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mtnmaneric wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:03 pm A few weekends ago, my buddy had 2 marmots destroy wiring in his truck while at the Grizzly Gulch trailhead in the San Juans.

Probably heading down there soon. Was there a few years ago and no issue, but I'll be wrapping my car in plastic snow fence probably this time around. Not worth it to have the critters chomp away. Good (in so many words) to know they're still an issue there... Though it'll be interesting getting in and out of my car when it's wrapped!

Beware of Mongolian marmots. The carry bubonic plague.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/asia/chi ... index.html

TomPierce wrote: ↑Thu Jun 25, 2020 1:21 pm Has anyone who had marmot problems also had full skid plates (radiator to past the transaxle? Just curious, I wonder if I'm still at risk.

I have never had an issue with anything chewing wires, but after reading WildWanderer's Carson trip report, I was a bit paranoid. Parked at Molas Lake trailhead 2 weeks ago and heard a chirp underneath the car. Come to find a marmot between the engine and my RCI full skid plate. I don't know how it fit in there, but he had squished himself in somehow. Not sure if it had just jumped in or if I had picked it up in Yankee Boy where I had camped for 2 nights. Spent a half an hour poking at it with poles to try and get it out, finally just gave up and figured it would be pissed enough just to leave on its own after our backpack trip. Seems like I got lucky and it did leave on its own. Only some wire wrap chewed up.

Squirrels chewed up some wiring on my wife's car when we were in college. Little bastards did some hefty damage.

I saw a car at the Willow Creek TH this weekend with a bottle of bleach surrounded by a plastic grocery bag underneath their car. There was a TH report of a bear breaking into cars. Has anyone else done this?

That's...interesting. Can't say I've heard of or seen that method. Not sure how I feel about bleach like that, especially if it were to be spilled everywhere... what does that do for the environment around? Nothing good. For bears I think as long as you have food, food wrappers, water bottles, coolers, etc. covered up you should be good. Lock the car too as some bears have become savvy and know how to open doors...

At Grizzly Gulch this last weekend I was the one and only car wrapped in snow fencing. Looks stupid, but I'm all for it and paranoid... especially after hearing from one person he had something under his car the prior week and another that had something chew through something on their car as well.

E_A_Marcus_949 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 11:57 am That's...interesting. Can't say I've heard of or seen that method. Not sure how I feel about bleach like that, especially if it were to be spilled everywhere... what does that do for the environment around? Nothing good. For bears I think as long as you have food, food wrappers, water bottles, coolers, etc. covered up you should be good. Lock the car too as some bears have become savvy and know how to open doors...

At Grizzly Gulch this last weekend I was the one and only car wrapped in snow fencing. Looks stupid, but I'm all for it and paranoid... especially after hearing from one person he had something under his car the prior week and another that had something chew through something on their car as well.

What kind of fencing do you have - just whatever comes up on an Amazon search or a particular kind? - and do you have to put something between it and your vehicle to prevent scratching? I'm going to the Lake City area next month and want to get prepared after taking my chances the last two times I was there.

After reading about others that use it and their process, I went with something like this https://smile.amazon.com/Tenax-2A060006 ... t=1&sr=8-4

Since it's plastic it doesn't scratch your car. Why I opted not to use chicken wire I have. I folded it under and used rocks to hold it down; used zip ties (rope would work) to hold it up on door handles, etc.



Edit: Yeah yeah I'm part of the Suby crowd. Don't dis the Forester.

E_A_Marcus_949 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:15 pm After reading about others that use it and their process, I went with something like this https://smile.amazon.com/Tenax-2A060006 ... t=1&sr=8-4

Since it's plastic it doesn't scratch your car. Why I opted not to use chicken wire I have. I folded it under and used rocks to hold it down; used zip ties (rope would work) to hold it up on door handles, etc.



Edit: Yeah yeah I'm part of the Suby crowd. Don't dis the Forester.

Thanks! Exactly the info/pics I was looking for.

We’ve camped at American Basin twice and didn’t have any issues, but after my husband read some of these posts we decided to do it this time. We used green snow fencing (I could only find a 100’ x 4’ section on Amazon at the time). We could’ve cut it but decided to wrap it around twice for extra protection and used binder clips to secure it, and also wrapped it around the mirrors for stability. To access the vehicle, we closed the back hatch over the fencing and were able to get into the car through the back. It worked well, and was definitely of interest to the people coming by. $25 for fencing beats being stranded and getting towed out for $1k!

How is it the marmots and porkies don't chew through the plastic? They certainly chew through any wire covers with ease. Having to face wire repair both with marmots and field mice (common hazard for ranchers and farmers), I'd like to know more about the=is inexpensice method.

docjohn wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 7:22 pm How is it the marmots and porkies don't chew through the plastic? They certainly chew through any wire covers with ease. Having to face wire repair both with marmots and field mice (common hazard for ranchers and farmers), I'd like to know more about the=is inexpensice method.

They are interested in the wiring, but this is a solid deterrent. It's not like they are rabid and will stop at nothing to get under your car. They lose interest pretty quickly and will go check out something else. (Or someone else's car)

-Ryan