Squirrel's acorn stash causes car breakdown at farm

[marmar]

from the BBC:



Squirrel's acorn stash causes car breakdown at farm





A squirrel stashing its acorns for winter caused a car to break down at a Hampshire farm.

Basingstoke AA patrolman Andy Smith discovered hundreds of acorns in cavities of the car's air pipe in Micheldever on Saturday.

"The pipe and air box were literally rammed with acorns - they just poured out," he said.

Mr Smith carried out diagnostic tests for 20 minutes before discovering the source of the problem. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15653667

[LiberalFighter]

1. Does that indicate a severe winter?

[uppityperson]

2. Well, that's nuts.

[Arugula Latte]

13. ...and also a little seedy

[Initech]

14. Win!

:spray:

[RainDog]

3. LOL

I first saw this on the Canadian thread and thought... wtf?!?! LOL

but, hey, why not. :)

poor squirrel.

[LARED]

4. That happened to my son's car when

he was away at college. Basically the car sat for a year in the driveway under an oak tree. When I insisted he start the car when home on break we discovered a nutty problem.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Every spring, I check the air cleaner on my tractor - seems to be a favorite spot to store seeds..

A couple years back, I blew a mouse nest out of my exhaust on the 1st crank over....

[sarge43]

9. Before we learned the moth ball trick, when he turned on the air in the summer car,

husband got a face full of chipmunk nest confetti.

[Tesha]

18. You might consider "Critter Ridder" instead of mothballs.

It's a black pepper product.

Depending on how you feel about peppery smells
versus napthalene, you might like it better.

Tesha

[sarge43]

21. Thanks for the tip

Hubby can't smell his upper lip and my car doesn't hibernate, so it doesn't matter what kind of chemical warfare we use. I'll keep it in mind in case a newcomer has this problem.

Thanks again.

[sarge43]

6. Happens all the time, especially if the car isn't driven for awhile, a few days is enough.

We put moth balls in any car that will sit over winter. Otherwise, the chipmunks and squirrels stuff it full of food and nesting material.

[DeSwiss]

7. Yeah but the squirrels were getting 2 acorns per mile.

- And you can't beat that.

K&R











http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/eat_the_rich.php">Eat the Rich

[virgogal]

8. :-)

[notadmblnd]

10. after my husband died I didn't use his truck very often

The squirrels in our neighborhood used walnuts. We didn't have oak trees in our yard.

[Uncle Joe]

11. More evidence of the Butterfly Effect, this would have been particularly true had the breakdown

occurred on a highway resulting in a fatal crash involving some world leader; whom could have stopped World War III from taking place.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[Denninmi]

12. Yup, happened to me, too.

I park my Chevy SUV in the driveway because there is too much lawn equipment in the garage (not that that would make any difference, the tree rats get in there, too).

After I hadn't driven it for a while, on fall, I decided it was time to drive that one again. Got in, turned the key, and got the most awful noise from the ventilation systems.

So, took it to the dealer, expecting it to be a failed fan/blower and that it would be covered under the warranty.

Well, they called me a couple of hours later, and said that the entire ventilation system was full of walnuts. They removed what they could around the blower, but since it wasn't a mechanical failure, it wasn't covered under the warranty.

They wanted a minimum of $850 to pull the dash apart and clean all of the ducts. Since at that point it was no longer making noise and had some air flow through the vents, I declined and have just lived with it. Over time, the air flow restriction issue improved, I guess the walnuts dried up and shrank somewhat.

[RebelOne]

15. Squirrels get into my engine.

My mechanic discovered acorns under the hood. I have to park under a tree with lots of squirrels. I have to check under the hood periodically to make sure there are not nesting squirrels.

[sakabatou]

16. Well, there's your problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09eP8xjsrco

[cmd]

17. Squirrels dragged a shop rag into my engine

then filled it with leaves to make a nice toasty nest. A mechanic found it when he changed the engine oil. They also tore up insulation in the garage to make their nests. The darn things are so hard to get rid of.

[GoCubsGo]

19. Another reason to keep the car in the garage....

I don't have to worry about the neighborhood cats climbing up in the engine compartment, either.

[pipi_k]

20. Chipmunk and mouse bastards....

were the culprits at my house.

During the winter we couldn't drive the Dodge Caravan (no 4WD, etc), so every spring there would be the inevitable stash of seeds and nesting material to clean out of various places...all over the place...even in the glove box.

One winter the mice camped out in the barbeque out on the back deck, and when Mr Pip started it up in the spring, a herd of mice came jumping out.

No place is safe from them out here... :scared: