Sounds like squirrel stew time.

Keep your car in the garage and DH's. That sounds like a real mess to me! Cats also like warm car motors but atleast they don't chew wires!

Hi K- gardengrl-
When we lived in Virginia , I kept large bags of dry dog food in the garage - along with the cars . When I took the Volvo in to the mechanic for a tune-up he showed me how squirrels had loaded my air filter with dog nuggets for safe storage for the winter . They had precisely packed the air filter with exact rows of nuggets - all lined up in perfect order - row after row . It was amazing ! The only solution was to bring the dog food in the house .
I also stored my brother's boat in my barn one year and the rodents ate all the wiring on his pricey boat . That's the last time he ever did that ! Cost him a fortune to repair all the chewed wires . The only solution was heavy duty rat poison packets that even squirrels will eat . We put them up every where we could in the garage and barn . I mean up as in above my head so the dogs wouldn't get them . Already had to haul one puppy to the Vet for eating rat poison a few years ago . Don't want to re-live that !
Check your Tractor Supply or Feed Store for rodent bait . Not friendly to the rodents , but works like a charm . Just follow the directions on the package .
Good luck !

Sorry to say, this has happened to us too. We don't have a garage and my d-irishman took his Suburu to a nationally known tire/repair place where they told him that it would be $1,000 to fix his wagon due to rat damage! I was incredulous, but they ended up being right.

Gator Mom, loved your post, as did the Irishman. Good luck gardengrl!

P.S. It never hurts to get another estimate.

I have heard of squirrels eating the gas lines on grills.Something in the material they like.Might be the same with the car wires.Gotta eat!-don't ya?

Like Imatallun said above, could be rats too. They'll eat the coating off your electrical wiring and cable in the attic, and I've actually had them bite holes in my solar panels on the roof during the dry season when they were seeking water.

Well, insurance will cover the costs minus my $250 deductible. I'm pretty sure it's a squirrel because I've noticed one particular critter running along the actual concrete block on the side of the house (right under the soffet). At first we thought the little %$#%$#s were getting into the attic, but we ruled that out by checking the soffets and the attic.

Then I thought, "Well maybe it's running over here from across the street", but it makes more sense that it's nesting in my car on the driveway, coming out in the morning, and running to the backyard where our bird feeders are.

We're gonna take down the bird feeders in the back yard, put out some Havahart traps, and park the car in the garage until we "relocate" a few of the buggers. We have a ton of raptors in our area, so I'd rather not use poison, plus the raptors have been doing a good job in keeping the squirrel population down this past year. We used to have a lot more, but this year we've only seen 2 or 3 regulars in the backyard.

Mary, I thought of you when this happened. I thought, "What would Mary do?" and "I bet they've had the same problem at some point!". You definitely have more critters out where you are.

I thought about shooting the d**n thing with a pellet gun, but then I'm afraid I'd turn into Bill Murray from Caddy Shack!

"I have heard of squirrels eating the gas lines on grills."

Yep, happened to me last year.

gardengrl: you make the point when people ask me why I trap the squirrels. They get into everything! Although I've not had to go through this ordeal personally. When you say that you are going to relocate the squirrels I hope you mean locating them to another demension!
we keep both cars in the garage for security reason but rodents can be added to that. Thanks guys for the heads up on the dog food in the garage. We have a big can in there and it needs to be secured.

Thanks for the laugh gardengrl !
Yes , you are right . We've had our fill of rodents and I include squirrels in that group .
It is actually perfectly legal to kill squirrels in your yard .
It is not legal to transport them anywhere !
If you trap 'em , you gotta keep 'em .
There is no place to take them unless you know any squirrel rescue groups - and yes , they are out there .
The rat poison kills rodents quickly . Predators such as raptors will eat only live , moving rodents and not those that are non-moving and poisoned .

Poisoned rodents appear to crawl off and hide to die . I might find their half eaten carcasses in the yard . I think my dogs got those and the dogs are fine . I'm not sure if the dogs ate the poisoned or non-poisoned rodents . They did kill a raccoon last month . This is another animal that is legal for anyone to kill in their yard .
Hey - don't blame me ! Yell at the Fish & Wildlife Commission and your politicians . The state of Florida passed that law .
From the U of F :

Live traps baited with sardines or cat food are effective for garden damage situations . Once an animal is caught, another problem is created--what to do with it. Trap and release of wildlife is seldom biologically sound. Areas that appear suitable for release probably are not. Areas without a resident population of the same species as the relocated animal most likely do not meet its habitat requirements. Relocation to already occupied areas causes problems for both the relocated animal and the resident population of the same species.

Sorry that this is not really helpful . Someone on GW must have some good ideas for you .

Thanks for the education, Gatormom, I really appreciate your info.

Squirrel stew from livetraps?

Re the poison, I think both raptors and dogs have a keen sense of smell that makes them avoid poisoned critters. I wouldn't use poison except for the fact that when it gets cold, the smart rodents LOVE my laundry room.

I'm glad you have good insurance, gardengal.

I'll never look at a Squirrel again , without thinking of you - gardengrl .
Squirrels and the bed sheet boogie . What's next ?

We have a fox in our area that will carry off anything dead. So poison would not do. Sad to say but I'd prefer a pellet gun.

Dear Tomkaren,

Wishing you a deadeye aim, you have to save the fox!

m

I've found that squirrels don't weigh enough to trip a live-trap trigger most of the time. Sometimes they do, but most of the time they run back and forth across the trigger without tripping it.
I put a little pile of birdseed in the back of the trap and rig up a long fishing line from the trap back to the house. When I look out the window and see a squirrel happily munching seed in the open trap, I yank the string and close the trap.
Works great!

That's a good idea. We have had pretty good success in the past w/the Havahart, but yesterday they were giving hubby a good taunting. He said he looked outside at one point and one of the squirrels had tipped the cage over and was sitting on top of it eating the peanut butter we use as bait!

I think in the past we smeared peanut butter on a cotton ball and tied it down in the cage. Think we will have to do the same again.

Here is a recipe for squirrel:

Here is a link that might be useful: Slow-Cooked Squirrel

I understand your struggles, really I do. But please do be careful with rat poison. We lost a kitten to it a few years ago. We suspect the neighbors had poisoned mice and she found a dying one, probably just played with it, but the poison got her. It was a horrifying to see how she suffered.

I believe squirrels get the blame for a lot of stuff their cousins the RAT does in the darkness of night. Not saying squirrels don't cause their share of aggravation but rats are wire chewers more than squirrels. I have always preferred squirrels in rice.

You just might think you have 2 or 3 "Active" squirrels gardengrl. I betting you're wrong. I thought I had been averaging about three locals that have stripped a plum tree bare 7 years running. Since I've started growing more produce in my yard I've observed the following about FL Squirrels. They will eat plums, lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, tomatoes, green beans, green bean flowers, rose buds, grapes, blackberries and blueberries. I have personally observed them eating all of these things in my yard. I have also had them in the attic on more than one occassion. I thought I had rats making all that noise - surprise, it was a squirrel in my peanut butter baited rat trap. They are destroying all my hard work so I finally resorted to a squirrel specific tube trap. What I thought were 2 or 3 has turned out to be 13 in less than two weeks and there were two more investigating the trap this morning. You likely have a plague of squirrels brought about by peanut pushing neighbors. At least that's my problem.