Forum Discussion

down_home's avatar
down_home
Explorer II
Dec 09, 2018

Tape with Capsicum In It

I posted this earlier with different title Friday evening. Saturday it was not here. Moderator says they didn't remove it.
So...

I was at Dr Office Friday and ran across an article, in car and Drier, I think.Honda is/was producing a tape with Capsicum in it in response to complaints about rodents chewing wires on their vehicles since 2010. It has a mouse printed on it crossed out. The author mentioned it said not to put on skin or lick it etc.
I don't remember what type polymer it is composed of but wrapping wires with it stops critters from wanting to chew on it.
We have read many posts of using red pepper on wiring. Of course it washes off pretty easy.
If this tape is not too costly and you have enough grunt to wrap your wiring or bundles of wire with it sound like a good idea.
The way the article was written suggest the tape is till available but did not explictly say so.
  • 4x4van's avatar
    4x4van
    Explorer III
    Not too sure I buy the idea that birds don't detect hot. Went to the beach last year and a relative brought some beef jerky that was some ungodly hot. One little taste and your mouth and throat was on fire for hours. Left the open bag on the picnic table. Now anyone who has spent any time on west coast beaches knows that seagulls will and do eat anything left out. They will open up closed bags of food and pretty much destroy your campsite. That open bag of jerky sat there on the table for 2 days; the seagulls came & investigated, shoved the bag around a bit, tasted it, and then left it alone and gave it a wide berth!

    As for capsicum tape; It wouldn't be practical for a car owner to try to wrap their wiring; you couldn't get to all of it. Perhaps if the manufacturers used it for the wiring harness before the car was built?
  • johnhicks wrote:
    You might want to find out if those critters are sensitive to capsicum. Just because you are doesn't mean the critters are.

    We were having a problem with raccoons getting the suet we put out for our birds. Every night. We went to Wild Birds Unlimited and talked to them about it. They recommended getting hot pepper suet. They said birds don't detect the hot, but mammals hate it. We only had one more night of suet raiding, and the suet was left laying by the foot of the tree it was mounted on, with one bite out of it.
  • Mothballs ??? Anyone tried them under the hood to discourage rodents from chewing wires?
  • I'm pretty sure every land mammal would be sensitive to capsaicin. Just depends on how much is used. I know from experience it works on me and various dogs. I've seen video of it stopping bears.
  • A little story might help. We were trying to discourage prairie dogs from digging near the house. In a fit of rage, I bought a large batch of hot jalapenos, chopped them up nicely with a blender to create a smooth jelly-like material, and smeared it into existing holes. It was deadly stuff.


    I might as well have used honey. They ignored the jalapeno stuff outright and went about their business.


    :(

    Lynn
  • You might want to find out if those critters are sensitive to capsicum. Just because you are doesn't mean the critters are.
  • There are wires and fiber optic cables that have that in the insulation

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