Electric fencing against Marmotpocalypse?

[GrumpyBadger]

As I face a couple of weeks in the Grumpy Mobile in the high country, I am stewing on a problem I had several times last summer: marmots crawling under the van whilst camped.

I was thinking about wrapping the van in some type of farm / garden fencing around the wheels and up to the rockers, though that seems like it would be a PITA and could scratch the paint as the wind blows it around. But then I thought of bear fences from a post here a few weeks ago, and took the idea on to an electric garden fence. They make relatively small solar chargers made to power to a few miles of strand to keep rodents, and other small animals out of a garden, pasture, etc.

Example: Zareba® 3 Mile Solar Charger, Model # ESP3M-Z

Anyone familiar with these kinds of fences and have any wisdom for this application? Or is it completely asinine?

Any threads somewhere on here that I missed in my search?

Appreciate any wisdom...

[arctictraveller]

I've never heard of anyone having problems with Marmots, but I assure you that an electric fence will work. They work fine for bears too, just be really careful when you go outside in the middle of the night to pee.

[GrumpyBadger]

I couldn't keep the little boogers away from my van. As soon as I parked they literally materialized out of the rocks and came to investigate. Had the same problem in 4 separate camp stops near tree line on the same trip... and one little guy hung on under there for the better part of 50 miles from above St. Elmo down to Salida until I stopped for gas.

As I said in a previous post, in all my years of pickup truck camping in the high country, I never had a problem like I've had with the van.

I'd like to try to avoid that again, and especially avoid damage from their inevitable chewing!

[larrie]

It looks like an interesting idea. How are you going to handle the ground rods. According to the diagram on the site you will need three months f them driven six feet into the ground. They will not be easy to extract.

Would it be possible to hook up the wires to your house battery?

[GrumpyBadger]

Originally Posted by larrie

It looks like an interesting idea. How are you going to handle the ground rods. According to the diagram on the site you will need three months f them driven six feet into the ground. They will not be easy to extract.

Would it be possible to hook up the wires to your house battery?

Yeah... I saw that ground issue too... I have an inquiry into the company to see if I'm barkin up an empty tree. Can't believe it needs to be that excessive for my limited and temporary usage, but I got out of electrical engineering because I found nuclear physics easier than the circuits classes. Electronics are beyond my comprehension - all I know is you don't want to let the smoke out of 'em.

As is the issue of the house battery hookup... would be stellar if I could find a 12V controller to plug into one of my outside jacks. Much simpler - as long as it doesn't kill my battery overnight. But I have no clue if it would work.

Maybe there's a market here for some electro-geek hobby-vendor to cobble together some systems for ignoramuses like me to buy and plug in.

[Wirehead]

Here's a portable electric fence for camping made by the folks who make pepper spray for bears (UDAP). It comes with it's own battery. Pretty light weight and it has a good reputation.
Outfitter Bear Electric Fence (Covers 45ft.. x45ft. sq. area) (5.5lbs w/ Batteries): UDAP Pepper Power

[BrianW]

When we camped in Maroon Bells (Colorado) last year they were having porcupine problems. It was supposedly so bad that the ranger station actually had rolls of chicken wire to lend out to wrap around your vehicle. We didn't do it, and didn't have any issues during our two-night stay.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by GrumpyBadger

I got out of electrical engineering because I found nuclear physics easier than the circuits classes. Electronics are beyond my comprehension

Wow, nuclear physics is easier to comprehend than a few electrons wanting to move over to visit their neighbors? You gotta be one smart sombitch. As for the fence charger and ground rods, as long as you have two conductors, you don't need the ground rod. The charger builds up a huge excess of electrons on one side of the circuit, all along one wire. Those electrons want to ballance out and return home , but until said marmot closes the circuit, there is no way to get there. For long fences, the return path is the earth by way of the ground rods, eliminating the need to run two wires. For a short run around the van, two different wires will do the same thing. Mister marmot comes along and touches both wires at the same time, and bingo, he does the marmot Macarena, pee's him self a bit and runs off. As soon as he departs the charger builds up another bunch of electrons and is ready for the next visitor. A game camera pointed at the van could provide some great entertainment too.

[daveb]

It just seems like a better solution is to have some kind of mesh like a tennis court fence has surrounding the base of the vehicle. I don't have a clue if they might like chewing through it...I just don't know. I've heard of people driving on a large enough tarp and attaching it to the vehicle (like a cupcake) with bungee cord. It all seems like a PITA to do. Some dumb campers kid getting hung up on an electric fence might cause a fight between neighbors...just sayin.

[larrie]

Originally Posted by GrumpyBadger

I got out of electrical engineering because I found nuclear physics easier than the circuits classe