The salt on the handles of the poles I can understand; even on some parts of the cars. But the wiring harness of your vehicle...I just cant imagine that there is that much salt on them...unless they are getting it directly out of the wires.

A (long) while back, I studied groundwater recharge in this little valley. I had all sorts of stuff in the ground for measuring things like soil moisture and soil tension, including gypsum blocks for the dryer soil periods. Basically a small block of gypsum with 2 wires coming off it. I had dozens of these things in the ground stacked at various depths. The local rodents went crazy on them. Apparently they are lacking the insulation on the wire in their diet. Now I know I handled them a bit, but I find it hard to believe that it was all because of salt from my sweaty hands.

People with lop eared rabbits as house pets have the same problem. They will go behind the TV and start chewing the electrical wires. If you don't catch them in time you end up with rabbit fricassee. In some houses, those wires have not been touched for years.