Rats & mice love to eat Toyota rubber and plastic because----

Oh the price you pay for building green.

 

Dont blame the vehicle. You have rats because the rats are finding food and shelter on your property. I have no rats/mice/vermin because I dont allow my property to accommodate vermin.

How about a poll. When was the last time plastic or rubber in vehicles was made from fish/mammal oil? If ever? Just curious.

 

Rats and mice like warfarin too. You can solve your rodent problem by feeding them this tasty treat. Be careful though; your pets and unsuspecting toddlers will eat it too.

 

this person may not have control over the surrounding property, like in an appartment or condo complex. Florida just has more habitat than most of Texas, similar to East Texas.

 

Agreed.

 

I still have a healthy supply of Coumadin and i just ran out of normal rat poison. Or did I?

 

I understand why, even, a rat wouldn't put a Mustang in its mouth. You never know where it's been.

 

Looks like toyota's plastic is more yummy than average. Vultures love it too: Everglades vultures acquiring taste for vehicle parts

 

The Michelin Primacy MXM4 uses sunflower oil in its formulation. Fish oil in plastic is not too far fetch.

A Prius with MXM4 must look like an ice cream sundae to the rats.

 

More like a chocolate donut.

 

In my experience (living in the country for 40 years), they're seeking a nice warm place to nest, and an engine compartment with a warm engine qualifies. The stuff they chew up is just nearby handy raw nesting material. If they can chew it, they will. They chewed off a hunk of firewall insulation from a brand new car once....ah, too many anecdotes to go on. Anyhow, in my opinion, it's got nothing to do with hoses or other materials being made from some sort of animal or vegetable oil, and everything to do with just rodents chewing what they can.
Oh, and bait blocks under the hood is a good idea. Also attempting to limit their food supply insofar as you can. In the country this is impossible, of course, but don't make the problem worse by making bird or pet food easily available to them, etc.

 

I make an annual trip to the animal shelter every fall and adopt a hungry, neutered, cat. That usually carries me through the winter until the snakes come out of hibernation.

 

What happens to the cat after winter? Why a new one every year?

SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 ? 2

 

Snake food?

 

I would rather not speculate but I like to have at least two cats in service at all times, the larger the better.

 

Rats have fully assaulted my 2011 Prius. They ate my window washer hose in 7 places, tore out my seat insulation and under-dash stuffings. They've gnawed on plastic covers in the engine compartment.

Meanwhile they have passed by my 2005 Sprinter Van (Mercedes), 2012 Fiat 500 and 2010 Mazda 3. I've lived in the same location for 18 years and this is the first vehicle that's been attacked by rats. My service manager says they love Toyotas.....attracted to their biodegradable ingredients in hoses and insulations.

As much as I love my Prius, I may have to reconsider ownership in favor of... say a Honda Hybrid. I don't want to get caught out on the road with a dead Prius. BIG FAIL Toyota.

 

What biodegradable ingredients are those?

 

Not just Toyotas, but any vehicle can /will be food for a rat. Depends on how hungry it is and how determined it is to start chewing / eating plastic and rubber.
My older brother has a class A recreational vehicle he keeps in the Carolina mtns and he could not start it. He had it towed to a repair garage and the electronic module (engine) was consumed by: rats.
There was very little of the module left along with the spark plug wires all chewed up.
It ended costing over $2500 to get the R.V. back running. The garage mechanic told him rats will always go after wiring, but this was the 1st time they seen an electronic module distroyed. He keeps rat poison on top of the engine and leaves a note on the dash to remove before starting the engine.
So far, so good - no more rats.

DBCassidy