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The Kitchen Table

Rat damage

13 years ago

Took my Honda Civic 03 to Honda garage yesterday because car was acting strange and the mechanic found and replaced this part. Was suggested that I put moth balls under the hood so this won't happen again. ( Rat damage ) Has anyone else dealt with this problem before?

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Comments (7)

marie_ndcal
13 years ago
Not rats, but mice can do damage also. Had that happened when one of the cars was in the garage, locked up, with mothballs and decon while we traveled living in a rural area. Got inside the heater etc and made nest.
jannie
13 years ago
I was at the Honda dealer last year when a woman came in with trouble in her car. They diagnosed a spider had woven a web and caused the damage. Do they make Raid Auto?
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Well, the roof rats may, indeed, be the cause of the demise of your tree. I see a large amount of bark chewed off, which means the tree may have been girdled, thus cutting off the supply of nutrients traveling up to the tree's canopy. I agree with Mike, here (citrange). It could also be due to Phytophthora infection which can cause foot-rot as Mike mentions, as well as traveling up the tree (the odd discoloration on the branches and bark). Whatever caused the bark damage at the base of the tree (roof rats, a weed whacker, sprinklers hitting the trunk of the tree and the bark simply rotted and fell off) are most likely the cause of the death of this tree. The other concern I would have is how close the tree is to your house and roofline. You are providing those roof rats a clear path to your roof, and thus your attic. Which is where they love to live. We have a serious issue with the Norway rat (also known as roof rats or citrus rats). I would make sure you remove all trees or vegetation from the sides of your house the provide a "ladder" to your roof. Plus, the roots aren't good for your house's foundation and plumbing, either. Set traps or bait stations around your house to reduce the rat population (they carry disease as well as damaging your fruits, and what you're seeing with your lemons is clearly rat damage. They eat the sweeter skins of your sour citrus, and will hollow out the insides of your sweet citrus - classic rat damage). They are unhealthy pests, and you need to get rid of them. Bait stations can be set with non-kill through bait, so you do not kill birds of prey, just know that there is not antidote for that type of poison, so don't let dogs or small children get into the bait stations. Patty S.
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Popi, no I don't cook the pumpkins, by the time I find them they are usually half rotten & smelly - no way they're coming in the house to be cooked :) I'm fairly sure it's rats as the pumpkins look like they have gnaw marks around the hole. Pam, the area the pumpkins are in would be awkward to fence, it is in the house yard which is fenced. I don't know how you would stop rats with a fence anyway, probably have to make a little wire cage for each pumpkin fruit but that could be difficult with the ones hanging from the fence. Possums were my next choice but it looks more like rat damage. Rose, I think it happens at night when the dogs are locked up. I should leave one of them out as she is a good ratter but she is also an escape artist and would probably jump the fence (or eat her way through if she was desperate) and spend all night down at the dam (she loves water). dnaa, can you send up a yowie or 2 for rat patrol, we don't have Mr Whippy vans around here so they won't be distracted? Actually my cat's name is Yowie but only because that's what one of my kids used to call all cats - Meowie then shortened to Yowie.
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sheilajoyce_gw
13 years ago
DD had a skunk make a nest under her hood up by the windshield wipers. She took it in to have the dealer treat the smell, and it was better. Took months after to finally get rid of all the smell.
joyfulguy
13 years ago
What? A skunk made a smell near its own nest?

When the people started the car, was it?

That'd be surprise, wouldn't it? (For both the skunk and the human occupants of the car).

Seems to me that I read lately something about, "unanticipated results".

That'd add flavour to one's day, wouldn't it?

ole joyful ... who, to his knowledge, hasn't had a skunk anywhere near his car
maire_cate
13 years ago
My neighbor had a problem with squirrels chewing the wiring harness under the hood of their VW which they parked outside. They finally started putting an aluminum pan with used cat litter on top of the air filter every night after the engine cooled down.

That worked. Then they discovered that the squirrels had chewed all the edges of their patio furniture and gutters.

They really are pesky creatures.
amyfiddler
13 years ago
Yep, had a rat in my Acura. Unbelievable. I hear it happens a lot -

We've since eliminated the rat infestation issue we didn't know we had - $3000 later we have a brand new crawl space (how sexy - I almost demanded we have a party down there for all the money we spent on the gutting and recovering) -

I tell you what's fun though. Having a Rat Exterminator truck parked outside your home for a day. The neighbors who never spoke before suddenly want to know "how we're doing" - I just tell them that the exterminator is scaring off all the rats, so they better watch out for rats at their house in the next few days (not true, but fun to see the reaction, heh heh)
susanjf_gw
13 years ago
just showed this to dh..he said it's quite common? guess his dad when he had a gas staion, worked on cars with problems...

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