Wiring harness food for muskrats?

[rgbrokke]

I have a 2020 Bennington 2021 fish pontoon on a major lake in Minnesota. In 2022 late fall, muskrats started to build homes in the engine well or superstructure that holds the engine. I kept removing the nesting and then started to smell gasoline.



Brought the boat across the bay to have it inspected and they found a slight bite hole in fuel line and tooth marks on the wiring harness. They advised installing a Stainless Steel mesh around all of the fuel and electrical lines for the tune of $1600....



Now in Fall of 2023, mid October, loaded the boat to go out to an island for a photo shoot with family. Tried to start the boat but no response at key. Accessories worked but nothing at key. Checked neutral safety switch and threw a charger on the battery but problem remained.



Had the boat towed to the same marina for $175 and they call back a few hours later, indicating that muskrats had entered the top of the port side pontoon and bit the ignition wiring harness in half. Apparently there is a coil of excess wire on top of the pontoon from the factory. So they repaired the harness and blocked the ends of the off with mesh wire so the verments cant enter again.



I'm wondering why a muskrat would eat a wiring harness in the first place. I recall that several new Porsche autos arrived at the US with wiring harnesses eaten by mice. It was determined that the insulation on the harness was formulated with SOY BEAN oil rather than conventional petroleum products. Thus the attraction and sense of food for vermin.



Is it possible that Bennington wiring harnesses are also made of SOYBEAN oil and therefore food for Muskrats. We had a NorthWoods pontoon boat for 20 years in the same location and never had a Muskrat show any interest in it whatsoever. The only intrusive event was a mother duck laying an egg in the same area of the motor transum.



Please offer some advice and any chance of receiving compensation for this issue as this may be an inadvertent manufacturing defect.



Thank you,

Rick B.

rgbtrade@comcast.net

 

[Jack M]

It has happened on a few occasions to members here. You can do a search in the upper right corner. I had 2 catfish in 1 of my stakes a few years ago. Sorry but ,you may have better luck with an insurance claim. You can't stop an act of nature.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Muskrats destroying hoses or wiring is somewhat common in Michigan. My understanding is it’s tied into burrowing and nesting instincts and what not. I had my areas secured similar to you prior to getting our boat as it is a known possibility in muskrat environments. Not common, but not unheard of. Could be different factors attracting them to your area or boat these days compared to when you had your last boat, but once there, they do what muskrats do…chew through stuff.

As for inadvertent manufacturing defect…? Ummm…no.

Do you think Bennington “makes” the wires that they put into their boats, OR do they procure them through other companies that produce and supply wiring to a myriad number of clients, including multiple/all boat manufacturers? It’s the later…

That said, horrible situations you’ve had to deal with. Cost of protecting your wires and access points is significantly higher than what I was charged…albeit mine was done in the spring of 2017 when my new boat arrived. I was only charged a few hundred at the time.

Did they charge again to secure the additional areas that second time, or did they comp that given how much they charged before, and the fact they overlooked that area where the igntion wires were coiled up? $1600 was certainly no small charge for the original job…

 

[jcr159]

has nothing to do with soybeans... it doesn't taste like food regardless.

it has to do with the fact that their teeth continuously grow, as do all rodents. therefore they look for things to chew to constantly wear them down. just so happens that those wires are in a well protected from predators and weather cozy place...

same reason that i had chewing on stuff under my engine cover, and fuel lines on my car. no soybean anything there (gas lines aren't soy based, but rubber). rodents like to chew, and find a nice safe/warm place to do it if they can...

that said, maybe you need some lasers... pew pew..

 

[BigKahuna]

Yup had a muskrat problem in our cove when we first moved to NC. Luckily we had an I/O and our transducer wire was protected by a stainless steel slinky looking spiral wire. But we had neighbors that had chewed electrical wires and transducer wires and they took the necessary steps to protect against future problems. Plus the neighbors got together and hired a trapper to "relocate" several muskrats!