Technical Moth Balls for Mouse (Squirrel) deterent?

I have a couple of vehicles outside and one inside that I worry about mice or squirrels chewing up wiring and insulation. Just had one of the outside vehicles get some damage so I strategically placed a few mothballs under the hood. Other than the smell, this can't do any damage can it? And is it a reasonable deterent? Thanks a bunch for your thoughts.....Don.

 

Sounds like you need to sell a few cars, so you can get them all inside.

Good luck, rodents is a terrible problem to have.

 

Other than smelling like grandma’s closet that’s about all the damage I know that can happen.

 

They may work under the hood, but I know moth balls work very well if placed inside a vehicle. I garage stored my covered jet boat for over 25 years with three small containers of moth balls and never found even a spider, much less a mouse.

 

.....Good point, Jim.

 

I prefer moth blocks, easier to remove and smell just as bad. Irish Spring bar soap, dryer sheets, a hungry cat, and a small bore rifle work well also.

 

I have no idea if mothballs deter mice but that’s not the main way they work. They release a gas that kills the moths and more importantly their larva. The pesticide they release isn’t good for humans either. I wouldn’t want to be having them floating around my car whilst driving it much.

They will eat their way through some plastics too

 

I used them in a 94 Cobra that was stored for 8 years. I uncovered the car last summer and started working on it again and there was no sign of mice. It did have ants in the trunk but a bug bomb took care of them.

 

I found this product that seems to work. It smells a lot better.

 

I saw it said somewhere that mice don't like the smell of peppermint.
But you know what they say about something that sounds too good.............

 

I've used mothballs or mothball packets for years and never had a mouse problem. One of the buildings I store a car in is no where near mouse proof, a small dog would have no problem getting in. So, either the mothballs work or there are no mice to repel. I don't really know but a no mouse problem is better than a mouse problem. I'll take it.

 

Doing some changes on my car, so it is not moving, which encourages rodents inhabiting. I have 5 of these in various places in the car and more around the shop. My experience with meeces is they like upholstery materials.

 

Moth balls? The neighbor lady thinks they repel bears from getting into her garbage can...they don't.

 

My neighbor uses some sort of underhood strobe light rodents dont like. Id guess you could put one in the cab too..

 

Feral cats really work well, but they can be a pain in other areas. I threw mothballs under the shed just to keep anything from making a home but turned out it was just a safe passage for 20 feet. Theres a pair of Hawks that cruise the neighborhood, scary when one dives by you for a meal, they get pretty big when close. I would use the drier sheets, had a car in a tent for couple years and mice played everywhere [ amid parts, in tractor air cleaner, engine blower housing] but never bothered the car. Repels is a product that also works, doesn't stop the dog though...

 

Mothballs didn't keep @squirrel away from this thread.

 

.....

 

The mice here ate the grandpa someone's mice repellent packets and chewed up the Irish Spring. I cleaned out a bunch out of the cellar with a bucket of death baited with Peanut butter but you can't use them without checking them on a daily basis and having a place way out from the house and garage to dump dead stinking mice.

Moth balls always remind me of going to my great grandmother's house 70 something years ago.

 

I place dryer sheets in the coupe during the winter in my shop. Never had a mouse mess with it. I think moth ball work as well, A co worker placed moth balls around his back yard because of a skunk problem, no more skunks come near his place he said.

 

Hand full of moth balls in an old nylon.

 

I have parked cars up at my parents cottage over the winter a few times over the years .

Make sure the garage is nice a clean , holes sealed etc .
A metric shit ton of moth balls all around the garage , under and around the car etc .

insude the car I use bouncy sheets

I also put a few of those infrared sound thingys that plug in , supposed to emit a sound rodents don’t like . There cheap enough that I don’t care .

never had an issue with the little bastards .

cars parked outside , I would just load the car up with bouncy sheets , make sure they are closed up tight and hope for the best .

 

Bounce sheets, and Irish Spring did not work for me, but mothballs have kept the car mouse free for 6 years now.

 

Moth balls, thats a big moth I would hate to see the rest of him. I have used moth balls in the car, and only draw back was all summer you could sell them, it goes away after a while.

 

How dangerous is it to actually handle moth balls? What are they made of, Naptha?

 

You need the large size..

 

I think I'd be pretty happy to have @squirrel around any SBC I'm working on.

 

Simply disconnect the battery.

The phone company did a study to figure out why mice/rats chew on phone lines so much. The voltage in the lines for the ringer "stimulates" the little beggars and makes them horny and hungry. They love the stimulation.

Disconnect the battery, no voltage, less rodents.

 

Have you ever smelled moth balls?…..do you hold them by the feet or wings?

 

I hear ya but I have also had mice get in a tool box drawer with random lengths of spare wire coiled up and the little bastards chewed it up pretty good…

 

....and I wouldn't mind it if Forbes got in my truck! Come on you guys....give him a break!