The Rat that ate the Car

Rats are such pests. When one is known to be on the loose in the house men are known to wreck the house in trying to catch it. Certainly they are more than enough of a problem in the house but they can also be a real nuisance outdoors as well.

For a couple of years we had rats outside the house. We also have two cats that only once in a long while will bring us the remains of a rat to indicate they occasionally earn their keep. Then there is Max, our dog who is short in legs but long and sharp as a mouser. He is always on patrol and has brought down several of them.

This year is a bad year for rats. A couple of years ago I opened my bonnet to discover evidence that a rat had taken up residence in the engine compartment of the car. I was then parking under a tree so presumably the rats came down from the tree and got up into the engine where it was warm. I’m saying that was a rat but it could have been a squirrel as there were shells from nuts.

Later that same year my wife had her car put through general maintenance followed later by about six weeks by the ITV examination. When they opened the bonnet a lot of shells came pouring out from the false cover in the bonnet indicating there were critters there, or they had been there. Amazing!

However, this year we have learned about a neighbour who had parked his car in one place for some time as he was using his second car. When he came to start up the first one it would not start. He opened the bonnet and was thunderstruck by the sight that was before him.

A rodent of some sort had bitten through cables and hoses in places that he could see, and later at the garage it transpired that it had been all around the engine destroying everything that was rubber based. It appeared to have been dining out on this particular car for some time. At the garage it is a great curiosity as they have never known anything like this.

I don’t know what the final bill will be, I certainly wouldn’t want it. So, the take away from this story is: The instruction to check your engine takes on added meaning. It would be a wise thing to do indeed!

Copyright © 2018

Eugene Carmichael