squirrels

I have been called in to a apartment complex today.The issue is squirrels have been eating at lease one vehicle ( cars). They have been munching on wires,removing hood insulation/lining + chewing on the coolant container and lines.
As of today they have carted away 29 squirrels with out stopping the Ford feast.
My suggestion was location/location/location.1 Get the cages were the culprit(s) need to bump into or climb over the cages to get at the engine compartment.
2 Remove the hood insulation/sound damper. This is probably used for nesting material. If the nesting material is gone at least some of the reason for the squirrels presence is also gone.
The apartment staff seemed for the most part disappointed in my suggestions. They want a permanent squirrel deterrent.
I need some suggestions!

thanks much Bob

Sounds more like rats . I wouldn't think squirrels would be building nest right now . Have you seen any droppings . There's a lot of rats here in Michigan this year . Also people are saying they have never had rats before

Ground hogs and porkies chew all the things you mentioned also.It may be squirrels or you may need to look into putting some trail cams into the areas of the problem for a couple of days and nites to see if they are the day or nite animals I mentioned or the squrrels as noted.

If the staff were not certain that they had a squirrel problem,I would have suspected rats. I suspect that no one is aware of what the animal night shift is up to.
It's hard to believe that they haven't created a squirrel shortage by now . They seem to have lots of squirrels still running around . The trail camera is a good suggestion.

thanks Bob

I've had a job at a Toyota and ford dealership with the same issue. One rats, the other was a coon. Used a cam as someone previously suggested. Destroyed several cars on each lot.

X2

That was my first thought also...and my first thought tends to be correct

Plus...often where you have squirrels you have rats. Look at were the damage is occuring near a vacant building, sewer, etc.

Any good field guide or WC manual will give you the incisor width of various rodents and typical bite patterns of several animals.

Dave please recommend a field guide for bite marks. I am sure that i could put one to use.

thanks Bob