Thank You, T.T.

ROPEL can be used on anything. The only issue we've seen is some discoloration when treating certain fabrics. I don't think this will be of any concern when treating under the hood of a car and over the years we've had people use it successfully to stop rats, mice and squirrels from chewing on their vehicles.

Regarding the repellent you ordered; I'm not sure if it will work on rats or mice. Designed for cats and dogs, we know it keeps them away. Though some people have tried it for rodents, I don't know if we have ever heard conclusively if it helped.

One thing we know that does work well is the TRANSONIC PRO ULTRA SOUND. It's got variable settings and works well on both rats and mice. Install one set up with a timer as described in the following video and I'm sure you'll be able to keep them away.

I suspect you have some kind of rat though it could be a shrew or vole. Without knowing for sure, making a specific recommendation is tough. That being said, there some things you can do.

First, you could treat the hoses and pipes with some 4-THE-BIRDS LIQUID which would effectively stop the chewing immediately. This product is odorless but something no animal can tolerate. Where applied, they will stay away.

Second, I would set some food out in the area like bird food or pet food (if you have a dog or cat, either of their food would suffice). If this "animal" takes the offering, I would then say to get a live trap to catch the ones living inside your home. Once these are removed, you could then find their access points and seal these holes up to prevent more of this animal from coming into your home. Clearly you have a problem with something entering and my guess is there is some kind of food motivating them to get inside. Trap out what you have now before you start sealing up entry points; once you are sure all the current ones active are removed you can do the closure needed to keep new ones from getting inside.

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Clearly rats like to chew things as explained in our RAT CONTROL ARTICLE. This is quite normal out in the wild but when they are allowed to exist in close proximity to a building, chances are high that the building itself or something around or inside the building will become a "chew" target. My guess is there must be something close by which is luring them in like bird seed, pet food or some other abundant food source. If rats are frequenting your yard for food, chewing and gnawing will be a problem.

To stop them from chewing something specific, give it a good dose of ROPEL SPRAY. This bad tasting agent will get them to stop and move on to something more palatable. And take the time to treat anything else close by you think they might target. Likely objects rats like to chew include house siding, small trees, automobiles, garden hoses and most any yard furniture.

Ultimately you might have to either restrict the amoun of food available in the area to help cut down on the rat activity. If this can't be done, one of the trapping methods used to reduce the local population might be in order. Rats chewing furniture cushions isn't nearly as bad compared to what can happen once they target house wiring and other sensitive objects.