hi all,
Any idea why this happens? pictures are attached.
this is a 3 years old car (diesel), during which was mostly parked outside, in blue zone. Im more thinking this was maybe a mice or sthg similar as I dont see any burn image due to engine impact.
appreciate your thoughts/experience.
thanks
Traditionally it would be a
stone marten .
Check cables as they like to gnaw on them. Your cacso insurance might cover "Marderschaden".
The very first thing you must do is check your cables! They like brake lines, spark plug lines. Check for leaks under your vehicle.
No joke! These nasty barstewards shut down the LHC at Cern by gnawing through high energy cables. It didn’t survive but the LHC was shut down for a month.
It's the male Marders that gnaw things to mark their territory...apparently rubber fittings in cars are just easy to bite; it's not that they are ingesting the stuff. They cause incredible damage! We have professionally installed Marder-repellant systems in the one car we park outside.
In March at our house in AT, a female gnawed a great hole through our under-roof (soffit), accessing it by standing on a huge beam. In March the females look for places to have their kits, and our attic was a favourite nesting place before we bought the house. One day I pounded on the walls just behind where I thought she had holed up, and she jumped out her gnawed hole, whereupon we sealed it up. If they nest before you've found them, you are stuck with them until October, when the kits are independent and the whole family moves out. They are a protected species.
Yes, but you can hire an “exterminator” who will put a evil smelling cloth soaked with something the fouines (fr) hate. They will leave, by which you’ve got a week to seal the hole. We had to do this last autumn.
And the sound of them mating ... sounds like the mongol hoards raping and pilaging ...
Oh, that's true. Fouines mate in August, and on warm summer nights we can hear their loud shrieks and growls in the lane and around the garden. Far worse than cats. Interestingly, the female doesn't give birth until the following March/April. She and the male separate and forage through the winter, and then she looks (still alone) for a place to kit. Lord help them if they try an assault on our roof next year!
This happened to my car recently. The garage found similar Marder damage (shredded sound damping mat and gnawed cables) during a service and called me and pointed out that it might be covered by my car insurance. They sent me the pictures with the bill (Fr. 460-) , which they separated out from the regular service charge. I called the insurance company and they confirmed I was covered and that there would be no loss of bonus. I scanned the pictures and the bill and emailed the insurance company which paid the garage directly.