Oh, RATS! some info to keep them at bay

[snoopra]

OK, so we just had more than 10in of rain fall going into the weekend. Took the beast out for a good washing and left her in the driveway late Friday evening. Sunday morning, while wiping off the dew, I noticed a small pile of foam and rubber at the passenger side front wheel and thought, "WTF! I hope it's not rat shavings". Well when I opened the hood, there she was, looking right back at me, must have been at least a 5lb rat! Anyway, after removing the grass and debris from the upper left corner of the engine bay (above the additional air pump) I found minimum damage to a couple wiring harness plugs, hood heat shield, engine compartment rubber seals and a few stripped wires. I told my story to a local "car detailer expert" and he gave me some advise I wish to share. Whenever you're parking a car for an extended amount of time, drop a generous amount of moth balls, yes moth balls around the vehicle and in the engine bay to keep rats and other pests at bay. The End. Sorry for the long rant. Dhall, 'couple pics attached:)
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[p3u]

:MTM: That rat sure did make a nest out of your engine bay. At least it had good taste lol.

Out in Colorado a big problem I have dealt with in the past is rabbits. I have had them eat way to many wiring harnesses in my days.

Most interesting rabbit under the hood situation was on a cold winter morning 3 years ago. I was driving my b5 a4 1.8t and noticed it seemed a lot slower then normal. I pull over, pop the hood and notice something... what seemed to be a rabbit, wrapped around my accessory belt! Little bit of driveline drag to say the least :lovl:

[TozoM8]

http://forums.quattroworld.com/s4s6/msgs/19909.phtml

[MaxRS6]

Who's the fastest rat?

[DHall1]

Wow

Pictures are worth a 1000 words.

As a side note....car looks great. When did you get those wheels? Tell me more about the wheels

[snoopra]

D, I've had those for a while, did a post on them:)(search) They're 2009 S5 OEM wheels with a set of custom spacers/adaptors since the center bore on A/S5's is larger.

[DHall1]

My crystal ball of search terms for potential hits is broke. I have no clue how to search for your wheel upgrade thread if the obvious choices dont generate the hit.

Help

[snoopra]

DHall1, any ideas about where the white foam/spongey material came from?

[terrytcl]

DHall1, any ideas about where the white foam/spongey material came from?

i don't remember seeing anything with white foam... perhaps it's bits the rat picked up from the garbage to add to his home sweet home.

you need to add traps in your engine bay

:bigeyes::bigeyes:

[p3u]

DHall1, any ideas about where the white foam/spongey material came from?

Looks like the rat ate some of your hood insulation. White foamy goodness :)

[snoopra]

Not garbage, terrytcl.
Hood insulation foam is yellow, p3u.

DHall, wheels installed almost a year ago.
http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17284&highlight=finally+installed

[p3u]

You should take out the insulation, helps out a little in keeping engine bay cooler, and you can hear the engine a bit more :)

[DHall1]

My crystal ball will never be that good.

Its not even a wheel thread.

The car looks great...you should post up a wheel thread with a good search title that future members can find the option.




No garbage, hood insulation foam is yellow.

DHall, wheels installed almost a year ago.
http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17284&highlight=finally+installed