Have a marmot in your engine? It's more common than you might think
Urban wildlife specialist says he gets 2-3 calls a week
When Williams Lake's Devin Rushton saw a marmot scamper into the undercarriage of her 2007 Mazda last week, she immediately ran out to try to get the critter away from the vehicle.
That's because this is not the first time she has had one under her hood.
The first time was last July.
At the time, the rodent had snuck up into her engine, and she spent more than an hour and a half trying to coax and scare it out of the engine compartment.
"I was like poking him with a stick, like, 'Come on buddy, get out, get out,' and nothing," she told Daybreak Kamloops host Doug Herbert.
WATCH | Marmot sits in engine compartment of Williams Lake car:
She even called her dad to help with the rodent's removal.
Eventually, after many unsuccessful attempts to dislodge it, the marmot ended up running away in a quiet moment.
The second time around, the marmot left Rushton's vehicle after a few minutes, but it turns out her experience isn't all that unusual.
Urban wildlife specialist and Wise Wildlife Control Service owner Pete Wise said he's averaging two to three calls a week from people in the Interior who have a marmot in their vehicles.
"It happens a lot."
According to Wildsafe B.C., there are four species in BC: the hoary marmot, the yellow-bellied marmot, the critically endangered Vancouver Island marmot and the woodchuck.
Yellow-bellied marmots have significant populations in the Interior of B.C. Because of that, it's one of the rodent species that most often run into human-wildlife conflict because their ranges overlap with cities.
Wise said they are looking for summer dens and end up in vehicles as a temporary refuge when they are looking around for feeding and denning sites.
"I've seen up to $7,000 worth of damage done in the vehicles, in particular one BMW where the Marmot got in there and chewed the wiring harness," said Wise.
He said the least effective thing people can do to remove the rodent is to bother them.
"Open your hood and leave it open, and then the one thing that you don't wanna do is keep harassing them."
Wise said people should keep pets and children away, and eventually, the rodent will leave when the wind blows through vehicles.
"They don't like that. They'll come down, and they'll leave."
He said marmots have a strong bite and does not recommend people try to remove the rodent themselves.
Marmot travel poses potential risks
Beyond the risk of vehicle damage, marmots in vehicles can also lead to the movement of rodents around the province.
The Marmot Recovery Foundation on Vancouver Island has already seen four yellow-bellied marmots show up — likely travelling from the Interior over to the island in vehicles.
"We have seen them under the hoods of vehicles … in association with building supplies," said the foundation's captive breeding co-ordinator and project veterinarian Malcolm McAdie.
He says this poses a risk to the critically endangered marmots on the Island because they could bring disease or interbreed.
"We don't want to have yellow-bellied marmots become established here on the Island."
McAdie suggests people check their vehicles if they hear any unusual noise coming from under the hood just to ensure there are no unwanted passengers.
Rushton has another piece of advice: make sure you have something to prevent animals from getting into the engine compartment. She thinks her car has had repeated problems because of the fact that she doesn't have a skid plate, so the rodents can easily get into the undercarriage.
Her plan to prevent future marmot-related incidents — get a skid plate or get rid of the car.
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