Marten climbs up the gutter

How does the marten get on the roof?

Martens have sharp claws on their paws, which they can use to cling to trees, but also to smoother surfaces such as a gutter. They are also very agile when climbing: they can turn their feet up to 180 °. Your leg muscles are impressively strong, because the small creatures can jump up to 2 meters.

Traces on the gutter

Not sure if a marten has crawled up the gutters? Here are a few clues:

• Martens are not quiet animals. There are strong scratching noises when climbing the gutter and when arriving on the roof loud rumbling to hear.
• Martens leave scratch marks with their sharp claws - especially on plastic pipes.
• Tufts of hair can also be an indication of a marten infestation.

How do I stop the marten from climbing the gutter?

Since martens, as I said, use the gutter both inside and outside for climbing, it must be blocked twice. You can buy special marten brushes or marten belts from specialist retailers. This involves wire that is wrapped with many long bristles and can be both stuffed into the gutter and wrapped around it.

Make marten protection yourself

Of course, you can also do the marten protection yourself. One option is to build the protection out of pointed wires:

• Choose a main wire to wrap around the gutters and cut it accordingly.
• Now cut at least ten pieces of wire about eight inches long.
• Wrap the middle a few times around the main wire and let the ends that are now about ten centimeters long stick out to a point.
• Fasten all the pieces of wire around the main wire, creating a kind of crown of thorns.
• Tie this belt around your gutter at least two meters from the ground.