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Old 08-19-2016, 05:17 PM   #1
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Rats will die!!!

We've had 6 days of rain and today was the only day with no rain. We're suppose to get three more days of rain so I decided to jump in my boxster for a quick spin into town. I get in it and turn it over. Not even a click! I'm thinking the battery must be dead or maybe the immobilizer got wet. Check the carpet under the seat and it's dry. I figured it wouldn't be wet because I poked a hole in the floor pan incase water did make inside the cabin. Ok, I'll check the battery even though usually you'll get some kind of click. I open the frunk and find a bunch of torn up insulation and droppings. Rat+no start=something's F'd up. I'm pissed but I move on and jump the box. Still nothing! I look under the frunk, dash and seat and don't see any chewed wires. I open the trunk and find the damage.

I got somewhat lucky that it looks like the soon to be dying a slow very painful death rat only chewed the rear harness. It didn't chew on the engine or too much of the main harness.

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Last edited by itsnotanova; 08-19-2016 at 05:21 PM.
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Old 08-19-2016, 05:40 PM   #2
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Someone I was texting about this just sent me this pic of the problem he's having with his boxster. I guess it could be worse
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Old 08-19-2016, 06:15 PM   #3
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OMG! What a mess, those damn critters! And the 2nd pic is just awful. What has been seen cannot be unseen! You sure it was a rat?
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Old 08-19-2016, 06:51 PM   #4
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Holy Crap Ratman
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Old 08-19-2016, 06:59 PM   #5
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Rat bastards! They get into everything and shred it up.
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Old 08-19-2016, 07:25 PM   #6
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We have horses, chickens and a pig. With those critters, we also have rats. I have battled them for years. They have damaged wires in my daughter's Jetta and the Boxster. I hate rats. I have traps out for them as I type. I feel your pain.
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Old 08-19-2016, 07:52 PM   #7
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I'd put his head on a stick as a warning to the others!
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Old 08-19-2016, 08:00 PM   #8
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Never tempt worse.
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Old 08-19-2016, 08:22 PM   #9
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My Grandson who lives in Texas had his wiring harness eaten by bunny rabbits.

Last edited by MARTHA; 08-20-2016 at 06:49 PM.
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Old 08-20-2016, 05:20 AM   #10
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Old 08-20-2016, 05:35 AM   #11
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wow, wow, wow! That rat bastard must have needed some copper supplement! And the oil and antifreeze in the tail pipe. I've seen that once before. Sick.
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Old 08-20-2016, 01:57 PM   #12
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wow, wow, wow! That rat bastard must have needed some copper supplement!...
They're not interested in the wire, just the insulation.
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Old 08-21-2016, 01:13 PM   #13
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My baby is running again!! The damage wasn't too bad as the little critter only chewed the rear harness and didn't touch anything else. I got lucky and it helps that I have a few boxsters to pull some parts from. It only took about an hour to fix.

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We have horses, chickens and a pig. With those critters, we also have rats. I have battled them for years. They have damaged wires in my daughter's Jetta and the Boxster. I hate rats. I have traps out for them as I type. I feel your pain.
My wife has five horses and 8 chickens to clean up after them. We have two horses that drop half of their food on the ground and the chickens usually eat most of it. I'm sure the mice and rats get the rest. The snake population exploded this past year and I hadn't seen any signs of mice or rats in a long time. We have so many snakes that one fell on my head the other night as I was reaching in the hen house to collect eggs. Talk about a feeling that will make you pucker up and curse like a drunken sailor. I'm always cautious about reaching in when it's dark. I've already had a few times where I've reached in at night expecting to grab eggs and instead feeling snake. One falling on you at night is a whole new level of creepiness. Anyway, I thought with sooo many snakes around my vehicles were safe from a rat or mice infestation. As a precaution I had left some rat poison in the trunk area. It was at least a year old and probably not as effective as it could have been. I don't know how long that rat was in my boxster, but I'd guess a max of 3-4 days. I'm not sure what the average poo rate is for a rat, but there was about 20 turds in the frunk. It probably didn't take him but a few minutes to chew up those wires though. It looks like it ate all the poison I had in the trunk and I think I can smell the beginning of a dead rat in the front bumper area. I've been reading up on this kind of damage and how to prevent it. I'm thinking the poison is good to have to keep them from moving in for too long but mothballs were said to help keep them away because they don't like the smell.
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Old 08-21-2016, 05:54 PM   #14
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the problem with rat poison is that they will die eventually and who knows where and that is after they cause the damage, traps are better.
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Old 08-22-2016, 06:46 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by MARTHA View Post
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My Grandson who lives in Texas had his wiring harness eaten by bunny rabbits.
We have this same kind of rodent here in Texas....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCI18qAoKq4
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Old 08-22-2016, 11:31 AM   #16
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My baby is running again!! The damage wasn't too bad as the little critter only chewed the rear harness and didn't touch anything else. I got lucky and it helps that I have a few boxsters to pull some parts from. It only took about an hour to fix.
...
Glad you got her running again. I was going to offer you the harness from my parts car if we didn't hear from you soon.
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Old 08-22-2016, 03:43 PM   #17
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the problem with rat poison is that they will die eventually and who knows where and that is after they cause the damage, traps are better.
The theory is the poison makes them thirsty and they go outside searching for water. By the time they find water, the Coumadin / Warfarin, errr rat poison has bled them out.

3 yrs ago I was diagnosed with a blood clot in ea lung and a third in my leg. I was immediately hospitalized. The lady DR came in and told me she was putting me on a Coumadin regiment. I smiled when she said that and she asked if I knew what Coumadin was. I said yes, it's rat poison. Luckily I only needed to be on the rat poison for 6 mo and have been clot free since.
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Old 08-22-2016, 04:19 PM   #18
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I always use the good old spring traps with peanut butter - they work and there is no chance of pets / wild animals getting poisoned by eating the carcass.
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Old 08-22-2016, 04:39 PM   #19
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LoL
Texans always have a bigger story.

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Old 08-24-2016, 12:07 PM   #20
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My Grandson who lives in Texas had his wiring harness eaten by bunny rabbits.

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