Rats in Blitzen: A Cyberbeast Crime Scene (and the Tesla Crew Who Saved Christmas)

[rtfitch]

Over the past several months, I should have listened to my co-pilot, Thor the Cyberdog… but Santa “knew better.”

Every time Thor walked past Blitzen the Cyberbeast in the garage, he’d go on alert—sniffing hard, pausing, and pointing his nose right toward the bed and rear wheel wells. I figured he was admiring himself in the shiny wrap.

Turns out… he was doing his job.

After a series of electrical alerts and errors popped up on the main screen, I took Blitzen to our local Tesla Service Center. Their findings made my stomach turn:

Rodent damage. Yep. RATS.

Now, we live out in the country—woods, pastures, horses, barn… the whole setup. But Blitzen sleeps inside a clean, enclosed garage alongside a Porsche, a Corvette, and a Grand Cherokee. None of them were bothered. Only the Cyberbeast.

My working theory? While the ICE vehicles are cold and uninviting at night, Blitzen is quietly charging with that warm hum—like a five-star rodent spa. And if the rumors about tasty wiring insulation are true… well… it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for tiny vandals with big appetites.

The Tesla team didn’t just replace a chewed wiring harness and send me on my merry way. They went above and beyond—disassembling the entire rear section, cleaning everything out, tracking down the culprits, and making sure no additional damage was lurking out of sight. When they showed me the photos, I had no idea how extensive the tear-down was or how much effort they put into getting Blitzen back to 100%.

So, today we had a bit of a Santa moment.

I presented the crew with a custom “Tesla’s Best Rat Catchers” trophy to thank them for their over-the-top service. They absolutely loved it—because they earned it.

This experience reminded me that when you own a Tesla, you’re not just buying a vehicle—you’re joining a family of owners and a herd of technicians who genuinely take pride in what they do.

Many, many thanks to Tesla Service and to the team who brought skill, persistence, and a big dose of care to save our beloved Cyberbeast.

(And yes… from now on, Santa listens to Thor.)

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[pricedm]

Bummer on them dang vermin. Really cool on the award you made the service team!

 

[REM]

Do you guys use "rat poison" products? they give the rats extreme dehydration and oftentimes they seek out this type of insulation thinking it's a water source.

 

[rtfitch]

Do you guys use "rat poison" products? they give the rats extreme dehydration and oftentimes they seek out this type of insulation thinking it's a water source.

No poison on these guys or on our farm as we don’t want to endanger our critters and the wildlife that shares our land. But now we have hired a special company that has a complex method for the rats to carry a compound back to their colony, in the trees not in the house, and as the rats clean themselves and others they ingest the compound that once activated in the rat it is neutralised so it will not affect an animal who may consume the corpse. The company also seals the house, once they feel the outside colony is neutralised and disinfects the garage and attics. Rays are almost blind and trail urine for a scent trail. We are currently loaded with peppermint balls in the frunk and bed with ultrasonic flashing rodent deflectors in both locations. Not sure how effective those measures are but we sure smell like a candy cane going down the road…Santa can hang with that.

 

[SlegMD]

Glad you got your rig back and had a good experience. Hope everything goes well with your little friends!

 

[rtfitch]

Glad you got your rig back and had a good experience. Hope everything goes well with your little friends!

It's about the team, they did a GREAT JOB...they are legendary and are now all deemed as official elves on Santa's team.

 

[Travis64]

Thats a little field mouse…rats are big

 

[rtfitch]

Thats a little field mouse…rats are big

Sorry, that is NOT a field mouse, it is a tree rat, common to this part of Texas and they caught not one, not two, but three...Santa has summered here for 20 years and witnessed many. One was a juvenile but it ain't no mouse.

 

[REM]

No poison on these guys or on our farm as we don’t want to endanger our critters and the wildlife that shares our land. But now we have hired a special company that has a complex method for the rats to carry a compound back to their colony, in the trees not in the house, and as the rats clean themselves and others they ingest the compound that once activated in the rat it is neutralised so it will not affect an animal who may consume the corpse. The company also seals the house, once they feel the outside colony is neutralised and disinfects the garage and attics. Rays are almost blind and trail urine for a scent trail. We are currently loaded with peppermint balls in the frunk and bed with ultrasonic flashing rodent deflectors in both locations. Not sure how effective those measures are but we sure smell like a candy cane going down the road…Santa can hang with that.

awesome! I trust you guys also have barn cats? they are the best!

 

[rtfitch]

awesome! I trust you guys also have barn cats? they are the best!

True, in other locations this has been a deterrent (and we took good care of the cat), but here we have an abundance of hawks and owls, which aide in the rodent thing, but also makes an outside cat's lifetime shrink rapidly. So Ms Claus's kitties stay inside...where they are safe. But thanks for your input.

 

[BeFamousVideo]

Like you I've dealt with lots of rats. A little research taught me all rats have front teeth that grow very fast. If rats don't grind down those growing teeth, they die. So they look for anything to grind down those teeth every night. A nice warm place to nest and plenty of wire to chew on is perfect.
I'm thinking now about setting traps in my CT sleigh stable too.

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