HELP! - Country Festiva Storage and 'Critters'

[Twistiva]

Question: I've got an 88LX parts car with a car cover on it (rear window's busted out) that's stored in a farmer's grass field about 12 miles from my home. I've confirmed (twice) that I've got some sort of small animal living in the engine bay.

Two weeks ago I suprised him and got a glimpse when I opened the hood (not sure if it was a rat or some kind of gopher or _______?.....all I saw was his head pop up for about a second) but he'd built a burrow made of soft, fluffy gray material right on top of the engine (the air filter's been removed) and drug in a lot of straight sticks and small ends of cedar branches. And droppings. Yeah, fun.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago I cleared out most of the stuff he drug in and hoped he'd move elsewhere. Went back tonight and the bugger had made another burrow from the same gray material right on top of the carberatour again. And, there were more droppings, sticks, etc.

My concern is how likely is this critter to cause serious damage to my car?????, particularly in chewing on lines, hoses, wiring, etc.

Based on the size of the burrow and the pile of droppings 2 weeks ago and the size of the second burrow and the droppings tonight, I estimate he's probably been there about 4-6 weeks total. I planned on moving it to my home in the next 3-4 weeks anyway (thinking about turning it in to a DD for my son) but with my new 'occupant' should I get it to my house immediately? I live in a city/not as hospitable to country critters but will make sure he's gone when I get it home and set traps in the engine bay, etc.

Anybody ever have this same problem and if so, did you end up with damage to your Festy?

[TorqueEffect]

Just look over the entire wire harness and make sure they didn't chew threw any wires. If they did, it isn't hard at all to splice a piece of new wire in its place.

Hoses are easily replaceable, just be sure to go over everything.

[nitrofarm]

Question:

Anybody ever have this same problem and if so, did you end up with damage to your Festy?

Yes had Rats do the same thing to my perfect 5.0 roller motor,inside my 80 Cobra.Built a nest on top of the Victor Jr intake(they chewed through my plastic bag covering). They urinated so much over the years that the humidity seized up a motor with less than 10k on it. Oh yeah they also decided to naw through various wires. drool
Get yourself some xtra large glue traps,they work.

[Bert]

I came across an ermine (small weasel) with a grass and fur-lined nest of babies under the back seat of a field-abandoned car one time. She was some upset when I lifted the back seat. These ferocious (for their size) little critters don't take 'no' for an answer and that ball of lightning harried me constantly while I was in there. When I returned with a curious biologist colleague the following day she had moved the kits somewhere else and was long gone.
In your case you are likely dealing with meadow voles or some sort of deermice. Try salting the car with moth balls to persuade them to move elsewhere. Do you guys get wood rats over where you are? They're kinda cute (they're not the bare-tailed rat of barns and houses) and build huge grass lined middens. Chucks and gophers tend to nest underground.
You are receiving a real world biology lesson and hopefully won't suffer from it.

[Bathtub Tom]

I've heard spraying WD40 deters vermin. I did it to my daughter's MX5 (Miata to you) when that was stored for nearly a year. Never had anything in it.

[Safety Guy]

Some health advice: don't breath in any vermin dust, wear gloves, and wash your hands really well after clean up!

http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/

Critters can carry diseases!

Karl

[Movin]

Deer mice almost destroyed a jeep by a farmers field here. Wood rats along drainages make huge nests, but it is porcupines that chew expensive stuff overnight and can leave you stranded at wilderness trailheads!

[blkfordsedan]

Yes, they can do serious damage very quickly! My oldest brother stored his 67 Fairlane GT convertable in a friends barn for about 6 months. When we came back to get it, rats had destroyed the entire wiring harness and urinated all over the firewall insulation and carpet. It cost about $1500 to buy replacement parts. If you want to save the car, get it home ASAP!

[Bert]

Some health advice: don't breath in any vermin dust, wear gloves, and wash your hands really well after clean up!

http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/

Critters can carry diseases!

Karl

Histoplasmosis! This is a guess. I didn't open your links but have lived through the frenzy of various 'flavour of the month' wildlife diseases for 40 years now and am still alive. Concrete jungle City slickers have no immunity for anything except politics, though.

[muleskinner]

I had a Ford Ranger stored on a farm for just 2 months and mice destroyed the computer and wiring in the engine compartment. $ 700 worth of damage.
Get it out of there quick before more damage is done!

[Movin]

Histoplasmosis! This is a guess. I didn't open your links but have lived through the frenzy of various 'flavour of the month' wildlife diseases for 40 years now and am still alive. Concrete jungle City slickers have no immunity for anything except politics, though.

Concrete jungle City slickers don't understand "country", cannot communicate with us and think their "green living" is good for the environment!! We would be better off with natural wildfires and no cities.

[Twistiva]

All -

Hey, just a belated "thanks!" for all your helpful information regarding my question above.

Based on what the majority of posters said I went and moved this Festiva the very next day after I started this thread. I put a sticky trap inside the car on the back seat floor and in the engine bay after I got it home but fortuantely did not catch anything. Must have scared him off when I went to haul it home.

Thanks again! This was definitely a problem I did not consider beforehand.

[blkfordsedan]

Glad to hear it worked out. Better safe than sorry. I had a family of Possums living under the old yellow parts Festiva last summer (in the back yard). Not the smartest of locations to homestead, considering the yard is fenced in by an 8' privacy fence and we have 5 big dogs. It took 2 days, but eventually my Pointer/Lab mix managed to dig them out, one by one. It was next to impossible to get him to come in the house until all the possums were gone! I still plan on parting that car out this summer some time. You got dibs on the interior if you still want it.

[Twistiva]

Glad to hear it worked out. Better safe than sorry. I had a family of Possums living under the old yellow parts Festiva last summer (in the back yard). Not the smartest of locations to homestead, considering the yard is fenced in by an 8' privacy fence and we have 5 big dogs. It took 2 days, but eventually my Pointer/Lab mix managed to dig them out, one by one. It was next to impossible to get him to come in the house until all the possums were gone! I still plan on parting that car out this summer some time. You got dibs on the interior if you still want it.

Brian -

Yeah, there's still some interior parts I want. You betcha'! Primarily the storage cubby, seat belts and door cards.

Dan

[db2u]

Concrete jungle City slickers don't understand "country", cannot communicate with us and think their "green living" is good for the environment!! We would be better off with natural wildfires and no cities.

Sorry I find it kind of funny that you two are bashing city dwellers on a forum dedicated to cars primarily designed for city use in mind. Also... if cities didnt exist, I doubt people living in the "country" would have developed most of the advanced technology such as the computer, cell phone, internet etc. It takes teams of people working together in centralized locations (eg cities) to accomplish this.

Having lived in both the country and also having been a city slicker, I have to say there are benefits to both types of life, but don't just bash people when someone is trying to let someone know to use caution in an actual situation that might cause health concerns. Also the link is Hantavirus which I can see without even opening it, which has been killing people since at least the 50's and probably longer (I can't claim to be an expert).

End rant.
Sorry may be new here but can't stand people making blanket statements in the name of "Im smarter than you because of X"