Ah, here’s your problem — there’s a marmot stuck in your engine | 24CA News
An Edmonton man had an encounter with a really Canadian gremlin final weekend close to Jasper: a marmot hid below the hood of his automobile and made a meal of some (fortunately unimportant) wiring.
“I drove nine [kilometres] down the road with a marmot in my engine compartment,” Vincent Bouchard stated in an interview Tuesday.
Bouchard had simply spent two days backpacking together with his youngsters. They returned to the parked automobile on the finish of an extended gravel street Sunday afternoon and began on their approach.
But there was one thing unsuitable — a number of warning lights on Bouchard’s dashboard began blinking.
He stored driving to get again into cellphone reception, finally pulling over at an intersection on the two-lane freeway 93A between Banff and Jasper.
Vincent Bouchard’s drive dwelling from Jasper, Alta., was one thing to recollect because the car’s dashboard lit up with warnings. Turns out, a marmot was inflicting the issue.
Bouchard was stunned when he opened up the hood.
“Because there’s a big marmot right there sitting on my engine just looking at me, happy just being there,” he stated.
He referred to as the youngsters over to see and the household shared amusing. But then a brand new downside arose: the way to get the marmot out.
Bouchard tried poking the rascally rodent with a stick however it simply retreated deeper into the engine.
“It’s hiding there and just whistling not being happy,” Bouchard stated.
Parks Canada was referred to as and despatched an worker. Bouchard stated the very first thing the worker did was spray the varmint with some chilly water due to the warmth of the engine.
Bouchard stated somebody from the wildlife battle division was introduced in. Eventually, the mischievous marmot was captured and caged — at the least briefly.
“They’ll release the marmot later somewhere else,” Bouchard stated.
The story would not fairly finish there although. When everybody had cleared out, Bouchard bought again on the street.
The dashboard lights began flashing once more. After calling round, he bought a mechanic to return out.
“[He] looks under and sees that indeed the marmot had chewed and cut one of the wires.”
After some patching, the household was journeying dwelling as soon as once more.
With so many wildlife-related delays, the household lastly made it again to their dwelling in Edmonton round 11 p.m. — eight hours after departing.
Furry engine-enjoyers
Melanie Whalen, director of animal care and wildlife providers with the non-profit Calgary Wildlife, says the state of affairs isn’t unknown, even within the metropolis.
“We usually get a few marmots every year, at least that’s reported to us, that make it back to Calgary from the mountains,” she stated in an interview Wednesday.
“Every year actually, we get more and more cases of this happening.”
Vincent Bouchard was on his approach again from Alberta’s Jasper National Park after a mountaineering journey together with his daughters when his dashboard lit up. Checking below the hood, he discovered a big marmot staring up at him.
Whalen stated marmots are drawn to engine minerals and the odor of ethylene glycol in anti-freeze — a poisonous attractor for all animals. That resolution can drip onto wires, which can be a temptation to chew on.
Her recommendation is to test the engine after a sojourn by Alberta’s pure splendour. You can bang on the hood but when the critter would not filter out, it could be time to name in wildlife officers.
“They can be quite aggressive so it’s always good to call a professional to come out.”
