Chipmunks hiding acorns in my hood, how do I get them out?
 

Title tells it all.
Chipmunks have been stashing acorns in my hood. Best I can tell the only way in to the cavity is through the two little holes below the bowling green plate. Anyone ever have this happen? I can hear the little acorns rolling around. How do I get these suckers out?
Is there another way in?

Bizaare this is. Answer I have not. You think you heard everything, and then comes this. Maybe a trap of some kind near the car, non lethal. Can you put some kind of screen there. I did this with my house upstate for squirel invasions.

I put a piece of tape over the holes so they can't keep doing it but I would like to get the ones already in there out.

I expect a few laughs and a few funny comments, I can take it.

:lol: :lol:
Its not funny, but it is. Sorry, I don't have the answer.

Use a car wash wand to blast them out? Fill the area with some of that foam insulation spray? Shoot in some compressed air?
Wait until there is a good snow cover on the ground and the little buggers will return and carry off their stash for a midnight snack? :eek:

Try blowing air from an air compressor in one of the holes and see if it will make the acorns come out another hole?

EDIT: corvetteron beat me to it.

I'll give it a try but I'm not waiting until the snow is on the ground.
Car should be put away for the winter by then.
Thanks

I'm not exactly sure where you are talking about, but what I have done successfully for acorns in my manifold area:

Put a straw inside a vacuum cleaner hose and duck tape it into place so you have a tight seal around the straw. If it's a long way down use several straws stuck together. This should allow you to "latch" onto the nuts enough to drag them out one by one. Don't use your shop vac as that probably has too much hp and may burn up due to lack of input air. The house vac or the car wash vac you don't care about should do.

Either an engineer or one in the making, interesting solution.

Your Idea may work. Worth a try I guess.
I'm talking about actually being inside the hood. If you lift your hood (if it's the same is mine) you will see two holes on the under side near the bottom center, right above the air intake or rad. I don't know if the chipmunk is going right in or just dropping the acorns in the hole but there must be at least 20 in there.

That's not too far fetched, this spring I had bird feed stored on the manifold under the cover, likely from mice, so I pulled the cover off, vaccumed it out, then put some D-Con around the garage, that solved the problem, don't know about those pesky chipmunks, maybe ask a pest control expert, bet they have a solution. Well to keep him out anyway. Can you make the hole slightly larger, then blow the air through, hopefully make it easier. Good Luck :cheers:

I know in the winter when I store the car I place bounce sheets all over the engine and interior to keep mice and things away.
Can't really do that when your driving the car.

Lots of empty acorn shells under my plennum as well but that I'm not worried about.

Bounce sheets? sounds good, I will try that this winter :thumbs:

Just yell real loud ALVIN, that should do it :thumbs: :cheers:

Flickin thru the channels early Sat morning, this guy is selling a book on natural ways to get rid of pests. He mentions the way to get and keep chipmunks and mice out of an area is to go to a health store and get some oil of peppermint. Put a few drops on cotton balls, and he says rodents won't come near them. Put 1/2 tsp in some water, and spray areas you don't want the critters (like possible entrances to your house).

So today I stopped at a health store, and asked for oil of peppermint. Owner says 'you must have a chipmunk problem'. Got my bottle right next to me, haven't tried it yet (got mice problem in house and garage).

Chipmonks ate a lot of my cars wiring.Under the hood and stored nuts in all the vents.I'm still chasing down shorts :eek:

See CentralCoasters website for Squirel Fishing techniques. Should be able to crossover to the chipmunks..... :rofl:

Receipe is still the same... :thumbs:

In the hood itself, right? The two holes you mention are plugged in my hood. Given your situation, I'd raise the hood, disconnect the battery, and remove the underhood light housings. Then I'd push a hose down through the light housing holes and flush the acorns towards the holes at the front (bottom) of the hood.

Okay, it might not work, but it's an original idea.

Yeah... that or mothballs in an old sock.

Frankly I haven't had much success with mothballs. I think that only works if you have a mouse or two. I get more than that just in my basement (150 year old rock foundations got holes). I tried spreading mothballs all over an old Jag sedan I had stored. Kept the mice out of the seats and rugs, flipped down the visor one day and out comes a nest and half my visor stuffing. Of course the car stunk of mothballs for a year too. I'll vote for the peppermint, if you have to worry about bothering other living things - with 4 out buildings and the house the only solution is DCON and sticky traps (so they don't die in the walls and stink up the place).

Put a cat in there. They don't make very much noise as they roll around and the chipmunks will stya away.

Don't worry about your Shop Vac, it won't "burn up" doing that, since the air it draws in doesn't go through the motor it isn't used for cooling (My Dad was head design engineer at Shop Vac). HOWEVER! your standard houshold vac DOES pass the air through the motor and uses it for cooling, so you would burn it up.

Taking out one or both lights sounds like a good plan.
I didn't realize it was open behind them.
This may work. I'll try a combination of most things posted.
I think the previous owner of my car kept it in a barn for a couple of years. I have taken out two mouse nests and repaired an bunch of wires and vacuum lines. One nest was behind the breadbox. It was a small one compared to the one behind the radio. I was having trouble with my delco and just figured it was a POS. Bought all new stuff and went to do the swap. This is when I found the nest and all the damaged wires. I still put the new system in but I bet the old one would have worked fine after fixing the wires.
The major pain was that all the vacuum lines for the heater and A/C controlls were chewed as well.
I scabbed in some sections to make it work but this winter I plan on replacing the bundle. This I'm not looking forward to.

Put a black snake in there. :lol:

Years ago I had a Mach1 Mustang that, after finishing a restoration to about 90%, I moved out of state and stored the car at my parents for a year until I was ready for it. When I went to goet it, I was afraid to see what all my underhood detail work and even all my brand new carpet and seat upholstery looked like. I had always had trouble with mice in my cars there... (eating insulation off of plug wires, chewing upholstery, ect ect)

Anyway, i was surprised to find the car in pretty much pristine condition. So while I was standing over the fender after doing some tune up work and adjusting the carb, my friend on the other side of the car says "If I tell you something, will you promise not to freak out?" I was like, yeah, whatever... He says "DO NOT move, but look down at your right hand." I glance down at my right hand and see that a black snake has poked his head (and about 8" of his body) out of one of the holes in the inner fender and is about an inch from my right hand.

I stood there watching him and he moved up, arcing over my hand and went down into a hole on the other side of my hand (so his body was looped over my hand) he then proceeded to move himself back into the inner fender.

Long story short, we finally got that sucker out of there (and he wasn't happy). He was about 10'-11' long. Looked like he was well fed. Probably had a lot of mouse dinners :lol: :lol: I'm sure he'd have been just as content with chipmunks.

I heard the same about mice looking for a spot through the winter, and chewing up wiring under the fuel rails. MO do whatever to get rid of the pesky little varmints

Saisling, good story. All the snakes around here are well fed too but it's getting cold for them now.

I hear mothballs will keep rodents out of there...

Try a bullsnake....low maintenance, quiet, lethal on rodents.

Larry
code5coupe

Well they sure as hell smelled up my parents house many moons ago. :ack:

Sure-fire chipmunk lure
 

Keep the chipmunks busy with this :smash: