Winterizing Tips from a Professional Mouse

Submitted by CarShowSafari.com member Eek A. Mouse

As a professional mouse, I am here to tell you that if you want to protect your classic car from rodent damage this winter, you should hop on it now. As the weather turns colder we little critters seek warm and dry accommodations, and old cars are excellent at providing both.

We’re Going to Get In

It’s a cinch for us to get into your garage, because we can slip through spaces quite a bit smaller than you’d think. The typical modern overhead garage door leaves plenty of gaps large enough for us. So, yes, you can try to seal up those gaps as best you can, and you will improve how well your garage is insulated from the cold. This is a good thing, both for your energy bills if you have an attached and/or heated garage, and for our winter comfort – because we’re still going to get in.

Once we’re in, we’re going to be thrilled to find insulation material behind the back seat and batting material in the seats, and similar material right in the engine compartment. We love building our nests out of that material. Man, do we like to build our nests in the engine compartment! It’s warm, comfortable, protected, and you probably won’t even notice our presence. And I haven’t even begun to discuss our appetite for the coverings on electrical wiring, nor our, um, bathroom habits.

How Can You Keep Us Out?

So what can you do about it? Some classic car owners have tried mothballs, which are reasonably effective at keeping us out of your cars. But mothball odor impregnates every soft surface inside the car such that it never goes away. The smell with not only keep us out, it will keep you out, too.

Dryer sheets such as Bounce or Snuggle smell far nicer, so much so that some of us even like to use them in our nests. So, despite internet recommendations that dryer sheets will keep us out, they won’t. More effective is mint oil, the kind you can find at health food stores, applied to fabric and left in the car. It smells nice to you but not so much to us.

But the proven best solution is a product specifically developed for this purpose. Called Fresh Cab, and it is proven to work. A potpourri-like mix in what appear to be oversize tea bags, it is packaged four bags to a box. Place all four in your car, two in the passenger compartment and one each in the trunk and engine compartment, and we will not take up residence in the car.

Your classic car will thank you. My friends and I will not.