Another use for the peppermint oil is under the hood of my car to keep squirrels or field mice from nesting in it in the spring or looking for warmth in the fall. I have 2 metal cans with magnets under the hood and I just put a few dropperfuls onto cotton pads inside the cans with slotted holes in them.
One spring my car stalled when I was almost home, it overheated. Opened the hood and there was a nest sitting inside the engine. Fortunately only 2 wires were a bit chewed through and easily reachable to fix. Checked the car the next day and they started rebuilding the nest overnight, it seems they're now attracted to their scent and were in there nightly redoing it. Reading as much as possible on how to keep them out, it seems stronger scents or lights will keep them from nesting. Remember those old Bounce Dryer Bars that had an adhesive to stick on the inside of your dryer drum? I got 2 of those and stuck them on the walls under the hood and that finally kept them out.
I've read horror stories about people having $3-$5k in repairs from damage done. My car was always parked on the street, under lights, not like it was in a dark barn left unattended for weeks. So it's just something I now do 2x a year. No idea how they choose a car, I never eat in my car or leave food wrappers around to attract anything. But now since they stopped making those dryer bars, I found a couple of small cans and use straight peppermint oil in the spring and fall for my peace of mind.
