What type of animal made this nest?

[broncoboy]

Removed the engine cover on my 2020 Hurricane 29M today and found this surprise. I filled up an entire grocery bag cleaning it out. Any guesses on which animal may have left it there? I’m just glad it didn’t catch on fire during the last trip we went on in 100+ degree temperatures.

[EA37TS]

My bet is mouse or mice. Check all wires and hoses for evidence of chewing.

[broncoboy]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

My bet is mouse or mice. Check all wires and hoses for evidence of chewing.

I didn’t see any damaged wires or hoses. Hoping for the best.

[MJC62]

Mouse, mice, pack rat any or all the above. I'd invite the neighborhood tomcat to start hanging around. Leave some cat food under the motorhome

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by broncoboy

Removed the engine cover on my 2020 Hurricane 29M today and found this surprise. I filled up an entire grocery bag cleaning it out. Any guesses on which animal may have left it there? I’m just glad it didn’t catch on fire during the last trip we went on in 100+ degree temperatures.

How long was it sitting idle before you drove it? Where was it parked?

I would think if it were mice / mouse / rat, you would see bird droppings all over the place. Did you see any? It would look like black rice. I am surprised you didn't see any clues when placing nest in plastic bag? I would be worried about where the white cotton looking material came from?

Since you take a proactive action to get rid of the pest, it is good chance it is still around. May be worth going to your local animal control with pictures and maybe the vehicle. They may be able to pinpoint a local menace that has rat like behaviors; but smarter in the sense it doesn't poop in or around their next

[HarryS]

Dkoldman... Why would you see bird droppings if mice made the nest?????

[rynosback]

Mouse, pack rat or a squirrel. Either way, clean that area up and don’t make it inviting.

[HarryTh]

Todays creatures don't have an appetite for wires and hoses since China makes their plastic auto parts with soy mixed in. They now dine on the plastic elbows and housings. I speak with experience, the engine in my Taurus ran really bad and then quit. When I opened the hood it looked just like yours but had acorn shell parts in the nest, so I believe it was a squirrel. They never touched the wiring or the hoses, just the plastic parts. This happened when we left the car for a couple of weeks while on vacation.
Harry

[atreis]

Mouse. Look for gnawing on the rubber and plastic bits that the nest is up against. They tend to slowly work at making their spaces larger.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by HarryS

Dkoldman... Why would you see bird droppings if mice made the nest?????

It must have been from low-flying birds...
But very skillful flying: they navigated into the engine bay with losing a wing feather!

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by HarryS

Dkoldman... Why would you see bird droppings if mice made the nest?????

Because the bird would be there to eat the mice, then they would have to poop I would think that would be obvious if you did not recognize I had a typo with intent to say mouse / rat droppings.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

It must have been from low-flying birds...
But very skillful flying: they navigated into the engine bay with losing a wing feather!

All birds don't fly, could have been a penguin and came in from the bottom The question is where is the poop?

[Bob Denman]

Penguin poop? I imagine that's in Antarctica...

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Penguin poop? I imagine that's in Antarctica...

Penquins can poop up to 4 feet away, and they frequently poop on each other. If there is no pink poop in the immediate vicinity you can't eliminate the Penguin on that fact alone If you ever put down the RV and travel Space X, you can see Penquin Poop from space Pretty dang gross birds.

What I was trying to say to OP was that if it was a mouse or rat; then he should see poop somewhere around the nest and engine block area. Rat poop would look like black rice and easy to see. I didn't see any in the picture which makes wonder if it was in fact some other type of animal? That is a pretty big nest.

[Bob Denman]

Okay... four feet from Antarctica!

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Okay... four feet from Antarctica!

Yes but if the Penguin has Happy Feet.... who knows

[Bob Denman]

Okay: Now you've got me!

[rudyhehn]

Always good to know I can get lessons about penguin excretion on my Thor Forum. I had a similar nest inside my RV, in my case the cotton came from the bathroom. We caught the 2 homebuilders via trap and ruined their day. The nest was surprisingly large. Fortunately no little ones running around.... yet.

[Bob Denman]

You know what they say...
When all of the crap is in order: everything just kind of moves along smoothly...

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by rudyhehn

Always good to know I can get lessons about penguin excretion on my Thor Forum. I had a similar nest inside my RV, in my case the cotton came from the bathroom. We caught the 2 homebuilders via trap and ruined their day. The nest was surprisingly large. Fortunately no little ones running around.... yet.

You can learn a lot about the various types of Slides from Penguins tooo

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

You know what they say...
When all of the crap is in order: everything just kind of moves along smoothly...

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