I tasted Honda's spicy rodent-repelling tape and I will do it again (2021)
220 comments
·February 11, 2025tofof
nkrisc
Interestingly, that very irritant is now the key to the widespread success of some pepper species by the way of a specific species of mammals.
tofof
Oh? Which pepper species and carrier mammal are involved here?
Edit: DERP duh you mean humans. :D Literally made the comparison without recognizing it, too. /Edit
Not challenging you, just curious and not immediately finding the answer myself with a quick search.
The capsaicin receptor is TRPV1, which is a critical protein for thermoregulation and detection of being burned. In other words, it's not just a quick and easy evolutionary path to have a mutation break the receptor for capsaicin and now be immune to the taste. Obviously the animals could evolve behavior or even simply learn as juveniles to tolerate or even enjoy the taste (as many humans do).
There are some other interesting things that happen with avian carriers, like reductions in fungal infection and attractiveness to other predators (ants). https://www.washington.edu/news/2013/06/21/airborne-gut-acti...
jumhyn
I believe it’s a cheeky reference to humans intentionally cultivating hot peppers specifically because of their capsaicin-producing quality. :)
null
RobotToaster
Reminds me of the theory that wheat domesticated humans.
fsckboy
driving down the road I was inspired to taste some fresh wheat grains in a field: tasted a lot like flour. what is that "thing"? an attractive tasty flour nodule? the energy yolk to the seed's egg?
cjbgkagh
One of many in a long list of evolved pesticides
BurningFrog
Others are nicotine, caffeine and cocaine.
What else?
EDIT: and morphine!
bobthepanda
It is also somewhat anti microbial, so it became useful for food preservation. See: kimchi
cnity
Though you're right, in kimchi the primary preservative is initially the saltiness and then later the low pH caused by lactobacilli producing lactic acids.
jorvi
Apparently (some) peppers are anti-inflammatory, which I guess I have to accept the science of, but still disagree with on an empirical level.
cyberax
You can make fermented cabbage without any hot peppers. It's common in Slavic cultures.
jasonpeacock
Yep, you can get spicy bird food which completely eliminates squirrel, rat, rabbit, racoon, and other issues with your bird feeders:
https://order.wbu.com/shop/bird-food/hot-pepper
It's a game changer, it's the only bird food that I use now.
foobiekr
I find that it is an effective rat repellent - a neighbor has a rat colony they will not address - but while it was effective for squirrels at first, they seem to have gotten over it, and we now see them eating dropped seeds without any pause at all. I think the first generation never overcame it but now they do eat whatever the birds spill.
FuriouslyAdrift
Mint... it will grow like crazy and reodentia hate it. Catnip is even better because it attracts cats.
https://www.evergreenseeds.com/do-mint-plants-keep-mice-away...
mauvehaus
A mouse died in my plow truck this summer and the smell was unreal. Like, thank god I got the power windows working bad.
I was told that Irish Spring soap is minty enough to repel mice. Based on the scratch/tooth marks in the bar I left in the glovebox, it apparently isn't.
Next summer, I'll try something with peppermint oil. Assuming I can get the transmission fixed for a reasonable price. Not having reverse is proving to be a hassle.
kylehotchkiss
Step 1: Buy poison station. Step 2: if poison station works in your yard, fling exhibit over the fence to delegate pest control duties to correct home
pfooti
Poisoned rats are eaten by owls and raptors, who then die or move out of the neighborhood.
1024core
Why poison an animal just trying to survive?
dunham
In my previous house, I had mice get into a bag of gochugaru, so I guess some mice can tolerate it. For squirrels, I've only sprinkled it on the ground to keep them from digging up my garlic cloves.
wodenokoto
Can I get bird seeds that the birds hate and then they stay away from my balcony because of bad associations?
gkoberger
If the above comment was interesting to you... you might really like the YouTube video "The truth about Hot Ones sauces"! It goes into this theory, along with how spice levels are measured.
afpx
The fox population has grown a lot near me. I often have a couple foxes sleeping in my back yard at night. I used to have a major squirrel problem, but The foxes ate them all.
conductr
We have coyotes around in DFW. Not too many in the urban core areas (mid-century suburbs), so the squirrel are rampant. Out in the exurbs (more recent suburbs), the coyote population is high enough I practically never see a squirrel.
Granted - the older areas have more mature oak, pecan, and other nut producing trees too. But there should be some squirrels out in the exurbs and I never see any. I've spent some significant time out there too. They have more rabbits than I see intown, which I imagine is the coyotes main food source.
throwawaymaths
> capsaicin
they have no heat receptors?? capsaicin literally triggers the ion channel for thermosensing.
sitharus
Capsaicin binds to TRPV1 receptors, which are mammal-specific. Other animals have different proteins in this role and birds in particular are not sensitive to it. Also TVRP1 is only triggered by temperatures over 43°C, lower temperatures are sensed by other proteins.
Capsaicin isn’t just effective on mammals, it also has an effect on some fungi and insects, though mostly through metabolic disruption.
burnished
Probably a different channel that isn't triggered by capsaicin
adamrezich
Not a good deer repellant, though—at least for the mule deer around here. My mom once sprayed some plants she had to prevent the local pests from eating them, but instead, they just ate the plants anyway, and then proceeded to shit all over the yard everywhere.
intrasight
>shit all over the yard everywhere
They do that in any case
adamrezich
It was particularly messy in this case.
giarc
That's one of the best blog posts I've read in a while. It nails the idea of "write one line that makes the reader want to read the next". It's humorous but also serious. There's no fluff. Instant subscribe.
tfehring
It's like the opposite of clickbait. The author did, upon information and belief, taste Honda's spicy rodent-repelling tape, and made a strong case that she will in fact do it again unless someone stops her. Truly giving the people what they want.
taurknaut
Damn I could have gotten the "no fluff" version by looking at wikipedia or just googling.
Why do people expect their non-fiction reading to be entertaining? That's not the point and I inherently don't trust your judgement if that's what you're looking for. At some point you've got to provide insight.
devilbunny
I read entertaining nonfiction all the time. Not everything has to be an algebra textbook. Try Ben Macintyre if you like spy/war stories.
NoboruWataya
> At some point you've got to provide insight.
Why though? Seinfeld had nine seasons of no insight and it did okay.
wlesieutre
For reference on the poem at the bottom https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56159/this-is-just-to...
Another adaptation I enjoyed https://x.com/AthertonKD/status/585661777645547520
exhilaration
Thank you for both links. I only read the linked article after following your links!
tamasnet
Thank you!
numlocked
I have no insight but boy oh boy is this funny and well written. Like prime Dave Barry [0].
ping00
I genuinely can’t remember having laughed at well written prose in a long time, thanks for sharing [0]. OP is gold too.
Takes me back to my high school days when I would have to choke down my laughter as I surreptitiously read Cracked.com articles in class
wibbily
Reminded me of Dennis Lee too
xp84
Dave Barry was my favorite columnist as far back as age 8 or 9. He's so funny.
donaldihunter
A genuine lol, for both the OP and for [0]
ben1040
Raise your hand if you tasted a Nintendo Switch cartridge because you read the plastic was infused with a bitterant to mitigate choking hazards.
bigstrat2003
Back in the day when I worked desktop support, we would use a lot of canned air. And when they added bitterant to that stuff in order to keep kids from huffing it, it became almost unusable for its intended purpose because it turns out that nobody wants to have to breathe the bitter air after they clean out a PC. So, I went to the office supply store and sampled some different brands to see which ones didn't add a bitterant. The irony that their anti-huffing measure led to me (essentially) huffing canned air at the store was not lost on me.
Cpoll
I found this out accidentally. I have a habit of holding the cartridge between my lips when I switch cartridges (my hands are occupied with the case). Then minutes later I'd notice a bitter taste when drinking water or licking my lips, and have no idea why!
bentcorner
Telling people not to do something is a sure fire way to get them to do it. Human curiosity is strong.
rob74
Case in point: in Germany, there are occasionally "Durchgang verboten" ("passage forbidden") signs next to driveways leading to e.g. an inner courtyard. These are most of the time a sure sign that it's possible to take a shortcut through the courtyard to the other side of the block. Of course, this is a country where you can be reasonably sure of not getting shot for trespassing...
happyopossum
> where you can be reasonably sure of not getting shot for trespassing
How exactly does that make it OK to be disrespectful of other people's property and privacy?
fastball
Which in that case is Denatonium Benzoate.
somenameforme
Well.... how did it taste?
waltbosz
I thought it tasted like quinine/tonic water or maybe grapefruit rind (the ingredient in the Beverly soda from Italy). Coin batteries sometimes have a bitter taste coating which is similar to the Switch cart.
ben1040
I stuck just the tip of my tongue on there, and it was so bitter that it was more of a sensation than just a taste. Enough that I reflexively pulled away.
Waterluvian
It tasted like that time I popped a Smartie/Rocket in my mouth and began chewing casually only to realize that it was an uncoated Tylenol pill.
veonik
Well, I can say that you definitely won't want to taste it twice.
mikestew
I was disappointed that it was a bit bitter, yes, but not in the category of “won’t do it twice”. Such that I even tried multiple cartridges. I’m retirement age, though, so maybe my taste buds are shot.
ThrowawayTestr
Extremely bitter
ollybee
<raises hand> .. It really was grim
leonixyz
The most hilarious thing to me in this story is the PR guy who replied "most of the things sold in the US these days require warnings about causing cancer". And everybody seems fine with that. LOL
xsmasher
It's ridiculous, but maybe not the way you think; Prop 65 in California classified a lot of things as requiring notification, including things like "Wood Dust." so now every apartment building has a sign in the hallway that says "this building may contain chemicals" and everyone ignores it. The law has lead to people being less informed rather than more informed.
larrik
I caught that too, though I believe the California warnings are generally of the form "if you can't prove nothing in there causes cancer, then it might cause cancer."
hollywood_court
Land Rover/Jaguar could benefit from this tape.
Rodents love chewing on the electrical harnesses in these vehicles.
When I ran an import repair shop, my clients owned over 100 Jaguar sedans, and every single one of them was towed in at some point due to rodent-damaged wiring. While the problem wasn’t as severe with Land Rovers, we still had more than 40 of them towed in each year for the same issue.
tim333
In one of my previous flats we had rats and mice which we ignored - my flatmate was jain so very live and let live - until one day I turned the cooker on and there was a huge bang - they'd gnawed off the insulation on the power cables.
I didn't know about chillies but it might have helped.
palmotea
> You see, the thing about rodents—be they rat or shrew or vole—is that they really like to gnaw.
IIRC, they don't like to, they have to. If they don't wear down their teeth, they'll grow out of control and kill them.
fkyoureadthedoc
Or, hear me out, their teeth have to grow because they like to chew so much they'd wear them down and starve
SV_BubbleTime
Really a mouth half full kinda of guy.
zimpenfish
> If they don't wear down their teeth, they'll grow out of control and kill them.
cf the Babirusa - "If a male babirusa does not grind his tusks (achievable through regular activity), they can eventually keep growing and, rarely, penetrate the individual's skull."[0]
i80and
Unfun pet rat fact: if their teeth start growing at weird angles for whatever reason, this mechanism stops working and you have to get the teeth trimmed every couple weeks.
Clamchop
To be fair, the biological mechanism for motivating behaviors is usually by making it rewarding.
They both have to and like to!
ielillo
I remember reading that rodents chewed car cables since the insulation was made using the same compound as soy and that attracted them, but in reality it was just they liked chewing on stuff. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a21933466/does-your-car-ha...
bityard
I just read that article and it doesn't appear to agree with your conclusion. That was just a single quote from a a pest control guy who works for Orkin.
The article does say that car owners and mechanics have noted a large increase in rodent damage to car wiring with the new soy-based insulation while manufacturers have denied any connection. Likely because they are fighting several class-action lawsuits over it.
michaelmior
In my case, I was told it was because the rubber was made using peanut oil. I had a squirrel chew through one of the O2 sensors on my car.
tomcam
Easily one of the most informative rodent tape reviews I’ve read this week
noman-land
This is delightful, and hilarious. The bloody mary rimmed with spicy mouse tape made me lol. This is a creative mind here.
gradschool
I wouldn't have expected tape infused with capsaicin to have any deterrent effect on mice given Mousetrap Monday's video evidence to the contrary [1]. Is it possible that the high price of the tape mentioned in the article isn't entirely justified?
Liquid capsaicin treatments for bird seed are an effective squirrel repellent.
They also illustrate the evolution of this protein: birds have no receptors for capsaicin, while mammals do. Birds eat seeds mostly intactly. Their digestive systems are capable of breaking them down - but it's stochastic and some seeds make it through the bird undigested, being redistributed elsewhere. Obviously, having an agent sow your seeds widely is a fitness advantage, and so seedy plants are ultimately served well even if 90+% of their caloric investment into seeds goes into the birds.
Mammals, on the other hand, have teeth - particularly molars. Mammals that eat seeds grind them apart orally before even swallowing. As a result, any seeds ingested by mammals are very likely to be completely destroyed. Plants - peppers, anyway - found a chemical irritant that repels the mammals without even being sensed by birds.
I've used one such treatment (with an amusing logo illustrataion - https://i.imgur.com/JAl8vyW.png) to good effect to discourage squirrels at my feeder, so that they stick to my dedicated squirrel bungee with a log of compressed corn instead.