So you thought your car is safe out there on your favorite parking spot? You say its covered, locked and has an alarm?
Well it may not be as safe as you would hope …
Martens, adorable little ferret looking animals call Germany their home, and while usually harmless to humans, they will defend their territory fiercely. Sometimes during long summer nights you can hear them growl and fight… they have very creepy sounds.
Either way once one of your friendly neighborhood marten noticed that another marten has been in or around his territory (including your car… which is really his… you just didn’t know it) they get quite mad and will tear and bite anything to shreds that has been marked by a strange marten including your brake lines or sparkplug cables, who needs those anyways…?
The Marten lives in attics, sheds or wherever it can find a spot and especially during cold autumn nights there is nothing better than a nice preheated motor in a protected car.
There are a bunch of cheap old wife’s tips and remedies to get rid of them. While not always a permanent solution they can help.
- Blue Toilet stones, the kind you hang inside the bowl, hang them under the hood of your car… the Martens don’t seem to like the smell
- Old socks filled with dog hair, hang them under your hood …again the smell is supposed to keep it away
- Ultrasound … you can buy them at car part stores, Martens don’t care much for the noise it makes
- Mothballs under your hood… I wouldn’t like that smell either
- Anti-Marten sprays … supposed to keep the marten away with a scent he doesn’t like
All of the above may work temporary but are not guaranteed. One of the more successful helps are plastic grid or wire mesh fence you place under your car. Martens don’t like to step on things they don’t know so they will ovoid your car, at least until they figure out that the fence won’t hurt them.
There are only 2 ways to rid your car of the pesky critters for good, one is electroshocks. There are a few companies in Germany that sell metal plates that you stick or screw under your motor block. Those plates will give out small electric shocks that are not very popular among the Marten community. Another cheaper way to “marten proof” your car is to encase all and every wire and cable with hard plastic tubing. It’s quite work intense, but well worth it in the end.