Martens make a hell of a noise, but so do raccoons and big rats. So how can you be sure that there is a marten on your roof or in the wall? Also: Is it possible to drive martens away with noises? Find out here what noises martens make at what time and how you can use noise against them.

The cries of martens are shrill and loud

Table of Contents

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  1. When do martens make noises?
  2. What noises do martens make?
  3. Drive away martens with noises
  4. Effectively drive away martens

    5. When do martens make noises?

    Martens are known to be nocturnal, which means they leave their hiding place at dusk at the earliest and go in search of food at night. Therefore, understandably, marten noises can almost always be heard at night, which is why they often rob their "subtenants" of sleep.

    When are martens particularly active?

    Martens are particularly active during the mating season in summer and it is a special pleasure to be able to house a marten female with her young in the house, who start leaving the nest at the beginning of May and play outside the nest with their siblings - unfortunately also at night.

    What noises do martens make?

    Martens make different noises that vary depending on the activity:

    • rumble: When playing or jumping
    • rustling and tripping: When moving
    • Scratch: To make openings and entrances
    • Nibble: Seizure insulation or the like
    • Soft squeaking with chirping noises (almost like a bird): marten boys
    • Angry, high-pitched hiss: When fighting with rivals or enemies such as cats or in a trap
    • Deep purring and low squeaking: Noises when mating

    Uninvited guests and their noises

    Sounds When active Tackles insulation
    marten Loud rumbling, scratching and scraping at night Yes
    cat Soft patter anytime, often at night Rather unlikely
    racoon Loud rumbling, scratching and scraping mostly nocturnal Yes
    rat Nibbling, scratching and scraping, squeaking for communication at dusk and at night Yes, but less damage
    mouse Quiet nibbling and scratching mostly but not only nocturnal Yes, but very little damage

    tips

    If you are not sure whether the noise is a marten, a cat or a raccoon, you can visualize the intruder's tracks. You can find out how this works and how to distinguish the tracks of a marten from others in our article on marten tracks.

    Drive away martens with noises

    Martens not only make noises themselves, noise can also be used as a method of combating martens. Here it is almost ideal that martens rest during the day when noises do not bother you. Just as the marten robs you of sleep at night, you can now rob it of sleep: revenge is sweet!

    Drive martens away with noise: homemade

    Making noise is easy: set up a radio and turn it on full volume, for example, or let your child play the drums for hours. Any noise will disturb the marten and will probably move it away.

    Now the downside: Unfortunately, martens are very stubborn and always have several hiding places. In order to really drive him out of hiding permanently, you have to stick to the strategy for several weeks, better months, because martens keep coming back.

    Repel martens with ultrasound

    A less conspicuous, albeit more expensive, measure is to purchase an ultrasound device. You don't hear the "noise" that these devices make, but the marten does.

    The downside: Unfortunately, useful bats and even pets and birds are also disturbed by the high frequencies. Not a good idea for an otherwise pet-friendly household.

    Effectively drive away martens

    If you want to drive martens away permanently, you should use a combination of different control methods. Noise can be one of them, combined with smells that martens don't like and blocking of all entrances. Catching with a live trap is also conceivable, but anything but easy.

Category:

Animals in the garden