Damned rodents around here, war has been declared

[Gene Pink]

Sunday night, my wife gives me the good news that the check engine light was on, in her usually dependable '03 Camry. Read the code, transmission input shaft speed sensor. Uh-oh, this sensor is compared to the output speed sensor, to tell if the transmission is slipping. It could also mean a bad sensor, or bad connection. So I reset the light.

Monday night, she comes home from work, and the light came back on, and it was shifting harshly. Uh-oh again. Got to it last night, Removed gak out of the way for access to the sensor, and found what could be loosely described as a bad connection.

Sensor is lower left, and where it is supposed to be connected, upper right. Look for the red and green spots peeking out of the connector and wiring harness.

Damn rodents. Was it rat revenge for executing one of their own last week? Maybe squirrel revenge from blocking access to my attic two weeks ago?

Either way, it is on.

 

[Gene Pink]

Closeup of the connector..

 

[Gene Pink]

After a proper circumcision, plenty of meat to work with.

 

[scott2000]

Wow! Good thing you got it figured out. That would be a tough one to explain if something bad happened as a result....Uh yeah squirrels your honor........lol

I've got a bunch of Squirrels that eat all of my bird food....I'm hoping they are just using my roof as a highway but have always wondered......

 

[Gene Pink]

Some precisely applied environmental sealant. 

Jpg fixed?

Yup.

 

[Gene Pink]

Done?

Wife came home from work and said it was shifting fine, but check engine light is still on. Probably not enough drive cycles yet, if it is still on tomorrow night, I will clear the code(s) and see what happens.

Now, to sweet talk the neighbors into ignoring any 12 guage blasts they may hear from my property. If they know why, they should be cool with it. ;D

I figure #6-1/2 heavy dove load will do the job.

Gene

 

[JohnRoberts]

You need cleaner hands (or dirtier) when working on cars so the rats don't eat the wire because they like your smell?

Feel free to kill as many as you can... I am planning to buy  a high power pellet gun to reduce the squirrel population (rats with bushy tails) around my neighborhood... the squirrels ate more of my pecans than I did this season....

Do not poison rats too near the house or they may choose to die where you can smell them.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

I had to do a bit of tree surgery in the garden last week after recent storms. When I went to get the electric chainsaw out I found the flex gnawed through , was three core 1mm sq with heavy rubberised jacket ,luckily it was right where the cable exited the strain relief so only lost a few inches of cable. Bite marks were identical to what you showed in the picture ,slightly ragged insulation and they obviously had to go through the core wires by taking several bites as they were slightly different lenghts.

I have heard of rats chewing up bits of wiring under cars ,  you could always get creative and set him up a metal rat bait box ,put the tastiest cables in your collection on the menu for him and apply some high voltage in such a way that if he chews through he completes the circuit.

A buddy of mine installed a dog flap on the front door ,him and the wife noticed the dog would get really scared some nights and start growling. He used a 110volt site isolation transformer ,and two expanded steel mesh grills seperated with bits of timber to keep the two electrodes apart . He had to lock down the door flap for a few nights so his own dog wouldnt end up getting zapped.Sooner or later what ever it was that was paying a visit and helping itself to his dogs food ,probably a fox or a badger ,got the shock of its life when its paw made contact between metal grills . It didnt kill it was but it sure learned it a lesson it wouldnt forget.

 

[CJ]

rats love PVC, mice too.  somebody parked there car for 3 days near Coalinga CA and the mice ate the whole wiring harness,  no fixing that in the field, call the wrecker, 1000 bucks worth of mice damage,

wimpy doberman was getting scared at 3:30 in the morning on some nights,  traced it to the hot water pipes where they come through the wall into the water heater, sheet metal around the pipes so he is in somebody else's house now.

they are fast, he was creeping round my room one night, threw a towel under the door crack and turned on the light, hoping to hunt him down, found him hiding in the back of the guitar amp but sprang out of there in a heart beat, dang thing was at the door and under that towel in about 3.8 nano seconds.

 

[bruno2000]

Out here in the woods we, too, have problems with small animals eating up car parts.  One solution  that works for us is to put a few moth balls in a sock, and tie the sock in the engine compartment.  5 years ago a critter did some massive damage to the heater hoses in our pickup, but since the moth balls, no more damage to any vehicle.
YMMV
Best,
Bruno2000

 

[JohnRoberts]

Out here in the woods we, too, have problems with small animals eating up car parts.  One solution  that works for us is to put a few moth balls in a sock, and tie the sock in the engine compartment.  5 years ago a critter did some massive damage to the heater hoses in our pickup, but since the moth balls, no more damage to any vehicle.
YMMV
Best,
Bruno2000

+1 I used moth balls in my attic when a squirrel tried to take up residence (without paying rent).

JR

 

[Tubetec]

One guy I know used rent a place way out in the country at one point ,he'd usually spend his weekends in the city .One week he returned and found the rats had managed to clear out an entire 20kg bag of his dogs dry food , land lord did nothing so he ended up vacating that place soon after.

Some relations of mine built a beautiful house out in the wilds of Co.Kerry ,they'd spend the winters away living in a city apartment ,upon returning one season ,they found the rats had tunneled in through the foundations.Every soft furnishing ,carpet, rug and the entire kitchen needed to be replaced as well as structural repairs to the building ,cost 10's of thousands to put thing back right afterwards.

A guy up the road from me used raise turkeys for the Chrismas market years ago ,their solution was a wheel barrow half filled with used engine oil ,a plank of wood was placed up the side as a ramp ,at the top of the ramp a hinged and balanced piece of timber was attached ,a piece of fruit was used as bait . Once the rat went a certain distance along the balance beam he'd end up falling into the black gloop ,the trap would then auto reset ready for the next critter that came along .Disposeing of a bunch of dead rats mixed with engine oil is awkward and dirty for the environment , but  a similar scheme could be employed with an old oil drum with 6 inches of water in the end. The rat will swim for a bit ,but sooner or later he'll get tired and drown . Each time you catch one ,you could make them a shallow grave in a perimeter around the edge of the property ,a small hole with a few heavy stones on top ,the scent of death is sure to deter his furry friends from the area .

Has to be a better way than discharging weapons in the dead of night though ,and setting your neighbours into defense mode  for miles around ,specially in the current climate .

 

[Gold]

One word. Terriers.

 

[Tubetec]

Hi Paul ,
Yep I got a pair of them ,Wilf and Monkey ,pest control division I call em .

 

[Gold]

I love terriers. I had a pair of Rat Terriers that I lost this year. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. 14 yo and 17yo. We got a Wirehair Fox Terrier, Kitty Wells, but she's very sweet with little prey drive. In the spring I think we are going to get a Rat Terrier from the Southern Appalachians where they use them for squirrel hunting and know how to breed for confirmation and temperament. The Rat Terriers from around here just don't seem right. Lester and Earl came from Asheville.

 

[Tubetec]

Yeah I got both mine from farmyard backrounds ,they have a healthy degree of outbreeding in them too .
Digging trenches along the borders of my garden is their favourite pastime, virutally anything on the ground or in the air they hunt . Once up on farmland near me the male grabbed a juvenile pheasant who was too petrified to fly away ,he instantly held him down with his paw and began plucking the breast of the bird , I took his prize away on that ocassion , but they often return home with small rabbit or bird carcasses . Even larger flies and spiders around the house are shown no mercy . I lost my original female when one night I was walking them along the river bank ,a fox appeared out of nowhere ,they both gave chase ,ended up crossing a busy road ,Wilf survived unscathed poor Fidles was struck by two cars , a neighbour ended up driving her 20 miles to the nearest vet on duty ,but there was nothing could be done for her  :'(

 

[Gold]

Sorry about Fidles. I know how hard losing a dog is. She died in the line of duty and should be proud of her service.

 

[Tubetec]

Yeah despite the sadness of loosing her ,they were doing what came naturally to them. The day I burried her in the garden ,I took Wilf out to say a final farewell to his little sister ,an emotional moment for both of us ,but I thought it better that he knew she was gone as he seemed to be waiting for her return ,I have to say the dogs emotional response was way beyond what I would have ever expected possible  . I waited a month or two then found my lil Monkey ,took a while for them to settle in ,but now they're best of buddies .

 

[Gold]

Yeah terriers are very tuned into emotions. Mine got me through some hard times. The down side to the prey drive is that they are often dog aggressive. I got Lester after Earl was two years old. He turned dog aggressive at two which is common. This time I want to get a second dog while this one is under two so they get along right off the bat.

 

[CJ]

just hire Jack Black,

"Jack Black was a rat-catcher and mole destroyer from Battersea, England during the middle of the nineteenth century. Black cut a striking figure in his self-made "uniform" of scarlet topcoat, waistcoat, and breeches, with a huge leather sash inset with cast-iron rats. Black promoted himself as the Queen's official rat-catcher, but he never held a royal warrant.

He is known particularly through Henry Mayhew's account in London Labour and the London Poor, where he tells Mayhew of his work and experiences, including a number of occasions when he nearly died from infection following rat bites.


Jack Black, circa 1863
When he caught any unusually coloured rats, he bred them, to establish new colour varieties. He would sell his home-bred domesticated coloured rats as pets, mainly, as Black observed, "to well-bred young ladies to keep in squirrel cages". Beatrix Potter is believed to have been one of his customers, and she dedicated the book Samuel Whiskers to her rat of the same name.[2] The more sophisticated ladies of court kept their rats in dainty gilded cages, and even Queen Victoria herself kept a rat or two. It was in this way that domesticated—or fancy—rats were established. Black also supplied live rats for rat-baiting in pits, a popular mid-Victorian pastime.[2]

Black had a number of sidelines beyond rats, including fishing (for food and supplying aquaria), bird catching and taxidermy. He was also an accomplished dog breeder. He told Mayhew: "I had a little rat dog—a black tan terrier of the name of Billy—which was the greatest stock dog in London of that day. He is the father of the greatest portion of the small black tan dogs in London now I've been offered a sovereign a-pound for some of my little terriers, but it wouldn't pay me at that price, for they weren't heavier than two or three pounds. I once sold one of the dogs, of this same strain, for fourteen pounds, to the Austrian Ambassador. [...]; in fact, my terrier dog was known to all the London fancy. As rat-killing dogs, there's no equal to that strain of black tan terriers."


Michael Jackson had a pet rat, used to talk to it all the time,