Cat in my engine bay!

[Raptor09]

Well... I think the title says most of it.

I was just walking past my car taking a look at it, glancing at everything.. and when I get to the engine bay...I see a tiny (the size of a hand or so) kitten standing on the engine itself! It then bolted the moment it saw me. I thought it was out, was quite disturbed...started the car and..well THEN I saw it run out.

Haha i had noticed some small round dusty circles on the rear window panel between the engine bay and the passenger compartment which seemed a bit strange, but figured they must have been caused by some water that was on the road...now I know better

Anyone got a good solution for keeping cats away? The garage is closed but sadly has an opening on the side where the cats can enter from. Seems to be a lot of stuff online talking about 'orange peels' and ultrasonic animal monitors - guess its time to try them out. My poor carbon fiber trim needs guarding

I'm guessing this hasn't happened to anyone else ?

[AnOutsider]

I shudder the cleanup job you would've had if the lil sucker HADN'T scurried.

[drbf]

A very expensive cat house..........

[Raptor09]

Well.. there's currently a box shaved down to 'beneath R8 size' covering the main opening I estimate it came in from (the one right beneath where the passenger compartment and engine meet) so that's my temporary solution until tomorrow, when I get some 'citrus spray' and the other odd items that are supposed to keep them at bay

The funny thing is I've always thought the car looked a lot like a cat, and a number of other people mentioned that to me independently..seems this one noticed too..

[R84ME]

A very expensive cat house..........

We have similar problems here in the Southwest - with Packrats. The maintenance history on another car I bought (that saw seldom use) listed several trips to the dealer to have Packrat nests removed from the A/C ducts. They can get into any small opening and can be VERY difficult and expensive to clean out. You should probably try to tighten up access to your garage before you end up with a litter of kittens in there!

[Raptor09]

Well I think I've got a solution that should close off all access... but that certainly wasn't a pleasant surprise! It was literally standing in between the audi logos! These kittens have expensive taste..

[harrison]

You missed a darned good photo op. Uh oh...now we might start seeing more animals and R8s !!

[Raptor09]

I actually did think about that...quite a while later though Well, as long as they are OUTSIDE the car I think it should be alright


Hmm..cheetah and R8...might have something there..

[R84ME]

These kittens have expensive taste..

Indeed! That would have made a great pic....

[willyjp]

While driving my old A6, one cold Fall morning, as I pulled out of my driveway onto the road, 3 mice emerged from under the back edge of the hood onto the windshield! Two of them jumped off the car immediately, but one hung tenaciously onto one of the wiper arms as I accelerated. When it became clear he wasn't going to let go, I slowed down and pulled over onto the left shoulder. I hit the wipers quickly up to high speed, and flipped him off into the grass at the edge of the woods! Later found and removed a large nest, made of bits of body insulating material, from a cavity up inside one fender. Since then, I keep an ultrasonic repeller plugged in alongside my car and lots of glue traps and bait stations around it.

Even with those precautions, a year ago my wife's then Volvo XC70 had a large ground squirrel (essentially a chipmunk--we live in the country) nesting in her engine compartment during a severe cold snap. He was caching bits of dog food spilled from our rodent proof dog food bin! He consumed ALL the insulation off the underside of the hood and firewall to make his nest. Bill for clean-up and repair was $2400! The insurance adjuster warned us that our insurance co. would cover rodent damage "once per car," and to take suitable precautions!

I successfully trapped the garage loving critter and since then have added a bait station big enough to admit larger rodents AND a rat-sized spring trap to my array. Also added a second ultrasound emitter on my wife's side of the garage!

Amazing how much damage the little devils can do. A domestic cat, by comparison, would be WELCOME! And, they probably would keep the rodents away (or eaten!), since that's what they were originally bred to do.