This blog title should actually be “critters UNDER the hood” but it doesn’t sound as cool. I’m here to tell you that actual critters under the hood of hour vehicle are not cool. Not at all…
Since I first camped in the desert southwest way back in January 2017, I’ve seen campers put lights under the tow vehicles, Class A motorhomes, and around their sites. At first, I thought this was just for decoration and it kind of annoyed me because I love a dark campsite so I can see the stars overhead more easily. Turns out it’s not all just to spiff up your campsite.
Little critters love warm spaces out of the wind on cold desert nights, which is not surprising. I like warm spaces on cold nights too. The difference between me and those little critters is that I don’t crawl into someone’s engine compartment and make a little nest out of whatever I can find. I’m sure the critters have tunnels and burrows and nests or something, but apparently they are not nearly as nice as a warm engine compartment. Or so I was told by the campers who put lights under their vehicles and motorhomes. I couldn’t decide if this was an urban legend or not.
Late last year, I saw a little ultrasonic critter repellent that was designed to go in the engine compartment. You flip the switch and it makes noises only critters can hear, along with some randomly flashing LEDs to further discourage them from making a pitstop under your hood. I bought it, figuring it was better than light pollution, and as I got back to the desert in late December last year, I faithfully turned it on at dusk every night and turned it off the next morning.
At this point, you might be asking yourself how did I know it was actually working? I know I asked myself that question more than once. I just had to trust the dozens of product reviews on Amazon. Until…
I was camping at Gilbert Ray, in the middle of the Sonoran desert in Arizona. Lots of critters there and every campsite had hoods up and/or lights on at night. I had my little ultrasonic buddy going every night. I forgot to turn it off one morning. As I was washing dishes, I saw a cute little bunny rabbit hop-hop-hopping from the back of my campsite towards the road. About 15 seconds later, that bunny was jumping like a jackrabbit back into the creosote bushes. I realized the little bunny had gotten close enough to the noisemaker that it freaked them out. Nice. One scared bunny, one happy camper.
A few weeks later, the sad thing happened. It was freaking cold for four nights and I was so worried about my plumbing that I forgot to turn on the noisemaker. After a few days, I remembered to do it. No harm, no foul. Or so I thought, until I tried to use my windshield wiper washer fluid. Nothing happened. I hit the sprayer button again, and still nothing. That’s weird, I thought, I can’t remember ever running out of washer fluid in a car. I got home and popped open the hood. Fluid was good. I started tracing the fluid line and that’s when I discovered some critter had made a sweet little nest in the hood insulation. And then they’d realized that a silly plastic tube was in the way, so they neatly bit off about five inches of it. Clever sharp-toothed rodent, this one was.
A quick consulation with the Honda service department in Alamogordo confirmed the damage and the fix. One hour and a slightly painful sum of money later, I had a working fluid line again. You better believe I remember now to turn that noisemaker on every evening! Go find someone else’s vehicle to chew on, little rodents!
The vastness of the desert frightened her. Everything looked too far away, even the clouldless sky. There was nowhere you could hide in such emptiness.*
James Carlos Blake
*except under the hood of my pickup truck…
Hi Annie,
We met you and traded travel tips in the parking lot at Safeway, in Benson,AZ.
After critters ate our AC harness while in storage in SLO, CA we use one of those electronic devices under hood and dryer sheets around interior whlle stored. We also stayed 2 nights in Gilbert Ray and joined those with hoods up overnight. A great place from which to explore Saguaro NP, Desert Museum and take the wonderful scenic drive to Mount Lemon. We really enjoyed meeting you and seeing your great photos and commentaries, using the NM map you shared with us. We are going through Albuquerque, Santa Fe maybe if warm enough Sedona/GrandCanyon, then looping back to SLO, storing and flying home to Boston 4/26 for the summer…then probably back to travels in September. Lucky us!!
Happy Trails!
Mike and Cyndy
Hi, Mike and Cyndy! I do remember you, and think of you every time I hit up that truck stop in Benson 🙂 I was just there a week ago and mentally waved to you as I passed the parking spot where we met up. Glad you found a way to keep the critters out of your Alto, they can be expensive pests.
Your travel plans sound wonderful, Hope it’s warm enough you can see the Grand Canyon/Sedona, they are both amazing. But, let’s be honest, anywhere is pretty great when you’re in an Alto, am I right?!
We have a similar gadget plugged into a socket in our kitchen. My granddaughters and I can hear crackly sounds which are bothersome to us and apparently to mice too. Also stuck steel wool into any openings in the lower cupboards. Haven’t had a mouse since then.
BTW, Nobody else seems to hear anything. I just turn it off when I’m working close to it.
Like the asterisk addition to the quote. 😀
I remember when Paul picked up a rat, a HUGE rat, at the airport. We didn’t know it had taken up residence in the engine compartment until we were driving home from the movies one night and a set of Mickey Mouse ears appear at the base of the windshield. We spent the next four days trying to remove it—when Paul wasn’t driving back and forth to the airport for work. He would come home, pop the hood, and come in the house. Later, he would turn on the hose, throw open the hood, and catch the little bugger sitting on the air filter. Finally, the cat joined in and managed to chase it across the street. Neighbors started reporting droppings in their garages, but we played dumb.
This happened to us right in the middle of our own yard. Parked in front for several days–and then stored that car in the garage while we were out of town. A week later when we opened the garage door, a skinny creature (turns out to have been a groundhog) ran out in a hurry. It had ridden its little nest/home right into the garage and had gotten locked in. Ugh. Over $1,000 worth of damage, holes chewed in the garage walls, etc. Ugh. Lesson learned.
Oh, no, that’s bad news, Laura. Hope insurance covered some of it. Amazing how resourceful these little animals are.
My partner keeps mothballs under her car. I have had to disassemble lawn tractors to make them less hospitable. An event which involved spraying mouse chunks all over inspired that activity. I have heard that the ultrasound rodent repellers didn’t work well for house critters. Maybe they are just too used to human crap, and their ears aren’t as important to them as a genuine wild desert critter. I’ll be careful if I ever manage to get out there, which I would very much like to do. Have you ever heard of a website that matches up potential travel partners? I think my possible travel people are too tied down to be able to go on an extended jaunt.
Hi, Allan! I would imagine there might be some kind of ride-sharing or RV-sharing type of deal. Maybe look at Bob Wells group Cheap RV Living, not sure they do it, but it might lead to somewhere that does.
I’ve had too many mice make homes in my vechicles. They may be cute but they are not your friends if uninvited. Living in the country it was a constant battle to keep the little creatures at bay. And they are persistent.
Thanks for the advice.
We recently were at Fort DeSoto and were aware of others having past problems with rats chewing though wires under their hoods. We kept a light dimmed at the side of the camper (close to the car) hoping it might deter any creatures. The campground was also very aware of this and had taken steps to help alleviate this problem.
We just ordered your device and appreciate the heads-up.
Good luck, Linda! It’s worked well for me! Not sure a trailer light is enough, but it’s probably better than nothing!