Marmot Fencing Vehicles in CO?

[def90]

Peppermint oil is a great deterrent!

Why do I feel like the smell of peppermint might attract bears?

 

[Wrench]

Marmots ate the wiring harness out of one of our ex450's. Every wire in that harness of a zillion wires was the same insulation. I'd asked if I could shoot them, but got the cold shoulder.....then $20k later, I achieved viking conquistador status.

 

[dtrkyman]

Never thought about attracting bears? Stuff is intense I doubt they would like it but no idea?

Anyone want to test it?


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[cnelk]

Ive heard if you put a blue tarp under your vehicle and wrap the corners up on the tires helps to keep the critters away

 

[Nickofthewoods]

A friend of mine had a marmot hitch a ride in the undercarriage of his suv from a Trailhead near Telluride all the way back to his house in Boulder. He went into his garage after he got home and the marmot was there looking back at him. He captured it and took it up the hill and released it somewhere around 10,000 ft. It didn't do any damage to his vehicle though.

 

[backcountrymuzzy]

Saw a few cars at trailheads in the San Juan's a couple years ago and they had wrapped that orange construction safety fencing around their cars. I have only seen it in the San Juan's, but they do have lots of marmots there it seems

 

[dtrkyman]

I have left my rig parked a lot of places all over the country, I must not have soy wires, never a problem.

I know a guy who's wife had pack rats chew up hers on a VW of some sort.

 

[def90]

Never thought about attracting bears? Stuff is intense I doubt they would like it but no idea?

Anyone want to test it?


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I just remember working on a home in Breckenridge one time. I was installing the automation system and the AC wasn't working in a zone where it had been working previously. I determined that the control system was operating the thermostat and the thermostat was actuating the proper outputs so I went outside to look at the AC unit. When I got around the back of the house the AC unit was ripped away from the side of the house and there were obvious bear claw marks on the top and sides. As the builder and I were looking it over I saw a gum wrapper down in the crack between the house and the concrete pad that the AC unit was sitting on. Basically the bear smelled the gum wrapper and ripped the AC unit off the pad to try to get to it.

 

[rickjames80]

Rabbit got me one time and a squirrel another. Luckily both times were pretty minor. Rabbit got my mass air flow sensor so I was still able to drive, the other was the wiring for A/C. Not ideal, but way better than having a no start situation in the mountains

 

[PressurePoint]

I’ve never given much thought to fencing off my vehicle when parking at various high country trail heads throughout the summer and early Fall months and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a vehicle with a marmot wrap on it in the San Juans, but I’ve heard 2 stories so far this year of chewed wiring resulting in 5k+ worth of damage.

Anyone taking such precautions?

Big time, my hunting party here in Northern BC always use chicken wire around the truck cuz of the porcupines. New vehicle wiring has a coating that is made from a soybean biproduct that rodents love to nibble on.

 

[LostArra]

As mentioned earlier: Fresh Cab

Seems like voodoo but it works at least for squirrels mice and pack rats..

 

[Marmots]

I've had marmots chew hundreds of dollars of wiring out of a few of my trucks in NW MT. I tried dryer sheets, fox urine, bobcat urine, and lion urine. So far, the only solution that had any lasting effect was violence.

 

[RickH]

I had a pack rat take up residence under the hood on top of the block in SW CO. It was amazing how much it packed in there in one night, pine cones, mushrooms, sticks, grass. Luckily I looked under there the next morning. When I opened the hood I saw the rat run down on top of the tire. Would've sent him to rat heaven but he was way too fast. No wires were chewed on luckily, since I was in a place where getting a tow truck in would've been tough and real expensive. Since then I've been throwing a couple mothballs on the ground underneath and haven't had a problem.

 

[fmyth]

Peppermint oil is a great deterrent!

Bears are attracted to peppermint.

 

[feanor]

Had a woodrat in 2020 stay in there for 200 miles of driving. This year, two mice came into the engine compartment , but I was able to lure them out with peanuts and leave my hood open in the day to hopefully not give them a dark space to make a nest. Lucky probably. But since this is the second time, I need to figure out a spray or something to keep them out. It’s really annoying.

 

[rayporter]

the varmints will eat anything. i used to patch cables with leaks that the mice and rats had chewed holes in. they liked some manholes more than others.

 

[cuerro viejo]

I know in one case insurance did cover the damage. Not sure about the other.

Probably not much help on a truck but my mule pro ftx SxS I sprayed all the wires down with apple bitter spray for dogs. I haven’t had any issues since I started doing a spray down every 6 months.