MGB: OT : Oh Rats ! What have you found under your hood?

I just went outside to attempt to fix my stuttering 78 and popped the hood. I reached inside the bay and unclipped the distributor clips. At that point to my left a rat (a big one) rushed towards me from behind the charcoal cannister. He ran across my arm and towards the radiator. I jumped 2 feet in the air and backed waaayyyy off. Trouble is hes now disappeared. :(
We live next to a protected wetlands and I have been leaving the 78 outside as it smells of gasoline as I try to fix the stuttering issue by pulling the carb etc.
I can abide spiders, snakes and bees but I have a real problem with rodents. Im freaking out that hes behind the dash ready to pop out and surprise me as Im bolting down the highway -- uuurrggghhh!!! I just put a 'zapper' in there with bait.
Anyone else had issues with wildlife squatting in the engine bay? Any suggestions?

12 gauge!!!!!!!

How's this!

I once had a similar situation where a squirrel ran up my arm and jumped off my shoulder as I opened a desk drawer. While I was figuratively peeing my pants, the folks that I worked with were bent over in hysteria.

Possums are ugly little bastards.

The PO of my car had kept it in a barn. When detailing the engine compartment I found mouse nests complete with acorns in the same area around the charcoal cannisters and on the opposite side above the wheel well. I have the same problem with mice, building nests around the engine of my John Deere tractor. I think they like the warmth and they will chew insulation off any old wires and fabric. They are easy to control with poison, just put it somewhere that your pets cannot reach.

John,

I just had the exact same problem and the "fix" was very easy and not distastful at all. I bought some essence of peppermint from a healthfood store and then you put that on cotton balls and place them around the inside of the car and under the hood.

They moved out rather fast and I had no further problems. The car smells OK, better than moth balls, and they have left town so to speak. My wife found this is some book but it does work.

Hope this helps you.

Scot

1974 and 1975 MGB's

Opened the hood of a RB car the other day and found myself staring at a wide mouthed drooling and angry 'Possum.

Jack

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Had something move into my old gravely push behind the other year it cleaned off all the old motor oil that was crusted everywhere along with all the wiring and the gas line had a bite in it. I dont know what it was but I would hire one to clean my B motor anyday.

anyone got any suggestions as to what it was?

David, That sign's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time!

But back to the question...My cars are kept in an old carriage house and every winter, when all the mice are looking for someplace warm to hide, they would nest in the engine compartment of my 'B but not in my 356. I think it's because I drive the 356 every once in a while throughout the year but then again, maybe they're just British mice...

Anyway, the essence of peppermint does work well. But I also place a mouse trap next to each tire just in case...

Whoa Rod!

Awakened next to a woman that looked like that many years ago. Almost made the decision to become a priest.

I don't know what is uglier, the possum or the carbs or the fact that both are sitting there on a TR. LOL

Jack

I have a litter of feral cats born in my engine compartment, and the car had only been sitting idle for a couple of weeks. It was under a really nice car cover too. Nice and warm.

I had removed the radiator and the oil cooler.

The cats were born right on the ledge in front of where the radiator was.

for weeks afterwards I kept seeing little cats go under the car and then disappear. At first I just thought they were quick enough and they got out the other side and I just missed them. Then I saw one actually go UP into the engine compartment from underneath.

I pulled off the cover and lifted the hood. Out FLEW, and I mean FLEW three REALLY PISSED OFF FERAL CATS! RIGHT OVER ME!!!! I got the shit scratched out of my shoulder and left arm.

I ALMOST PISSED MY PANTS!

The neat thing though, we adopted them, they were probably just one or two generations feral, so after a few months of hard work and feeding and comforting them in our garage, we eventually made them into pets.

We have the offspring to this day! Great little guys!

The moma got hit by a car though, that was a sad day!

B

When I got my GT it had been sitting for about 4 years in a parking lot across from McArthur park, here in Downtown Los Angeles. There were two rats nests (in the inner fender access holes) and rat droppings everywhere but no sign of the actual rats themselves. My preferred method of removal is my modified paintball gun with a laser site attached. Rats chase the red dot, which you use to lure them closer ,then you paint 'em up. I've killed one with the paintball gun and colored the others. Once their colored, I call them "designer Rats".

Last fall, my attached garage to the house was invaded by a rat.

He ate the wiring harness to the fuel injectors of Jean's Mountaineer.

He ate the lead to the high beams of my 300ZX as well as part of the under bonnet liner.

He nested on top of on of the shock towers....I found bird feathers there as well.

I had a couple of rat-traps...he was wise to them.

He ate mega-doses of DeCon prior to succumbing to it.

Then the field mice moved in....DeCon and traps took care of them.

And now, it's that time of year all over again!

But....I still like "country livin' "

I take the opposite track of everyone. I actually encourage varmits of all types to find their way into my engine compartment. And why not? A few additional squirrel cages under the hood and I've increased my horsepower by a factor of three!

Two weeks ago I took delivery of a 73 GT that had been stored in a garage for the last 5 years, and only occasionally driven for the previous 20 years. It only took a couple hours for me to get it running, but it was noisy and had very little power. I went for a short drive, during which time it got noisier and gained power.

Last week I took the car to a local muffler shop. The car had gotten very noisy and I assumed the exhaust was simply rusted through. Once it was up on the lift, we realized that the exhaust had come loose from the manifold. The mechanic put it back on and I backed the car out of the bay.

On the way home, the car had almost no power at all .... in fact, I barely got it home. After inspection, I realized that when the car was running, there was nothing coming out of the exhaust pipe. I cut the exhaust loose up by the header and as I tipped it up on end, about 50 (well roasted) acorns poured out. Apparently, a squirrel had found a nice home for himself in there.

You found my cat!!

My 79B still has the gnaw marks from a rat(s) on the web portion in the middle, I'm leaving it there ,it makes a nice story...

The guy that hauled my GT out of the impound Lot in San Diego said he found a large alligator lizard living in it. He left the doors and rear hatch open for a while and we guess it moved out before he shipped it, I haven't found it yet.

I bought my first MG, a TD, out of the woods in WVa in about 1973. It had been sitting on a trailer in the woods for several years. When I opened the side curtain compartment out jumped a little mouse. No cats or rats or snarly possums, just a little mouse.
Now ain't that cute.

Thanks for all the stories and suggestions - the possums make my rat look tame!
I will check my trap tomorrow and report back....:)

This what I finally did to keep the mice and rats out of my cars:

It wasn't cheap but it works.

I found the obligatory debris from a mouse nest in the little openings in the engine bay above the front wheel wells...thought it was a factory option.

But as far as wild animals in British cars go, this is about the strangest thing that ever happened to me...

Walked into the garage one summer night that I was working on my B and found the largest possum I've ever seen sitting in the trunk...damned lid was off and he just jumped up in there. I swear it was about a 30-pounder!

After screaming like a 9-year old girl and running from the garage, I got my courage up, grabbed a microphone stand and went after the ugly thing. He would not back down and after I thwacked him with the stand, he charged me and again, I retreated from the garage.

So my brilliant, paint-fume-addled brain comes up with a great plan- I go into the house and grab an M-80 firecracker left over from the fourth of July fireworks and I'm gonna thow that sucker into the garage and blow up a possum...or at least scare the hell out of him.

I go back out and he is sitting near the garage door looking all pissed off like possums usually do. I light the M-80, throw it and duck around the side of the garage...

BOOM! I hear the M-80 go off and see the possum scramble out of the garage and down my driveway.

I'm feeling all proud because my plan has worked and I'm sure the giant possum will never return.

Then I hear the hissing noise.

I go into the garage and see that the M-80 has ruptured a can of white spray paint and the can is now spinning around and spattering enamel paint all over my sound equipment, work bench, garage floor and my Corvette!!!

So half an hour later I've gotten the last of the paint off the Vette and the JBL speakers (the floor and bench still have paint all over them) and explained to my retired neighbors why there was an explosion in my garage. When combined with my "test-firing my home made rocket motor" event several years earlier, it comes as no surprise that they moved to a retirement community last month.

To this day, I'm convinced that the possum batted the M-80 away and intentionally caused the paint incident.

John:

This is the time of year when little furry critters are all looking for a place to hole up for the winter. Dark, warm holes really attract. Lots of guys right here on the forum would be surprised to know that they might have a mouse nesting right this minute next to the air filter in their newer car.

I discovered this by accident a few years ago. Since then, I have rigged up some 1/8th inch chicken wire to cover all my intake openings on all my vehicles.

Starbuck Wrote:

Possums are cool. One morning as I rounded the curve in my driveway, driving the F150, there sat a little 1/2-grown possum on the middle of the drive. I tooted the horn, he just turned and looked at me for a second, then slowly got up and ambled off. Cute little booger. The raccoons in the neighborhood are fun to watch, too.

Several years ago a friend of mine couldn't get his late model B started. After much trying he stood up scratching his head and noticed that an ear of decorative corn had been eaten down to the husk. Following a hunch he opened up the air filter can to his stromberg and found all the corn.