our cabin a few times. The first time I thought we’d been burgled. Shit was knocked off all the counters and stuff was strewn everywhere. Looking more closely, the little shits had left little shits and we figured out it was packrats. They died shortly thereafter.

[Spy]

12g open hood bam lol lol probably won’t be going very far but atleast you can say you killed something;-).l had one thank goodness I opened the hood to check the oil at the gas station, it had built a huge nest, definitely a fire hazard.

[tigrr]

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/para-zene-moth-balls-white/6000194854901

[Deer_Slayer]

I know guys around Golden would put a fence of chicken wire around their vehicles when away to ward off porcupines from getting in and chewing wires. Maybe same thing using a finer screen? 1/4 to 1/2" screen? or bring a one eyed Surrey alley cat along

[ElectricDyck]

We parked at the wokkapash last year for 5 days, not a pack rat but something smaller, they chewed the all the tanks evap stuff, the tank fill sensor, the rear lights, back up camera...fuses popping when it started raining, barely limped home. Toyota had the truck for 2 weeks, replaced the gas tank all the hoses, the whole wiring harness front to back...it sucked.

[longwalk]

Had a pack rat get under my hood once while camping. Bugger went through the vents into the cab and died under the centre console in the middle of a hot summer… took about a week to find it and months of using everything under the sun to get rid of the smell. Bugger also chewed the wiring on the anti knock sensor.

[TheObserver]

Their scum for sure, got a bottle or coyote piss going to put some around the truck hopefully it works and keep the hood propped open

[Bugle M In]

The EK hunts and pack rats….. grrrrr.
Running the truck to either dry out gear or recharge batteries, and thus having a warm compartment is a great invitation for those buggers.
So yes, lifting the hood while running and allow to cool engine afterwards does help, but no guarantee.
The colder the weather, the worse the issue I find.
We have put rat traps in the engine compartment but hasn’t helped.
They are a frustrating creature for sure

[Redthies]

I use a wire mesh “skirt” around the truck, weighed down with rocks. For packrats, smaller mesh is needed, smaller than chicken wire. Mine is half inch, and it works so far. Chicken wire works for porcupines, where the *******s have learned to chew rubber.

This is what we do when mountaineering in the Bugaboos. There are always extra rolls of mesh at the trailhead as lots of people leave theirs behind for others to use.