Having problems with your car can be a costly endeavor. It is especially annoying when you are unable to find the reason behind why your car is not working as it should. One thing that many car owners in Maryville, IL may not consider is the damage to their car being caused by rodents. Here we will be discussing why rodents can cause damage to your car and how you can keep your car better protected.
How Mice Get in Your Car
Winter is the coldest time of the year in Maryville, IL. Mice who have not found a place to hide out yet will be looking for anywhere to stay until it gets warm again. Mice are small and flexible enough to make their way into many parts of your car, and once they settle in, they can start causing major damage, especially to wiring. If you think you might have mice in your car, be on the lookout for any gnawed-on wiring under the hood, footprints within the new snow around your car, or any dropping you may find in or around your car.
Keeping Your Car Protected from Mice
Once you find out that you have mice in your car, you want to get them out as fast as possible. Leaving mice in your car could lead them to cause an expensive amount of damage to your car. Here are some tips for getting mice out of your car:
- Using Peppermint Oil: One thing that mice and other rodents and pests hate is strong smells. This is why using peppermint oil is a great way of keeping them out of your car. To use this oil, all you need to do is spread it around the inside of your vehicle and other areas they like using cotton balls. The strong smell will drive them away. If you do not like the smell of peppermint, you can also try using laundry dyer sheets, cayenne pepper, and many other strong smells.
- Using Light to Prevent Nesting: Mice enjoy dark places to make their nests in. In order to prevent them from nesting, you can keep your garage light on or park your car in a place that is not dark. If the mice are in the engine, you can pop the hood open which will bring light into those darker areas of your car. During the day, this is a great way of keeping mice out of your car.
- Clean Waste Out of Your Car: One tried and true technique of keeping all pests including mice out of your car. Just like the inside of your home, if you have any trash or waste in your car, it will bring the mice in. If you keep your car cleaned out, it will not give them a reason to enter your car.
- Use Your Car: The best advice for keeping your car mouse-free is to use it regularly. One strategy that people will use is leaving their car idle for a couple of days and not using it. This lures the mice into a false sense of security in the car. Then every day after that, start your car and rev up your engine, even if you are not going anywhere. The roaring of your engine will scare the mice away.
Make Sure You Are Protected
If you have mice or any other annoying pests in your car or home in Maryville, IL, give our team of professional exterminators over at Brady Pest Control a call today. We will eliminate the pests and deter them from ever coming back.
