How do mice get into trunk?

[kqw]

Every winter (northeast) ....

I sometimes find where mice have set up shop (nesting) in my trunk.

How the hell are they getting in there and how do I prevent it.

Thanks in Advance

[RickM]

Not sure how they get in but you want to discourage them from being in there. They love to eat the insulation on the wires behind the dash.

[kqw]

I check often and sometimes find a nesting right by the carpet next to the shock tower....

If I knew where they were getting in, I'd prevent it.

Maybe I should get a cat......

[RickM]

I have two traps in there perpetually during the winter.

The best are the Victor spring traps with the large yellow plastic trigger...sold at Sears hardware. I place them on top a large piece of cardboard as things can get messy. Also, they're most effecttive when they're facing/up against a "wall". Mice scurry along the edges of a space.

I'm also curious where they get in as well.

FWIW, If they're in the trunk they are most likely in the interior as well.

[Rot 911]

Not that this article offers any good advice, but it is entertaining to read:

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND—Nearly 700 scientists representing 27 countries convened at the University of Zurich Monday to formally announce that their experimentation on mice has been motivated not by a desire to advance human knowledge, but out of just sheer distaste for the furry little rodents.

"As a man of science, I deal with facts, and the fact is that mice are gross," said Dr. Douglas White, chair of the Oxford biogenetics department and lifelong mouse-hater. "They're squirmy, scurrying little vermin, and they make my skin crawl. I speak for all of my assembled colleagues when I say that these horrible little things deserve the worst we can dish out."

According to a 500-word statement, scientists hate mice for "their beady little eyes," "their repulsive tails," and "the annoying little squeaking sounds they make."

At the press conference, several scientists detailed their involvement in the centuries-long ruse of "conducting experiments" and "curing diseases."

"For years, I've used lab mice to allegedly research cell breakdown in living tissue," said researcher Ellen Gresham of the Harvard Institute for Advanced Studies. "But the truth is that I don't need any scientific reason for the work I do. I experiment on mice just to watch them suffer."

"Mice are particularly ill-suited for our tissue study," Gresham added. "We could construct a computer model that would yield more accurate results, but we don't give a rat's asss."

According to Gresham, scientists have enjoyed dissolving mice in acid, spinning them in centrifuges, blowing them up in vacuum chambers, and forcing them to navigate exit-free mazes for years—all the while towering above them, laughing.

"Every high-pitched squeak from the holding area is a warm reminder that the mice desperately want to escape," said Dr. Frances Villalobos, a contagious-disease researcher at the University of Mexico. "All they want to do is get out from behind those bars so they can chew on everything, defecate all over, and poke their filthy twitching faces into piles of garbage. Well, I know of at least 80 of those little motherfuuckers who won't be doing any more of that. They're headed straight for the dissection lab."

A University of Miami researcher injects dye into a mouse's eyeball "for the heck of it."

Villalobos said he spent six months writing a grant proposal that provided him with funding to inject mice with the smallpox virus.

"It kills me that I can't infect the whole control group," Villalobos said. "Unfortunately, if I infect them, I'll throw off my results. But once I complete this experiment, I'll rotate the control group into the hot seat. Don't you worry. They'll get what's coming to them."

After applauding the scientists for coming forward, anthropologist Brent Wrigley suggested that the hatred of mice may be the single most important factor in the evolution of modern science.

"Despising mice may have pushed humanity out of the Stone Age," Wrigley said. "After all, the cave habitats of early man must have been infested with the horrific little monsters. The entire history of human advancement via the scientific method may be a byproduct of the higher forebrain's natural revulsion toward the nasty critters."

Mouse-killing isn't solely the province of organic and medical scientists. Many other scientists kill mice, as well.

"As a physicist, I don't really have an excuse to use mice in my regular research, which mostly requires the use of theoretical math," said Dr. Thomas Huber, author of the 1996 study Rodent Elasticity And Kinetic Rebound In High-Acceleration Collisions. "But when I have the time, I like to send them flying into walls. Even just seeing them in a cage makes me feel kind of good inside. I like knowing I'm depriving them of their freedom, even if my research doesn't provide me the opportunity to cut them open."

"I hate those little fuuckers," he added.

[kqw]

Thanks Rick...

No evidence of them getting into the interior but if is truly baffling as to how they get into the trunk.

[kqw]

Kurt...

Tell me you cut and pasted that article and didn't re-type it......

ha ha ha

[RickM]

I had no evidence either...until I found my seatbelts chewed into.....right at the level where there's a "shelf" on the interior panel. Bastards!

BTW, I've also caught them live in tiny Havahart trap...but then what?

I should have thrown them into my daughter's Gerbil cage (2 males) for some Gerbil Justice.


Mickey got my seat belts...Replacement advice sought

[dweymer]

Make sure you check on top of your oil cooler, and behind alternator/fan assy. It seems to be a popular hangout, and can do major damage when you overheat one cylinder. Mice are crafty fookers, how about thru the fresh air system, any holes?

[kqw]

Thanks Don...

How do they get in???

The sheet metal in the engine compartment is tight with no missing panels.

I guess that I'll strategically place some traps this winter and see where they get caught. This may give me an indication as to their point of entry...

[randywebb]

try moth balls in all 4 corners.

A mouses skull is about 0.5" across - they can get thru any hole or crevice that is that large. If motivated, they can push thru or chew thru rubber "seals." And, they can jump.

[dafischer]

Mice had set up housekeeping in my trunk, and I was mystified as well. A little investigation revealed the rubber cap covering the opening in the bottom of the smuggler's box was rotted, and they pushed in through it. Next they were able to push the cardboard cover glued over the hole on top of the box aside, and out they went into the trunk area.

Replaced the rubber cap, reglued the cover, and voila...no more meeses.

[porschenut]

Maybe they jumped in the last time you opened the hood.

[RickM]

Originally posted by dafischer
Next they were able to push the cardboard cover glued over the hole on top of the box aside, and out they went into the trunk area.

Which box is this?

[dfink]

Put a few moth balls in the car scattered around. Should keep the little critters out.

[kqw]

Dave good thought....

You know? My car has those "drain" nossels but the diameter of those holes are verrry small. Could this be a POE?

dfink..I like the idea of moth balls....

porschenut...funny guy.....just for that , Mickey will visit you this winter...

[dafischer]

Originally posted by RickM
Which box is this?

The smuggler's box. There's a hole approx. 4" in diameter in the top between the dash, and the underhood dash cover. I assume it's used if there's a gas heater, to tie into the defrost sytem. Otherwise, there's just a cardboard cover glued on. It's right next to the cowl air intake drain tube on early cars.

[Kraftwerk]

How? A very well connected mouse invites the other mice into trunk. It should comfort you that some mice are NOT invited. Just get a cat to piss in your trunk and you will have little if no mouse problem, just a pee stench to deal with. They ate my alarm wires. Wierdo mice...

[porschenut]

I fail to understand what mice find so nutritious about wire insulation and seat belt webbing. I've tasted them and they're not that good.

[Kurt B]

I've seen a rat climb a stucco wall like squirrels climb trees. He went from the ground, straight up and got off on the roof. Once I saw that, it became perfectly clear how they can get just about anywhere. Mice, with less mass are probably even more adept at such feats.