Marmots at trailheads

[MoldedbyNature]

Hunted lower elevation back east my whole life but somewhat new to western hunting (Have been out west three times in the past five years). Of the times ive been, ive never worried about marmots getting under my truck and eating up the wiring. Now i’m seeing a lot of talk on other forums, mostly the average hiker from the sounds of it, talking about extravagant fencing around the bottom of their vehicles. Am I being the naive easterner by not doing this or are they just being extra. For reference I’ve mostly hunted CO archery but will be hunting UT archery in the high country this season.

 

[Poser]

I buy a bag of these every 2 years. I store them in double ziplocks and keep the old ones as long as they maintain an odor. I put them in my engine bay, maybe 1 or 2 on my skid plate if I'm going to be out for 3+ days.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L236OMW?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

If you have a newer vehcile, its absolutely worth taking some precautions as you may have the soy based wire coating. Even if you don't, you never know when a warm engine may attract a rodent. I've asked mechanics around town before and they all say that they see marmot and rodent damage all of the time.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

A friend of mine went camping near Telluride and had a Marmot hitch-hike all the way back to his house in Boulder underneath his SUV. He managed to trap it in his garage and then drove up to the Moffat Tunnel and hiked it a few miles up the trail and released it. Probably created a new strain of Marmot.

 

[patagonialuke]

I've lived around marmots for 8 years (recreated around them for 12). I've never experienced or witnessed a marmot damage anything on a vehicle, but I've rarely left a vehicle in their domain for more than 3 days, and I've witnessed at least one hop out from my car's undercarriage when coming back from a day trip.

That said, repellent seems like a low-cost investment that could be worthwhile, especially since marmots aren't the only rodents in the alpine (mice chewed into my Rav4's foam engine cover at 9,000', potentially cause of my sloppy oil change spillage). Purely based on my own experiences, fencing seems excessive for most cases.

 

[43.6N]

Hunted lower elevation back east my whole life but somewhat new to western hunting (Have been out west three times in the past five years). Of the times ive been, ive never worried about marmots getting under my truck and eating up the wiring. Now i’m seeing a lot of talk on other forums, mostly the average hiker from the sounds of it, talking about extravagant fencing around the bottom of their vehicles. Am I being the naive easterner by not doing this or are they just being extra. For reference I’ve mostly hunted CO archery but will be hunting UT archery in the high country this season.

I wish I had a marmot problem

 

[Pony Soldier]

When I was on lookout for the USFS, we had a fence around my vehicle to control the porcupines which ate fan belts, tires and anything else you can imagine. On a project in southwest montana, we had a familly of marmots move into a cat D8 dozer. Was a bloody mess when one tried to escape through the fan when it was turning.

 

[MoldedbyNature]

I buy a bag of these every 2 years. I store them in double ziplocks and keep the old ones as long as they maintain an odor. I put them in my engine bay, maybe 1 or 2 on my skid plate if I'm going to be out for 3+ days.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L236OMW?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

If you have a newer vehcile, its absolutely worth taking some precautions as you may have the soy based wire coating. Even if you don't, you never know when a warm engine may attract a rodent. I've asked mechanics around town before and they all say that they see marmot and rodent damage all of the time.

Great idea. And a lot easier than fencing

 

[MoldedbyNature]

View attachment 1072235I wish I had a marmot problem

Yeah, thats the only thing Im not crazy about hunting UT in August

 

[cnelk]

Park on a poly tarp - they dont like that

 

[deadend88]

Two years ago they got my rear locker harness at 10k feet. I’m all for repellents now!

 

[Ross]

1 yr old forerunner. Mrs takes to store. Work being done at golf course and marmots displaced by work being done on their rock formation. She comes home. I’m sitting a computer and hear marmot chirp. My lab knows their chirp from hikes. He is barking. I go look and he is under frame in spare tire. I drop tire and he runs along frame into engine compartment. Get hose and game on. No luck he keeps chirping and running around Leave rig out. Think he is gone later. In case not Mrs takes rig back to store and sits for an hr. No chirping. Calls me, said come home. She starts engine, hears odd sound with engine…..get home no chirping. I look, hmmmm he gone Maybe. Mid summer 3 days later and 100 degrees. Odd smell in engine…RUTROoooooo. Take it to dealer. He hit something electrical in radiator compartment and Poof Marmot explosion 10k maggots and $750marmots suck around vehicles.

 

[gwtravis]

they are usually in bed for the winter by mid september where I hunt

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

We had a rig get torn up in just a day at a trailhead back when I was a kid. Two of them got into the engine compartment and raised hell. Never had heard of it before, and neither had anyone we knew. I might have to get whatever @Poser is using. Looks easier than a fence.

 

[Will_m]

1 yr old forerunner. Mrs takes to store. Work being done at golf course and marmots displaced by work being done on their rock formation. She comes home. I’m sitting a computer and hear marmot chirp. My lab knows their chirp from hikes. He is barking. I go look and he is under frame in spare tire. I drop tire and he runs along frame into engine compartment. Get hose and game on. No luck he keeps chirping and running around Leave rig out. Think he is gone later. In case not Mrs takes rig back to store and sits for an hr. No chirping. Calls me, said come home. She starts engine, hears odd sound with engine…..get home no chirping. I look, hmmmm he gone Maybe. Mid summer 3 days later and 100 degrees. Odd smell in engine…RUTROoooooo. Take it to dealer. He hit something electrical in radiator compartment and Poof Marmot explosion 10k maggots and $750marmots suck around vehicles.

The craziest part of this store is you got out of the dealer for only $750.

 

[ElkArcher918]

Years ago while bowhunting elk southcentral CO NF I got hit with packrats. Drove in late to a low elevation transition sage brush dispersed campsite so decided to sleep in the cab of my F-150. An hour later heard crunch-crunch-crunch under the front hood. First thought it was a skunk or some other small creature of the night. Couldn't sleep at all. Opened the hood of the truck and honked the horn probably half dozen times throughout the night. Noticed that some of the black felt insulation had been chewed up and dry grass nesting material had been deposited around the engine compartment. Finally spotted what was causing the damage, a stupid packrat. I ended up cutting my trip short concerned about potential damage to the wiring. Half way back home I stopped at a highway convenience store. Popped the hood to check for damage and in the corner of the engine compartment there was a beady-eyed packrat staring at me. I ended up using one of my field tipped practice arrows to coax him out of there. He ended up getting a 40 mile free-ride to the next town. Took the truck to my mechanic next day and luckily it was just felt insulation that was chewed. I've heard of alot remedies to prevent similar encounters but IMO relocating to a higher elevation campsite would be my suggestion.

 

[dtrkyman]

Peppermint oil works on many rodents. Had to store a tote full of gear in a guys barn, I knew rats had got at his wife’s vehicle in his driveway multiple times.

I put peppermint oil on cotton balls inside the tote and smeared some on the outside of tote, nothing touched it but my fly fishing gear smelled like peppermint oil all the next season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[limpet]

Not marmots but I’ve had lots of issues with ground squirrels in California. They ate a bunch of wires and made a nest in my ac box on an overnight trip. Since then it’s mothballs, peppermint oil and a pile of rat traps under my truck. I also camp at the trailhead in the summer and heat up my 17 barrel in the afternoons during scout trips. The mothballs and peppermint oil seems to keep them away but I’ve declared war at this point.

 

[LongWayAround]

Marmot climbs into truck's frame in Colorado, rides from Lake City to Broomfield

A marmot took an unexpected trip across Colorado this week after it climbed into the frame of a truck.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[RickH]

I've had pack rats and marmots get under the hood over the years but have been lucky I was never stranded. I've tried various repellents including moth balls and coyote piss. Here's a pic of the hood insulation chewed out. When I got back to the truck and banged on the hood a marmot came running out with the moth balls pushed aside. Another time I was truck camping in CO unit 76 on a one night scouting trip. I opened the hood the next morning and a pack rat had built a nest on top of the engine around the manifold. I saw him jump out of there too and luckily no damage. It was amazing how much he had stuffed in there in one night. Had I drove off with that nest I'm sure it would have started smoking and smelled real nice. This spray has worked for me so far better than anything other than a fence.

Amazon.com

 

[Braaap]

We had one adopt the engine bay on our truck as a home and it ate up the engine cover and I never trusted that truck again. It was a pain to remove the marmot. It took three of us and several hours.