Did this come from the car?

[joedown]

I recently purchased a 2003 Jetta TDI and I have been doing a lot of reading here and learning some good info about this car. I've owned diesel trucks for years but this is my first car.
I recently went to change the cabin filter and this is what I found.

The mouse nest looks like it is made out of that material you find under carpet or used and a sound proofing. What I was wondering is if this came from the car and where could it have come from?

 

[JB05]

Yes, the fluffy material looks like it came from the hood liner, but that should be obvious. A squirrel tore mine apart a few years ago. I now have Dynomat in its place.

 

[Das]

Pretty common issue if car sat at all. My car the po let it sit a few months before I bought it my filter had a dead field mouse in the filter/ nest. Nice hey.

 

[BioBob]

Sub Mat

It looks like it may have come from the heavy mat UNDER the floor mat.
It also goes up behind the dash to provide sound deadening between the engine bay and the cockpit.

It would be a very convenient and close source for an industrious mouse.

 

[6DOF]

Pesky Varmints

Last fall I had a squirrel start storing his treasures under the hood of our 03 Jetta. There were a handful of acorns inside the airbox! Thank god he did not tear a hole in the air filter. One acorn in the intake would shred the turbo. We started "thinning the heard" of varmints after that close call. The only squirrels left are pretty nervous and stay well clear of the vehicles.

 

[Art van Law]

I threw a coupla sheets of fabric softener (sold for use in the clothes dryer) around the filter the last time I changed mine.

 

[joedown]

Is it possible for a mouse to get inside the vehicle? I'm not too familiar with Jetta's so I don't know if there are some open ports or something. I'll check the hood liner and see if it came from there.

 

[Cogen Man]

I threw a coupla sheets of fabric softener (sold for use in the clothes dryer) around the filter the last time I changed mine.

It works. Also a bag of moth balls in the engine bay away from the air inlet under the windshield.

Is it possible for a mouse to get inside the vehicle? I'm not too familiar with Jetta's so I don't know if there are some open ports or something. I'll check the hood liner and see if it came from there.

Rodents can get into anything. Cars, attics, you name it.