When City Rats Invade Your Car
One of the problems that you’re going to have to deal with if you’re living in the city is the abundance of rats. There are rats everywhere. They’re in the dumpster areas of restaurants, hospitals, and other establishments; they’ve invaded homes and schools; and now, they’re also making our cars their home.
Damages that Rats Do to Vehicles
Rats can do significant damage to vehicles, especially to very expensive and luxurious ones. The bigger the damage, the more expensive the repair gets.
Rats can eat just about anything inside your car. They can easily chew through the wires, causing them to short circuit and your car to heat up. They can also chew through the hoses, causing leaks and waste of good money. In addition to these, rats can also eat through seat cushions and insulation. They can even build their nest under the seat, under the hood, and even in the air intake. The damage they do can not only cause the wires to short circuit, but they also cause the car to heat up. If this happens, then the risk for accidents increases.
Aside from the increased risk for accidents, there’s also the stink coming from the rats. The smell coming from rat droppings and urine will fill the whole car, that it’ll take a lot of washings to totally get rid of the stinking smell. If the foul odor can’t be removed by simple measures, then you need to have the car cleaned by a professional cleaner. Of course, this will cost you money, as would having the damages done by rats repaired or replaced.
Finally, there’s also the mess created when rats get in the car fan. You’ll have to clean up all the gory mess – guts, fur, skin, blood, and all – before you use the car once more.
Keeping Rats Out of Your Car
There are things that you can do to prevent rats from invading your car. The first is to choose your parking space wisely. See to it that you don’t park near areas infested with rats, some examples of which are near dumpsters. If your home has a lawn, then make sure that you trim the bushes and mow the lawn. You don’t want to give them hiding places where they can live and thrive and ultimately invade your home and vehicle.
If the rat infestation is controllable, then see to it that you make use of natural ways of getting rid of rats first. You can place mothballs in your car, especially under the hood of the vehicle. The smell will drive them away, but you have to remember though to let the air circulate to get rid of the odor, especially after the rats are gone.
You can also place a cloth with cat urine under the hood. From the smell coming from the cat urine, they’ll think there’s a predator hiding somewhere, so they’ll try to avoid your vehicle.
If all these did not work, then don’t admit defeat yet. There are always professional pest control companies that can help you get rid of the nasty pests. Some of them even have professional cleaning services to clean up all the muck and debris left behind by these pests.
Citations:
Jennifer Daleo is a freelance content provider who writes forĀ Rove Pest Control. Rats are nasty creatures, and through this article, she hopes to teach readers get rid of rats that dwell in their vehicles the safe way.