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**Rich Z** · 04-28-2006, 01:37 PM

I guess this problem isn't specific to Florida, but since this is where I live and the critters are Florida natives, I will address this here.

I keep my Z06 outside under a car port, which is kind of OK, I guess. But I'll tell you, to come outside one morning and see animal tracks across the hood, over the top, and on he deck lid can certainly ruin your outlook on the wild outdoors. Or maybe it is just some neighbor's cat and not really "wild" wildlife at all. You know darn right well that WHATEVER it is has claws and when it jumps up on that slick surface I so painstakingly put there will use those claws to try to get it's footing. Yeah, I could keep my cover on the car, but that certainly is not going to stop the claws from scratching the paint surface at all. Whatever it is is nocturnal as it has happened overnight, so unless I am willing to sit up all night with my night vision goggles, I'm not going to be really sure what the culprit is.

So that is the nighttime assault on the vette.

During the daytime there is another issue: goofy birds.

My wife told me today that some dumb bird has scratched up the side door of my Jeep Wrangler. The dummy sees his reflection and gets all huffy about the "intruder" and tries to attack "him". I think the only thing saving the vette is because it is in the shadow of the carport so the bird(s) can't see the reflection so easily.

We had this problem a couple of years ago with a couple of cardinals going bonkers over the reflective surfaces of our Astro van. I distracted them by putting out a section of polished stainless steel in the shape of an open topped box. One would get inside of that and find himself surrounded by four adversaries and it would keep him occupied for hours. I may have to drag that out of the woods again to try to help save the vehicles from those feathered fiends.

Then there are rodents. About a year ago, ALL of our vehicles suddenly became attractive to some sort of rodent (rats? mice?) that decided to nest in them. That wasn't bad enough, but whatever it was took a liking to chewing on electrical wiring. After a couple thousand dollars in repairs and several hundred dollars in poisons and traps, that problem finally ended. Yeah, I hated to do that, but I really couldn't see any other choice in the matter. That was right before I picked up my Z06, so I was quite nervous about having that same problem in that car. With all of the electronics in the Z, this could have gotten to be a severe problem. So far, I haven't seen this, but I am definitely on my toes and checking for signs pretty often.

I guess this is just the price to pay for living out in the boonies. It is not unusually at all here to see a whole slew of turkeys down the driveway, foxes walking around like they own the place, or deer feeding on the berry bushes. Which is fine with us, but they REALLY should leave the vehicles alone. I do like wildlife, which is one reason I chose to live where we live, but not sure about willingly accepting the drawbacks that come with it. Yet the solutions to take care of the problem aren't all that attractive either.

04-28-2006, 01:37 PM	#1
Rich Z Internet Sanitation Engineer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Crawfordville, FL Posts: 15,138 Name : Rich Zuchowski	Goofy wildlife I guess this problem isn't specific to Florida, but since this is where I live and the critters are Florida natives, I will address this here. I keep my Z06 outside under a car port, which is kind of OK, I guess. But I'll tell you, to come outside one morning and see animal tracks across the hood, over the top, and on he deck lid can certainly ruin your outlook on the wild outdoors. Or maybe it is just some neighbor's cat and not really "wild" wildlife at all. You know darn right well that WHATEVER it is has claws and when it jumps up on that slick surface I so painstakingly put there will use those claws to try to get it's footing. Yeah, I could keep my cover on the car, but that certainly is not going to stop the claws from scratching the paint surface at all. Whatever it is is nocturnal as it has happened overnight, so unless I am willing to sit up all night with my night vision goggles, I'm not going to be really sure what the culprit is. So that is the nighttime assault on the vette. During the daytime there is another issue: goofy birds. My wife told me today that some dumb bird has scratched up the side door of my Jeep Wrangler. The dummy sees his reflection and gets all huffy about the "intruder" and tries to attack "him". I think the only thing saving the vette is because it is in the shadow of the carport so the bird(s) can't see the reflection so easily. We had this problem a couple of years ago with a couple of cardinals going bonkers over the reflective surfaces of our Astro van. I distracted them by putting out a section of polished stainless steel in the shape of an open topped box. One would get inside of that and find himself surrounded by four adversaries and it would keep him occupied for hours. I may have to drag that out of the woods again to try to help save the vehicles from those feathered fiends. Then there are rodents. About a year ago, ALL of our vehicles suddenly became attractive to some sort of rodent (rats? mice?) that decided to nest in them. That wasn't bad enough, but whatever it was took a liking to chewing on electrical wiring. After a couple thousand dollars in repairs and several hundred dollars in poisons and traps, that problem finally ended. Yeah, I hated to do that, but I really couldn't see any other choice in the matter. That was right before I picked up my Z06, so I was quite nervous about having that same problem in that car. With all of the electronics in the Z, this could have gotten to be a severe problem. So far, I haven't seen this, but I am definitely on my toes and checking for signs pretty often. I guess this is just the price to pay for living out in the boonies. It is not unusually at all here to see a whole slew of turkeys down the driveway, foxes walking around like they own the place, or deer feeding on the berry bushes. Which is fine with us, but they REALLY should leave the vehicles alone. I do like wildlife, which is one reason I chose to live where we live, but not sure about willingly accepting the drawbacks that come with it. Yet the solutions to take care of the problem aren't all that attractive either.