BC Parks, Porcupines, and Chicken Wire
On some of the pages for the parks in BC, the authors say that porcupines are a problem and that one should put chicken wire around the vehicle so that the animals do not chew on the rubber hoses and ...
Forum Discussion
Yes, porcupines can totally disable your vehicle by chewing on tires, brake lines, radiator hoses, or wiring. They seem to go for rubber or areas with winter road salt left on them.
They seem to be more of a problem in the wetter West Kootenays like Valhalla and Kokanee parks but are also a problem in St. Mary alpine park and Bugaboo park.
Some parks have rolls of wire left by other users but I carry my own chicken wire to be safe. Plasticized wire would be fine but they could chew through plastic fencing. The procedure is to wrap the wire entirely around the vehicle. Put rocks on the wire at ground level so they can't get under the wire and then prop sticks against the top of the wire and tie it to mirrors, grill, etc., so they can't climb over the top and in.
There seem to be fewer porcupines around in our area of the East Kootenays but I wouldn't take a chance if leaving a vehicle overnight. I don't bother with the wire if only parked for a day hike.
They seem to be more of a problem in the wetter West Kootenays like Valhalla and Kokanee parks but are also a problem in St. Mary alpine park and Bugaboo park.
Some parks have rolls of wire left by other users but I carry my own chicken wire to be safe. Plasticized wire would be fine but they could chew through plastic fencing. The procedure is to wrap the wire entirely around the vehicle. Put rocks on the wire at ground level so they can't get under the wire and then prop sticks against the top of the wire and tie it to mirrors, grill, etc., so they can't climb over the top and in.
There seem to be fewer porcupines around in our area of the East Kootenays but I wouldn't take a chance if leaving a vehicle overnight. I don't bother with the wire if only parked for a day hike.
