No happy ending - the liaison between car and marten

Damage to the car is always annoying. Especially if you could have avoided it. But not everyone expects a visit from a marten from home. Most damage caused by martens occurs between April and June. Rubber and plastic parts such as ignition cables, coolant and windshield water hoses, power lines and their insulation, and insulating mats are particularly frequently affected. The biting frenzy in martens is mostly caused by the scent of a conspecific, which has left its scent marks in the same motor vehicle. But also the natural play instinct of the animals can lead to damages. If you want to avoid marten damage, you can help yourself with various means.

Not everything is effective
Home remedies, such as laying out dog and cat hair, various sprays and pastes show little effectiveness. Martens are hardly impressed by this, as the smell usually dissipates much too quickly. To make the smell of the marten or that of his fellow marten disappear, an engine wash can help. However, this alone is usually not enough. Additional measures should be taken to repel martens in the long term.

Those looking for alternatives to less effective home remedies might find substitutes in cable sheathing. These protective hoses are made of hard plastic and can be bitten by martens only with difficulty. However, it is not possible to protect all cables with these hoses, and it is also difficult to protect axle boots, which are often bitten, with this method. Another option is to retrofit an engine compartment bulkhead to prevent the marten from entering in the first place. Some manufacturers also offer such bulkheads as optional equipment. However, since martens are nimble and clever, it can still happen that they find a way into the engine compartment.

From ultrasound to electric shock
Martens belong to the family of canine predators. Not only are they sensitive to odors, but these animals are also susceptible to sounds. For this reason, placing an ultrasonic device in the engine compartment can help keep the animals away from the car. For humans, the frequencies emitted are outside the audible range and installation requires few tools and little effort. However, martens may get used to the sounds and eventually ignore them. A built-in electric shock is more effective. This works on the principle of a pasture fence and gives light electric shocks to the marten when touched. The shocks do not harm the animal, but frighten it, whereupon most martens seek the distance. The installation of these devices should ideally be carried out by a workshop and is overall one of the more expensive but at the same time most effective variants.