Some friends of ours recently headed to Mineral King, an absolute gem of a wilderness area in the southern-ish Sierra Nevada. They returned with tales of cars wrapped in tarps, which reminded us to remind you of the car wiring devouring marmots. -Ed.
Marmots will eat your car. Well, not all of your car, but your radiator hoses. Some types of wiring. Brake lines and hood insulation too. If you’ve ever done much hiking in the Mineral King area of Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park, you’ve maybe used a tarp to seal off your car’s delicious underbody or walked past cars parked at the trailhead and wondered why they were wrapped up like big Christmas presents. I’ve seen cars disabled by the side of the road there, felled by a chomped wiring harness, and once returned to my pickup to scatter a small phalanx of marmots gathered at the front of the truck, no doubt plotting a strategy to get past my flimsy tarp defense to feast upon the Michelin-starred radiator hoses inside. The Mineral King marmots are particularly enthusiastic about the delicious rubber and plastic bits of your engine, but most any marmot population has an insatiable craving for the most sensitive, chewy of car parts.
And while marmots are the most well-known engine ruiners, they’re not the only vandalizing rodents out there. I found this out the hard, and potentially very expensive way, earlier this month.
I’d spent a couple nights camped on private land near a section of the Los Padres National Forest outside northern Santa Barbara. Each night, my wife and I could hear rodents scurrying around the tiny unheated hut we slept in. Sounded like they were everywhere. The hut was even wrapped in chicken wire to keep the little beasties from infecting the sleeping area with their little rodent droppings and germs and general presence. Still, they came in waves, throwing themselves at the wooden walls and climbing to the roof above as if trying to claw their way through in a mindless frenzy.
Or that’s how it sounded anyway.
After a couple lovely days in a still wild bit of Southern/Central California, we drove north to our San Francisco home, and parked our truck in the same rodent-free garage it’s been parked in since the day we bought it. While unpacking our gear from the bed, I paused, convinced I heard a scurrying noise from the front of the truck. I stood still for a moment, listening to a definite pitter patter noise, but dismissed it as an aural trick, a hangover from hearing scampering field rats the previous nights. Or maybe a cooling exhaust manifold.
Marmot-proofed car:
The next morning, however, I noticed rodent droppings scattered under the truck. Then I turned over the ignition and the check engine light glowed from the gauge cluster. Alarmed, and still with a sliver of warranty left, I headed glumly to the dealer.
A week later I had my truck back. A rodent of some variety—the technicians, sadly, were unable to identify the species—had eaten my knock sensor wiring harness. The cost to fix: $4,500. That’s four thousand five hundred American dollars. It took 19 hours of labor to take half the motor apart to get to the necessary goodies. They found rodent droppings. They showed me pictures of gnawed-upon wires. I called my insurance company and discovered this was somehow covered by my policy. I threw down some mousetraps in the garage but they turned up nothing. I swept up the droppings and no more appeared. This appeared to have been a one-time offender.
Because my insurance was fitting the bill, I chose to not flip out in a murderous rage. Instead I decided to be charmed by the idea of a Southern California vermin hitching a ride north, snacking on some delicious wiring, then striking off into the big city.
As it turns out, in the past decade or so, a great deal of vehicle manufacturers have begun using soy-based wire coatings which rodents find irresistible. People starting their cars to discover rodent-caused bad wiring or leaking hoses is more common than I’d realized. Especially in rural areas. If you’re parked in a zone with lots of vermin-y critters running around, be aware that they may try to snack on your expensive car parts.
I checked in with the folks at the Overland Journal and to some trusted 4WD forums to see what people are doing to ward off the toothy danger. Here’s what they suggested:
• Little electronic sonic-wave emitting device that hooks up to your battery. Rats hate the sound and stay away.
• Nylon stocking filled with mothballs stuffed into a safe spot in the engine compartment.
• Same deal as above, but with fabric softener sheets
• Wipe kerosene on the tires to keep rodents from climbing them
• Travel with a cat
• If parked for a long time in marmot-infested areas, the tarp trick is an absolute must.
As for me, my engine bay now is one-half engine, one-half dryer sheets and mothball storage. I have another trip this weekend, and I’m not leaving anything to chance.
this is totally insane! who would expect these critters to eat the rubber hoses and wires. the tarp trick seems like a really good idea.
Why does a tarp work? Can’t they eat it too?
If it tastes like soy, like the soy-based coating wires, then yes. 🙂
I thought it was the antifreeze they are after
This is really common near us. When we go hiking to the Kokanee Glacier near Nelson, BC there are rolls of chicken wire at the trail head to wrap around your car to prevent your brake lines from being chewed on by the local rodents along with signs warning of this. It’s a pretty steep road to this trail head so I couldn’t imagine losing my brakes on it.
We also had a marmot hitchhiker with us from northeast WA to our home in Spokane. We couldn’t get him out before we left and even tried bear spray to get him out from the undercarriage of our truck. It just pissed him off. We got home and he was still there because we could hear him chirping. After about a day he finally ran off into the woods behind our house. Thankfully nothing much happened to the truck. We have some chicken wire to take with us now.
Right. Years ago we lived in the west Kootenays. Some treeplanting camps were pestered with porcupine(s) that would chew on rubber: tires, engine belts and such. Many vehicles, including mine weren’t touched.
Yep, Porcupine hazards are real here in the Koots and indeed in the Yukon and points north. Chicken wire or better is needed for them, the tarps won’t work. They love brake hoses and tires by all accounts. I don’t worry for day hikes but overnights I’m very cautious about where I park. Having no brakes 20 km up some partially washed out FSR access road is nothing I want to deal with. But at least with my old jeep I don’t have to worry about edible soy coatings
I used to work in the Comcast call center in LA. Our coaxial cable was had that soy coating as well and would have issues of peoples dogs loving you eat it. Although eating it while riding near a running engine? Man, that is a hardcore soy lover.
Tarp trick???
Fruit mice did $8000.00 damage to my new Toyota Tacoma. Had no idea they existed. I had it fixed and gave it to my grandson for college. I have fruit trees everywhere and it’s hard for me to kill them, so I catch them live one at a time. I then release them to a person I dislike.
Suburban rats in North Seattle ate a chunk of the wiring harness in my ’15 F-150 to the tune of about $3,500. Surprisingly and fortunately mine was covered by insurance too. Although I was truck-less for 3 weeks. When the engine is warm it smells like I’m drying laundry that was soaked in WD40 …. they say it repels critters too.
This happened to me in Montezuma Basin near Aspen while hiking Castle Peak. Marmots chewed wires that allow the transmission to send signals to the computer in my Jeep Wrangler. So the check engine light was on and my Jeep was in limp mode (wouldn’t shift higher than first gear) all the way to Aspen. Luckily the mechanic inquired about where we had been in the Jeep and had seen this many times before. He was able to find the issue in a few hours. The error code from the computer was a communication error from the transmission so that clued him into the wiring. After about 3 hours and $300 later he had the wires all spliced back together and we could get onto our drive back to Edwards. It was a bad experience but I’ve heard of these stories taking a lot more time and money to deal with like the author’s. I used to think they were kinda cute.
We`ve had squirells chew through the wiring harness of our Xterra. The solution I came up with was mixing a few things like Daves insanity sauce and some habanero peppers and chili oil, mixed it into a paste, and slathered it onto the length of the wiring harness.
I thinned the rest out and put it into a spray bottle and coated the rest this way.
Worked like a charm, they managed to attack our wiring twice before I tried this, hasn`t happened since.
This is such a great idea. Out of curiosity, did you put a warning about all the chili paste somewhere a mechanic might see it? I guess they wear gloves anyway, so maybe it doesn’t matter.
Moth balls are made of Naphtha a carcinogen , you might want to try the Sonic unit .
Have you ever smelled moth balls? How did you get your nose between his tiny legs?
I love marmots (strange, I know) but I didn’t realize they eat car parts. I have heard of problems with porcupines at some trailheads and campgrounds so I guess it makes sense. I suppose that’s why they are viewed as pests in some areas. Alas, my admiration for them will endure, at least until I suffer a $4500 bill from their snacking. 😉 Now I won’t complain that I have to travel to see them. Thanks for sharing!
Sonic does not work for anything, except it makes the mfg filthy fn rich
Yep. Saw it at Mineral King. And cars wrapped in chicken wire! We just parked down by the heavily trafficed Ranger Station and hiked the extra mile to the trail head.
We did the same at the same location, worked for us
Mice do this too in Minnesota. I’ve had them in our RV and then later in my car engine and filters. Nothing disabled enough to stall vehicles but I dryer sheet everything now. I might add the car was in the garage. I park outside now but still with dryer sheets.
A good friend had a groundhog take up redence under the hood of his Subie here in MA. The sucker would not leave, it took a lot of, er, persuasion to get him/her to move out.
I store a car in a barn over the winter and use dryer sheets for the mice. Seems to work.
Man, those tarps are something else.
Sorry to be that guy, but… to “foot the bill” means to pay for; to “fit the bill” means to be suitable to a particular job or purpose.
Grammer police out.
Grammar…hate to be that guy.
We are planning a trip in June and YES, the rangers were very serious about the tarp situation when I called and inquired! We are flying out from the east coast on a two-week journey. They stated to go to Wal-Mart and buy a tarp and ropes. My thought is that with the THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS throughout the year, I’m sure many of them not local, isn’t this a lot of waste!!! We certainly are not going to fly back with a super large tarp! Isn’t there someone or someplace, even a guy in his front yard that is selling used tarps for $10 close by or a thrift shop close by that is selling these suckers? For sure all of the campers/tourists aren’t just throwing tarps away after one or a few uses.
I would love some local suggestions if you have any. Peace
I work at a school sharing a border with BLM. In the last four weeks, we have had two school vans dismantled as well as our personal SUVs attacked. They are not cute and carry some major diseases including bubonic plague.
My daughter lives in Germany and had the same problem. A company installed a system that will shock them if they climb into the engine compartment. Not sure what it does to the marmots, but hoping it works for her
Do the tarps work??!!
We just returned from our trip out West and to Sequoia and Kings Canyon. We did not have to worry about marmots in the area that we were in, Stony Creek Campground on the border b/t Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks, Sequoia National Forest Area. (hwy 198, 245, & 180). We were very worried about the prospect of marmots for months leading up to our trip, but not a single ranger or animal sign was wary of the marmots in our area. High alert for bears though…everywhere you go! We didn’t see a single car in our area with tarps or any other type of marmot deterrent. The only information I could read about marmots was in the Mineral King area which is further southeast and I believe a little more remote. FYI, if you plan on driving into the park at the west Foothills Visitor Center, and want to bring a tarp for your vehicle, be sure to buy it beforehand as we did not pass anything like a WalMart, outdoor, or hardware store anywhere close by. Other than orange groves, nut trees, and thousands of acres of grapes along the way to the Foothills entrance, there are only very small remote gas stations and convienence stores.
It was an absolutely beautiful drive and can’t wait to return!
That’s just our experience! June 1-14, 2018
Pack (Wood) Rats are also notorious in high desert southwest. Interestingly signage at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on-the-border with Mexico near Aho, AZ recommends leaving car, truck and RV hoods at least partially raised overnight lest you wake up to a full blown nest and critical wire snacking.
Several years ago a motorhome descending the switchbacks from Fish Lake, UT lost its brakes and careened off the roadway. The sheriff determined the brake lines had been cut and opened a criminal investigation. After months of effort and similar occurrences it was determined a porcupine was chewing through the brake lines. It liked the taste of brake fluid.
So what does a marmot eat on an electric car? Are the juicy bits all the same?
In NZ Kea (mountain residing parrot) like car aerials and the rubber seals around d car windows and the top of my brothers ski boot liner.
Cute, cheeky, hungry
I know this thought is crazy, but… Has anyone ever contacted a vehicle manufacturer and inquired about them using something other than a soy based product to be used in the manufacture of wire insulation?
Ugh….
So I have two cars. A 2018 BMW 530e (a plug-in hybrid) and a 2017 Chevy Tahoe.
Today we had to go somewhere. Barely got out of the driveway and the alerts went off on the BMW on both the dash and the screen. Something about the drivetrain and the chassis. The steering wheel was also stiff so there’s something going on with the automatic steering. The emergency brake light was also lit up when it wasn’t engaged. We pulled back into the driveway and arranged for a tow truck to pick it up tomorrow morning and take it to the dealership.
About an hour ago I opened up the hood to the Tahoe because I got an alert that the washer fluid was empty. The hood is opened up and there’s a huge rat nest in the center of the engine. I cleaned that out and washed out a bunch of urine and droppings and then filled the washer fluid. I turned on the wipers and the fluid didn’t come out. I opened the door and noticed all the wiper fluid was dripping out and all over the ground. I looked closer at the lines and sure enough a rodent had completely chewed through the line. Grrrr.
Since we had an issue with the BMW earlier I had my husband come out and check it out. He popped the hood and I lifted it and there was a rat….literally staring right back at me. It was eating some sort of fruit from a nearby tree. My husband ran and got his BB gun and shot at it. He thinks it misfired because he didn’t hear any pings or ricocheting of a BB.
So the rat is missing, it ran off. But now we have two cars with issues.
I’m really annoyed. We’ve lived here for over 7 years and never had a problem with rats in our cars. I’m worried about a possible bill for rodent damage on the BMW. This really sucks.
What an awesome read!!!!
Did the moth balls and drier sheets work? I am heading down to Sequoia and Kings Canyon area in a few weeks, need intel!
Yeah, but I also am pretty sure the mouse that ate up my wiring hitched a ride from our campsite and shoved off after his wire meal. Definitely do the tarp thing.
I bought a new Honda Fit at a February Presidents Day sale. Living in a condo complex, we park outdoors. Squirrels chewed into my wiring harness before Spring even arrived. Insurance covered the $1700 replacement, but not something you want to see happen to a new car. I’ve read that the housings of many automotive wires are made of a soy based rubber like compound which rodents relish. They might as well coat the wires with peanut butter.
Just like rodents, you have to keep leaks away from your RV. If you are not careful, water leaks can destroy the walls, the flooring, the electronics, and more in your RV. RV Roof Magic is one of the best and simplest preventative measures you can do to protect your RV from leaks.
Thanks for the heads-up! What size of tarp did peeps use for Subarus? I have a 1997 Outback.
Marmots in Mineral King, back packed in and marmots were everywhere. Tarp around car seemed to work or roll of chicken wire.
I appreciate the tips on marmot proofing a vehicle and will definitely be prepared next time. Meanwhile, I finally gave up trying to evict the thing and drove from Silverton to Durango (CO) with my unwanted passenger yesterday. More prodding and poking when I got home. Finally left the car with the hood open overnight hoping the varmint would sneak away under cover if darkness. Sad to report that there’s still an unusual chirping noise coming from under the hood.
Drove into town this afternoon so no noticeable damage so far. Would really like to know how to persuade him to leave before that happens.