He indicated that their mere presence was a fire hazard. There is a orange plastic triangle in the car. That ought to scare off anything...

Pepper spray is not the be-all and end-all of animal self-defense. A friend of mine once referred to it as 'seasoning'.

I was not clear in that I would not be protecting myself (I stay in the locked car), but would have a weapon handy if one of the crews who has to stop and get off the train to operate the switches happened to be be attacked.

Animals often go for the head/neck/throat/shoulders of their prey. Spraying both the animal and its victim in the face at the same time just doesn't seem like the best thing to do, to me.

I guess I could carry my kaybar, but they would probably fuss about that, too.

So, has anyone heard of these things spontaneously igniting?

Sue