[Shop-talk] Of mice and...Jeeps!

[Bob Kegel]

Apparently automotive wiring is quite attractive to another rodent, the
marten, to the point that Germans build and buy devices to repel the beast.

Presenting: the Kemo M111 "Marten Shock for Motor Vehicles"
http://www.kemo-electronic.com/pdf/m111/m111.pdf  (scroll down for English)

"If now the marten touches the car chassis or the motor unit with the hind
paws and at the same time the metal plates which have been fixed isolated
with the snout or front paws, it gets an electric shock. After that the
high-voltage capacitor in the module is discharged and it will take a short
time until the capacitor is charged again. During this period the marten has
the possibility to leave the car in a hurry. The shock does not cause a
continuous muscular cramp which might kill the animal. Upon each contact
with the high-voltage the animal only receives one shock, not several shocks
one after the other! That's why the animal has the possibility to run away."

Bob Kegel
Aberdeen, WA