Topic: I love animals but...

[Kathy]

I had some running around to do today but when I went out to my car it wouldn't start. It seems that some animal has decided they like to floss their teeth with some wires in my engine compartment!

I never had anything like this happen before. The only thing I've done different was to use the second driveway on the  empty lot side of the house. I've been doing this because the other driveway gets a lot more snow and it was easier to just shovel a path instead of the whole thing.

I think I'm going to need to go back to using the regular driveway -there is a lot more noise (the dogs) and traffic so the critters don't come there as much. No one ever goes to the lot side and I knew there were animals there all the time - deer, turkey, cats etc.

I knew that animals hide in cars to get warm but I never heard of them eating wires before. Has this happened to anyone?

All I know is it could have been worse - I'm glad that I don't have to work until tomorrow. If I was going to work today it would have been a disaster.

[addicted2dvd]

I never heard of it before. But I will tell you what happen to us not that long ago. My brother left the car window open one night. And that night a cat jumped in and decided it was the perfect place to have her kittens! 

I hope you get the car fixed without any trouble.

[Rogmeister]

Some cats do like to bite wires...I'm not positive but I think it's a phase they go through when they're young.  My cat Cindy (that's her in my profile pic with me) liked to bite through wires when she was young.  That's why one of the speaker wires on my mini-stereo is only about 6 inches long! 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I knew that animals hide in cars to get warm but I never heard of them eating wires before. Has this happened to anyone?

Seems to be quite a common behaviour for martens. In fact it seems to be so bad that you have to explicitly include it into your car-insurance.

AFAIK this behaviour is limited to the males and mostly occurs if a car that was used by one male is parked in the territory of another.

Check: http://www.mardersicher.de/english/e_info.htm

[Blair]

Rats (and other rodentia) are often the culprits of an act like that... assuming you don't have any tiny goats in your area   Both will chew on practically anything.

[Kathy]

I can't remember seeing a rat since Buffalo supplied us with covered garbage cans - I think they all moved to the suburbs since they have a problem now!

We do have a lot of opossums and ground hogs but I don't know if they eat wires.

I think its more likely to be one of the cats from the feral community. My neighbor called an "old timer", an elderly mechanic buddy of his and he said that cats do this kind of thing all the time.

[hal9g]

Squirrels will definitely do this.  We had a family move into our attic and started having electrical problems.  Turns out they were eating the insulation off the wires up there!   

[Kathy]

I never thought of squirrels Hal but we definitely have them in our neighborhood.

I do have good news to report - my friend was able to rewire my car. It started and is now sitting in my regular driveway - hopefully out of reach of those wire hungry animals! 

[Jimmy]

Squirrels will definitely do this.

A complete familly of those installed themselves in the engine of one of my father truck since it was stored for the winter when I was younger. You have no idea of the mess they do in it to be comfortable. I did find that funny when my father discovered this in the springtime... him not so much

[Blair]

Oh yea, I can't believe I forgot about squirrels

I do have good news to report - my friend was able to rewire my car.

So now, when you press the brake, the horn blows; left blinker makes the car go in reverse; shift into 4th gear turns the break lights on and so forth

[Dragonfire]

:lol

Several years ago, a mouse got up into my mom's car.  It got into the vents or something...I can't remember exactly now.  But she took it in because the air conditioner wasn't working.  Guy showed us the chewed up wires and insulation looking stuff.  He said mice did that a lot.   Out in the country there are more mice..and there are neighbors that have wood piles that attract them too.

[Critter]

Wow I've never had anything like this happen to a car by an animal. Although if it happened over here a possum or something would most likely be the cause.

[Rogmeister]

Speaking of mice, I feed stray cats a lot and a couple of times they have brought me dead mice as a thank you... 

[Dragonfire]

I had a cat named Smokey that liked to go outside.  I got her when she was about 6.  She had been a house cat and then she got kicked outside..and then the people who lived there just moved away and left her.      Anyway, she was happy inside, but she liked to go outside sometimes.  She usually just stayed on the porch.  Though a few times she brought mice in..or birds.  One year she brought a few baby bunnies in the house.  There were 2 dogs and 2 cats chasing the poor thing before I could get it back outside.  I never knew that bunnies could cry before.  It was very startling.  But I got it back outside.