Expensive cable biters

How to protect your car against pesky martens

(Bild: Huk Coburg)

You only realize it when it's too late: if the marten has bitten into cables and hoses with its sharp teeth, this can lead to engine damage in the worst case. You can only protect yourself to a limited extent.

Drivers currently have to expect more marten bites. The small rodents are particularly active at this time of year, shortly before mating and into late summer.

Cars are usually attacked by stone martens, the most common species in Europe. Vehicles in rural areas are not the only ones affected. As "cultural followers", the male animals also roam large areas in urban conurbations. Insurers therefore register vehicles as particularly affected if they are frequently parked in different locations or in the territories of different martens.

The engine compartment is usually affected
The nocturnal animals detect the scent of a competitor under the hood and try to drive it away by biting and scratching. This damages cables and pipes as well as insulation mats under the hood. In addition to the immediate damage, there is a risk of high consequential costs if, for example, the vehicle's expensive control electronics are affected by short circuits.

After a marten attack, often recognizable by paw prints on the sheet metal or traces in the engine compartment, the car and engine compartment should be thoroughly washed so that the scents disappear and no further animals are attracted. If the vehicle is damaged, the repair costs are covered by comprehensive insurance. However, comprehensive insurance often only covers direct damage caused by the animals, not consequential damage - for example, if a bitten cooling water hose causes engine damage due to overheating.

(Bild: ADAC)

Measures against car martens
Lantern parkers can take various measures, not all of which are promising. Experts consider electricity to be the most effective method. Small metal plates in the engine compartment give the animals a harmless electric shock. A fine-meshed grid placed under the parked car can also help.

Some car manufacturers offer the installation of special devices that seal off the engine compartment so that the animals can no longer get in.

Whether ultrasonic devices with very high-pitched sounds that are inaudible to humans can effectively scare martens away is now controversial. We do not recommend any scents such as dog hair, toilet stones, repellent sprays, scented bags or mothballs, as the predators very quickly become accustomed to foul odors.

The most expensive method is to cover pipes and cables with hard plastic tubes. However, this leaves axle boots, cooling hoses, insulating mats and other components unprotected.

Transparent plastic bottles filled with water and placed around the car to scare martens away by reflecting light may keep some away, but they have no place on public roads.