Mice and Pack Rats in Garages and Vehicles
In Colorado Springs, a lot of rodent calls start with a car. The check engine light comes on, the mechanic opens the air filter box and finds a nest. Or someone pops the hood on a truck that sat for a week and finds sticks, pine cones and dog food packed around the engine.
Garages are the bridge. Mice and pack rats move into the garage for the stored food and the shelter, then find the cars, the camper and eventually the house.
What draws them in
Garages here hold a lot: bird seed, grass seed, dog food, camping gear, holiday boxes, a second fridge. All of it is food or nesting. Vehicles that sit for days are quiet, warm after a trip and full of soft material in the cabin filter and under the hood.
- Pet food and bird seed in bags on the floor
- Cardboard boxes stacked against walls
- Campers and trailers parked for the winter
- A worn garage door seal with daylight at the corners
Cleaning out a vehicle
The CDC's advice: open the hood, doors and trunk and let the vehicle air out for 20 minutes before you start. Wear gloves. Spray droppings and nests with disinfectant, let them soak, and wipe them up. Don't vacuum or use a pressure washer until the area has been disinfected. Have a mechanic check wiring and replace the cabin and engine air filters if they were nested in.
If it's deer mice, take extra care. Deer mouse control explains why.
Keeping them out
Start with the garage. Replace the door seal, close gaps at the corners, move food into metal or hard plastic bins and get boxes up on shelves. Start stored vehicles now and then and pop the hood to check. A provider can set traps in the garage, seal the gaps and check whether anything has moved on into the house. Entry sealing covers the garage door.
Questions people ask
Do I need a mechanic or a pest company?
Often both. The pest company deals with the rodents and the gaps. A mechanic checks for chewed wiring and hoses.
Will mothballs or dryer sheets keep them out of the engine?
We don't recommend relying on them. Closing up the garage and taking away the food works better.
Available in Briargate, Rockrimmon, Black Forest, Monument and Tri-Lakes, Falcon and Peyton, Broadmoor and Cheyenne Cañon, Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and the West Side, Fountain, Security-Widefield, Powers and Stetson Hills.