How can i tell if i have a marten problem??
In this article you will learn in an entertaining way more about the marten problem and how you can clearly recognize if you are affected. If you don't want to read the entire article, just scroll to the bottom to learn the three identifying features in a nutshell. If you would also like to know whether it is worthwhile for you to reduce your risk of marten damage, I recommend our marten damage risk test.
Monday morning shortly before seven. Klaus M. rushes out of the house, ties his tie around his neck while running and abruptly stops on the street. Where did he park his car last night? Always this trouble with the parking lot. Maybe he should look for a garage after all. He takes a deep breath. Now he remembers: his car is around the corner, just opposite the green area. Klaus is relieved and also a bit proud when he finds the red station wagon. Squeezed it into the only space that was even available. Made to measure. Absolutely perfect. Klaus M. drops into the driver's seat and turns the ignition key. The car is mucking about. Klaus tries again. But the engine won't start. Klaus is getting nervous. At eight o'clock his boss has scheduled an important meeting. He must not miss this under any circumstances. Klaus pats the dashboard and talks to his car like a sick horse. But in vain. The cart does not get off the ground. Klaus gets out and gasps for air. Only now he discovers paw prints on the car roof and on the engine hood. Apparently a marten has been feasting on his car at night.
It started in Winterthur, Switzerland
In 1977, the gendarmerie in Winterthur, Switzerland, began to receive more and more charges against unknown persons. Some crazy person damaged cars. Strangely enough, it did not target the bodywork but the interior of the car. He tore ignition cables, shredded insulation materials and destroyed the cooling hoses. The unknown person seemed to be a rubber fetishist and he apparently struck indiscriminately. In any case, not only European and Japanese small cars were affected by its destructiveness, but also expensive noble brands. So no one was safe from his attacks. Not to think if he also destroyed brake hoses and the person concerned did not notice in time.
The sinister enemy seemed to be active with preference in the darkness. One of the police officers lay in wait for several nights. And then he saw him: he was slim, wore a gray-brown fur and had a conspicuous white spot on his chest. Silently he sneaked up to one of the cars he had already damaged before and then this scoundrel dared to crawl into the engine compartment as well! The policeman was also a game warden and he knew these fellows well. The madman who destroyed hoses and cables was not a man, but a marten. A stone marten, to be exact.
The desire of individual martens for rubber apparently had an infectious effect on other animals of this species. From Winterthur, the fad spread first to the rest of Switzerland and eventually to Austria and southern Germany as well. In the mid-eighties, damage to cars caused by marten browsing was still completely unknown north of the Main River. A few years later, however, more and more drivers in these regions also operated their starter in vain in the morning. At times, garages even experienced supply bottlenecks as demand for the necessary spare parts ran rampant.
60 million euros by marten damage annually
Meanwhile, no one is safe from the little fiends anymore. Nationwide, the genus "Martes foina," the scientific name for the stone marten, damages about 200.000 cars. If you add up the repair costs in the period mentioned, you quickly arrive at a total sum of over 60 million euros. Not a small amount, especially since many car insurances do not cover repair costs of marten bites and their consequential damages. This does not include damage to electric cars, which are not yet included in the statistics. But this is where the damage really hits home. Because the posh little animal does not even shy away from the thumb-thick 400 volt cables. This is not dangerous, neither for humans nor for martens. However, for safety reasons, high-voltage cables may not simply be repaired, but must be completely replaced. That quickly adds up to a few thousand euros due to marten damage.
The marten is neither perverse nor does it want to annoy humans. His appetite for cable and co. is not related to lack of food either. The reasons, as experts have discovered through years of research, lie much deeper. The marten is very curious. It explores everything with its mouth and then decides whether something was tasty to it or not. But that alone is not enough. Mating season begins at the end of June. Then the males are hard at work staking out their large territory against possible rivals. Animals use their urine for this purpose. At the same time, urine and marten droppings have a distinctly penetrating odor. The car is now also part of the marten's territory. The animals use it as a hiding place, as a sleeping place and sometimes also as a dining room. Car drivers should inspect the engine compartment more often. Sometimes there are buns, eggs, dead birds and hair, an unmistakable sign that a marten has been visiting. If the male dog notices that another male has been in his territory, he attacks ignition cables and cooling hoses in a blind rage. Cars that are frequently parked in different places are more often affected by marten damage. Because the likelihood of them entering different precincts is much higher.
Who has the marten in the house or car, has a problem
However, martens use not only their urine to mark out their territory, but also their droppings. The animals like to set them down in front of house doors, on stairs and on garden paths. "This is where I live" is what he is trying to say, and at this point at the latest you should consider whether you are still the master of your own home. Once the marten has taken up residence in your home, costly renovations may become necessary in the worst case scenario. Because the substances of feces and urine it leaves behind are sharp and corrosive. Not to mention the smell of carrion that spreads and also attracts other unwanted animals when the marten eats its prey in your home.
Martens prefer to settle in the attic. There nocturnal animals often steal the sleep of the occupants of the house, especially when they pursue their play instinct. But even during the day, you can often hear scratching and clattering noises, which suggest that an unwanted lodger has taken up residence in your home. Scratch marks on trellises or the gutter as well as tufts of hair are also an alarm sign.
Stone martens give birth to 3-4 young every year. Therefore, you should start looking for traces early on and check whether you can discover evidence of a marten's visit in the house, outbuildings, garden or car.
These three indications point to a marten problem to be taken first:
1. Marten droppings in the garden and around the house
2. Noise on the roof and in the attic at night (In mating season, if necessary. also loud quickening to hear)
3. Marten tracks on the car
As everywhere applies: danger recognized, danger averted. Here's how you can take action in time to get rid of the unwanted guest. The car is best protected with a so-called marten deterrent and house and garden are very well protected with a high-quality ultrasonic device. In addition, an anti-marten spray supports both devices by an, for the marten, intense and unpleasant smell.