- #1
guyburns
- 43
- 10
- TL;DR
- Four wrens stuck and killed by deadly goo inside a tyre
I tried searching for a solution to this problem, but other than “rubber doesn’t melt”, or “the rubber belts in my old cassette player turned to goo”, I couldn’t find find any explanation as to why the rubber inside an old tyre has turned to deadly goo.
Question
I’d like to know how and why this happened – the chemistry behind the thing, and whether this is aberrant behaviour for an old tyre, or typical.
The goo is bad stuff. Four tiny wrens landed on it while exploring, and couldn't get out. I stuck in a small screwdriver, and I reckon I applied 500gms force to stretch the stuff 2 cm. It's also extremely sticky. Even a light touch with a finger will coat the finger. Turpentine dissolves the goo.
See attachments showing the dead wrens and the screwdriver.
Background
Flat Tyre
In April 2025 I had a flat tyre and bought a new one as replacement. The old tyre was a Continental ContiSportContact 235/45 R18 and had these markings:
Tread – 1 Rayon
Sidewall – 1 Rayon
+ 2 Steel + 2 polyamide
The tyre was good quality, costing around $330 each in Australia, and was on the car since new. I kept the flat tyre as I use them to make steps in outdoor settings. I left this particular tyre laying around the back yard for 9 months, horizontally, throughout our winter here in Tasmania (5-15º), and now we’re into summer (10-25º). In summer, it's in the mid-afternoon sun 4-5 hours a day, so it probably heated up to ~40º. For eight months it had a pool of water inside, all the way around, due to winter/spring rain. Recently, the water dried up, but I hadn’t noticed.
Dead Wrens
But I did take notice when I went to move the tyre a few days ago. I was shocked to find four dead Blue Wrens inside, stuck to a black goo. The whole of this year’s family had been killed – two adults and two young ones. They landed on the goo, and couldn’t extricate themselves. The wrens have been around for 30 years, generation after generation, because we feed them grated parmesan cheese. So it’s a bit of an emotional loss for us.
Horror Tyre
This tyre has turned deadly. It will have to be buried or taken to the recycle centre. I want to know why it’s turned deadly as I’ve never seen any other tyre do this. I have four other tyres laying around at the moment, all different makes and sizes, but they look normal.
Question
I’d like to know how and why this happened – the chemistry behind the thing, and whether this is aberrant behaviour for an old tyre, or typical.
The goo is bad stuff. Four tiny wrens landed on it while exploring, and couldn't get out. I stuck in a small screwdriver, and I reckon I applied 500gms force to stretch the stuff 2 cm. It's also extremely sticky. Even a light touch with a finger will coat the finger. Turpentine dissolves the goo.
See attachments showing the dead wrens and the screwdriver.
Background
Flat Tyre
In April 2025 I had a flat tyre and bought a new one as replacement. The old tyre was a Continental ContiSportContact 235/45 R18 and had these markings:
Tread – 1 Rayon
Sidewall – 1 Rayon
+ 2 Steel + 2 polyamide
The tyre was good quality, costing around $330 each in Australia, and was on the car since new. I kept the flat tyre as I use them to make steps in outdoor settings. I left this particular tyre laying around the back yard for 9 months, horizontally, throughout our winter here in Tasmania (5-15º), and now we’re into summer (10-25º). In summer, it's in the mid-afternoon sun 4-5 hours a day, so it probably heated up to ~40º. For eight months it had a pool of water inside, all the way around, due to winter/spring rain. Recently, the water dried up, but I hadn’t noticed.
Dead Wrens
But I did take notice when I went to move the tyre a few days ago. I was shocked to find four dead Blue Wrens inside, stuck to a black goo. The whole of this year’s family had been killed – two adults and two young ones. They landed on the goo, and couldn’t extricate themselves. The wrens have been around for 30 years, generation after generation, because we feed them grated parmesan cheese. So it’s a bit of an emotional loss for us.
Horror Tyre
This tyre has turned deadly. It will have to be buried or taken to the recycle centre. I want to know why it’s turned deadly as I’ve never seen any other tyre do this. I have four other tyres laying around at the moment, all different makes and sizes, but they look normal.