While cleaning out the MX-5 a couple of days ago I found a set of earbuds I thought I had lost, under the driving seat, with the end chewed off the charging case. I thought it had been broken by the seat runner until I saw the tooth marks. Then later I found the sponge grip on the bonnet rod nibbled.
Out in it later, the ambient temp was stuck on 20C. This, it turns out, is the default when it gets bad or no data, so it defaults a value so the climate control can operate.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc, I concluded that Mickey had chewed the sensor cable.
I spent a couple of hours getting the car in the air and removing covers and eventually found the sensor behind the grille, No sign of any damage to connector or cable, so I put it back together.
Long story short it now seems to have mended itself. I found no visible damage to any wiring so it looks for now as if I have been lucky. I ordered half a dozen mousetraps.
I put two in the garage last night. Mickey triggered both. He got the peanut butter off one and escaped, then was less lucky with the second. RIP Mickey. Field mouse by the look of him.
I have a feeling this isn't the end of it. After 9 years ownership, finding rodent evidence and having a faulty temperature reading on the same day seems like too much of a coincidence.
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Thought this was going to be a story on EV cables being chewed!
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You sure it wasn't Gli Glis? Very common in your neck of the woods and blamed for at least one house fire, to my knowledge. What happened to your last place?
Glis Glis: edible doormouse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_edible_dormouse
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>> You sure it wasn't Gli Glis? Very common in your neck of the woods and
>> blamed for at least one house fire, to my knowledge. What happened to your last
>> place?
Seem to remember the Warden at Jordans Youth Hostel ten + years ago being bothered by responsibility for glis glis on the premises.
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>> Glis Glis: edible doormouse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_edible_dormouse
>>
Edible? Who eats them?
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>> >> Glis Glis: edible doormouse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_edible_dormouse
>> >>
>>
>> Edible? Who eats them?
The Romans I believe. If I recall correctly which I don't guarantee, they were re-introduced by Walter Rothschild, whose house in Tring is now a branch of the Natural HIstory Museum. Thanks Walter. This chap apparently used to drive a cart around Tring pulled by zebras.
Anyway I don't think it was glis. I caught the blighter last night, a field mouse. Quite a big one as they go, about 4" long plus a tail about the same length. I was sorry to have knocked him on the head, but I can't have him eating my car.
Traps are out again tonight just in case, but my instinct is he was a singleton who had wandered in.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 4 Sep 26 at 21:13
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Glis Glis: edible doormouse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_edible_dormouse
I hate to be picky but it is one of those things that I cannot not notice. In taxonomy the genus, the first part of the scientific name, is with a capital letter. The species, the second part of the name, is always lower case. Strictly speaking when used both should be in italics. Hence the edible dormouse is known as Glis glis, in italics if only I could render it such here. Correctly recorded as such on the Wikipedia page.
I feel better now.
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Duncan. Have you been training an apprentice?
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Is this what you're looking for? :-)
Glis glis
Last edited by: smokie on Sat 5 Sep 26 at 10:44
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Last edited by: Zero on Sat 5 Sep 26 at 13:32
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Thank you MG man.
I live on knowledge like this. How I reached the age of 73 without learning this is a mystery.
The problem now is that I will notice it, and will be disturbed by people getting it wrong.
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>>I was sorry to have knocked him on the head, but I
>> can't have him eating my car.
>>
>> Traps are out again tonight just in case, but my instinct is he was a
>> singleton who had wandered in.
>>
You can get non lethal traps. We used to use them and then release the little fellow in the fields outside town well away from any houses.
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>>You can get non lethal traps. We used to use them and then release the little fellow in the fields outside town well away from any houses.
You're quite right. We had a couple we used in the loft of our old bungalow. I used to release them outside the house of a nasty character who lived about half a mile away. But we did have a tendency to forget to check them and we thought a quick death was less cruel than leaving them to dessicate.
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As a non-indigenous species (like grey squirrels), isn't it illegal to release them back into the wild?
As MGspannerman seems to have appointed himself as our back-up to Dunc, and resident zoologist, perhaps he can verify, or otherwise? ;>)
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Because they are a non-native invasive species, it is indeed a criminal offence to release a captured Glis glis back into the wild.
Same goes for all non native species
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>> Because they are a non-native invasive species, it is indeed a criminal offence to release
>> a captured Glis glis back into the wild.
Sorry CGNorwich, I'll do a Dunc here: Glis glis.
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But Glis Glis (can't be faffed with html italics) are protected under UK legislation; trapping is an offence unless you have a permit.
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Some years ago I decided to inspect and clean the big circular drum air filters on either side of my Audi's W12 engine.
It was apparent that some time ago a small creature had nibbled out a hollow in one of them and made a nest. As it was in only a small area with minimal effect on its function, I just rotated it to present a different area against the air inlet. My experience with virtually all pleated material air filters is that only a small number of pleats do most of the filtration.
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>> As a non-indigenous species (like grey squirrels), isn't it illegal to release them back into
>> the wild?
I was dealing with field/wood mice not Glis. Are they non-native as well?
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"As MGspannerman seems to have appointed himself as our back-up to Dunc, and resident zoologist, perhaps he can verify, or otherwise? ;>)"
II haven't appointed myself to anything, I simply contributed to a discussion. Actually I am a classically trained botanist.
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Rodents! - Bobby
