Johnkn
FRF Addict
You really can't make this up.
I live on a couple acres, mostly wooded, and have always enjoyed the animals. In the past, the extent of the squirrel issue has been getting into bird feeders, but I've solved that problem.
I recently had a 'Suspension fault, service required' error message on my 2019 Raptor. I took it to the dealer, a squirrel had chewed through part of the harness going to the right rear shock, harness replaced, no big deal. I've been parking my vehicles in this same spot since I built this house 30 years ago, the end of my driveway covered by a carport and surrounded by Red tip plants and trees on either side for privacy. Never an issue in all that time. Good toys stay in the garage.
On Saturday I went to remote start my Raptor from the house, the fob made contact with the truck but no start. I move to the kitchen window so I can see, same thing, truck lights blink, no start. I figured that perhaps one of the doors was ajar, I go out and get in the truck, push the button, truck turns over for 8 seconds, no start, I try again, no start. As almost a joke I raise the hood to see this. Damn squirrel started building a nest in the engine compartment and chewed through a wire. I parked the truck the night before so this was done in ~12 hours. Took forever to clean out the mess, and of course it cut the wire right off at the connector, there's only about 1/16th" of bare wire sticking out of the connector (purple wire, 3rd pic) so it's not as simple as a splice, solder and shrinktube. I was able to get enough of an ugly booger solder on the wire to make it stick until I could get to the dealer Thursday for a proper fix. I was really worried that there was going to be more chewing damage but fortunately I didn't see any. I moved the truck from its normal location forward about 50 feet in the middle of the asphalt driveway with the front close to the middle garage bay door and away from the original bushes, trees, etc.
Last night before my scheduled appointment my daughter comes in the house with her dogs and says the dogs reacted around the truck like there's something in it. I go out, and the damn squirrel built another nest with the same fresh Red-tip bush limbs in the same spot in the engine compartment. there was not a single leaf on the ground as evidence he/she had been in there. I clean out the big mess and get a ton of faults on the screen, ABS error, accident avoidance error, etc. etc. etc. The truck still starts and I left it at the dealer.
Again, 30 years, zero squirrel/vehicle issues parking in the same stop and conditions, now 3x in 2 weeks. I think this was a single ******* squirrel w/o a nest and now he has his scent in the truck. I can see at least 5 other nests high up in the trees on my properly. So until I can provide a better fix, I picked up (2) Havehart live traps and put them on either side of my parking area. I don't care about the 'live' part, but that's all I could quickly get. I have another large live trap being delivered tomorrow. Reading all I can, I also plan to tie a bundle of drier sheets right in the area of the engine compartment where the nests are being built and change weekly for now. I also picked up a large container of Pinesol/ammonia that I plan to pour into 2 containers, place 1 under the engine area where the truck is parked and the other under the rear end, and just drive/park over them. May also pour a barrier of liquid repellant around the area.
I can't have the worry of more damage. It's illegal to shoot squirrels out of season here so I could never suggest here that I use my custom Macari R9 .22 Spring Rifle w/24x scope to control this but need a 7x24 solution
Anyway, just venting, If anyone has suggestion on managing my squirrel issue quickly I'd appreciate it. I don't want to use poison as my daughter has dogs even though they are leashed.
BTW, the dealer stated today that he's see more damage than ever this year, another guy brought in a F150, they had to take the bed off, etc and $2700 later he left only to return the following week with more damage.
More suggestions?
This is the first nest, the 2nd nest was just as bad and exact same spot. Notice cut purple wire in last pic.....
I live on a couple acres, mostly wooded, and have always enjoyed the animals. In the past, the extent of the squirrel issue has been getting into bird feeders, but I've solved that problem.
I recently had a 'Suspension fault, service required' error message on my 2019 Raptor. I took it to the dealer, a squirrel had chewed through part of the harness going to the right rear shock, harness replaced, no big deal. I've been parking my vehicles in this same spot since I built this house 30 years ago, the end of my driveway covered by a carport and surrounded by Red tip plants and trees on either side for privacy. Never an issue in all that time. Good toys stay in the garage.
On Saturday I went to remote start my Raptor from the house, the fob made contact with the truck but no start. I move to the kitchen window so I can see, same thing, truck lights blink, no start. I figured that perhaps one of the doors was ajar, I go out and get in the truck, push the button, truck turns over for 8 seconds, no start, I try again, no start. As almost a joke I raise the hood to see this. Damn squirrel started building a nest in the engine compartment and chewed through a wire. I parked the truck the night before so this was done in ~12 hours. Took forever to clean out the mess, and of course it cut the wire right off at the connector, there's only about 1/16th" of bare wire sticking out of the connector (purple wire, 3rd pic) so it's not as simple as a splice, solder and shrinktube. I was able to get enough of an ugly booger solder on the wire to make it stick until I could get to the dealer Thursday for a proper fix. I was really worried that there was going to be more chewing damage but fortunately I didn't see any. I moved the truck from its normal location forward about 50 feet in the middle of the asphalt driveway with the front close to the middle garage bay door and away from the original bushes, trees, etc.
Last night before my scheduled appointment my daughter comes in the house with her dogs and says the dogs reacted around the truck like there's something in it. I go out, and the damn squirrel built another nest with the same fresh Red-tip bush limbs in the same spot in the engine compartment. there was not a single leaf on the ground as evidence he/she had been in there. I clean out the big mess and get a ton of faults on the screen, ABS error, accident avoidance error, etc. etc. etc. The truck still starts and I left it at the dealer.
Again, 30 years, zero squirrel/vehicle issues parking in the same stop and conditions, now 3x in 2 weeks. I think this was a single ******* squirrel w/o a nest and now he has his scent in the truck. I can see at least 5 other nests high up in the trees on my properly. So until I can provide a better fix, I picked up (2) Havehart live traps and put them on either side of my parking area. I don't care about the 'live' part, but that's all I could quickly get. I have another large live trap being delivered tomorrow. Reading all I can, I also plan to tie a bundle of drier sheets right in the area of the engine compartment where the nests are being built and change weekly for now. I also picked up a large container of Pinesol/ammonia that I plan to pour into 2 containers, place 1 under the engine area where the truck is parked and the other under the rear end, and just drive/park over them. May also pour a barrier of liquid repellant around the area.
I can't have the worry of more damage. It's illegal to shoot squirrels out of season here so I could never suggest here that I use my custom Macari R9 .22 Spring Rifle w/24x scope to control this but need a 7x24 solution
Anyway, just venting, If anyone has suggestion on managing my squirrel issue quickly I'd appreciate it. I don't want to use poison as my daughter has dogs even though they are leashed.
BTW, the dealer stated today that he's see more damage than ever this year, another guy brought in a F150, they had to take the bed off, etc and $2700 later he left only to return the following week with more damage.
More suggestions?
This is the first nest, the 2nd nest was just as bad and exact same spot. Notice cut purple wire in last pic.....
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