A Nutty Engine
by Patricia Montgomery, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 12 November 2011
Nature is a funny old thing and throws up the odd incident when you least expect it, in this case, from the acorn grew a mighty joke, though one car owner wasn’t initially laughing.
Basingstoke patrol Andy Smith could 'nut' believe it when he attended a car parked next to an oak tree on a farm in Micheldever, Hampshire.
Andy says: "The member said their car had no power, so they assumed it was a problem with the turbo. However, when I looked over the car there was no obvious fault. I tried all the usual things but was left puzzled when nothing worked."
Hidden Stash
Andy is not someone that likes to be beaten and knew there just had to be a reason, so he pressed on and got to the bottom of it after spotting an air pipe collapsing while the engine was being revved.
Realising it must be blocked, he took the air intake off and the cause of the problem became immediately apparent, as someone had been 'car-sumed' in 'engineering' a hidden stash.
"The pipe and air box were literally rammed with acorns – they just poured out. The air intake is about the width of a drinks can, so the squirrel obviously thought it made the perfect secret stash." Said Andy.
Andy used a handheld vacuum cleaner to clear out the last of the debris and, once reassembled, the car was as good as new. Before leaving, Andy briefed the member on how to check for any future squirrel sabotage.
Andy says: "It's certainly one of the nuttiest breakdowns I've ever been out to – we couldn't stop laughing – but I just hope the wee thing has plenty of other stashes buried away for the winter."
Suspect Squirrels
Indeed, but the old squirrel must have been 'exhaust-ed' in building up such a store, but in a 'nut-shell', keep a watch for suspect squirrels loitering around your car.
We did try to get the squirrel's statement, but he was unavailable for comment.
