I have been storing my fair weather cars and motorcycle in a portable garage as I am building a new permanent one. And as the weather has gotten colder (Maine - it tends to be a bit nippy here in the winter), the mice have decided that my shelter is also suitable for them. A favorite dinner location for them is the on the intake manifold where they leave droppings and chewed up acorns. That is barely tolerable but the final straw was their recently building a cozy nest in one of my exhaust tail pipes. A drive last weekend (which I try to do throughout the winter weather permitting) resulted in a smokey trail and the smell of roasting leaves as I motored down the road. Rapid acceleration from a stop sign finally expelled the darn thing!
I'm now concerned that they will decide to start chewing on my canvas top or new interior. They've already chewed holes through the cover I keep on my other car.
What home or commercial remedies do people have? I drive one of the cars throughout the winter so I don't want to try to seal all openings (which we all know is probably futile). Pulling caps from the exhaust and intake openings would be a pain in the butt. And having a large area to cover within my portable garage, is there a way to discourage the little buggers from the entire area? For those who prefer the "natural" approach: No, I won't leave my cats outdoors, and I would prefer to keep the local predators (foxes) out of the garage! I'm interested in hearing all other ideas.
Thanks, Tony out in the semi-rural woods of Maine
