Infestations of mice and squirrels in Manitoba vehicles on the rise

WINNIPEG – Manitoba Public Insurance says statistics show that a rising number of rodents are on the run and looking for a place to take refuge as the weather grows colder.

Unfortunately, that refuge often ends up being someone’s car.

MPI says back in 2012, there were 1,546 rodent claims with 679 vehicles written off at a cost of $6.5 million.

Last year, the numbers were up significantly – 2,600 rodent claims opened, with 973 vehicles written off at a cost of $10.6 million.

Albert Thomas repairs vehicles infested with squirrels and mice and says once the critters get inside, they can quickly render a vehicle unsafe to drive by chewing on wires.

He says rodents infestations have become so common any new clients at his garage could face up to a six-week wait for repairs.

Entomologist Taz Stuart also notes that if a vehicle has a deer mouse infestation, there could be an added health concern in the form of hanta virus.

“You’ve got urine and feces which is your problem,” says Stuart. “If you disturb it and they aerosol it, you can potentially die from it.”

What’s causing the increase? Thomas blames motorists eating habits for the high number of cases.

“It’s food, inside on the carpets, inside the baby car seats. That’s what attracting mice,” he says.

Stuart says motorists in new developments are also increasingly falling victim.

“If you’re going into their environment, they’re going to come into yours, if you don’t have a baiting or trapping plan,” he says, noting that odour deterrents and traps will help.

MPI also says the increase in rodent claims may be because of heightened customer awareness of the coverage provided by MPI.

A month ago, a squirrel got into Trevor Kornago’s Mitsubishi and chewed his transmission line.

He had no idea until one day after work he turned the car on and fluid poured everywhere, leaving $1,000 in damage.

“Good four or five litres came out in the span of maybe a minutes, tops, so I wouldn’t have got very far away with it.”