I have long despised squirrels, but until recently it was an illogical dislike unsubstantiated by any squirrel-related experience. Now I have a reason. Let me explain.

Most days we drive to work, and until about a week ago, we paid forty dollars a month to park in a lot close to campus,  owned by the Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF). On several occasions Grant and I saw  a squirrel getting into the engine block of parked cars by jumping up onto the front wheel and climbing in. To be honest, at the time we thought the squirrel was innocently hiding acorns or keeping warm in the cars, and it seemed like a clever thing to do.

About a month ago, the left, front blinker on our car stopped working. For those who don’t already know, you can tell from inside the car that a blinker is not working, because when you turn it on, the indicator flashes faster than normal. Grant bought a new bulb. When he opened the hood to replace it, the engine block was full of leaves and other trash. He then grabbed the wire leading to the bulb assembly and it felt unusually slack. The wire was loose because it had been chewed clean through, and was now in two pieces! That squirrel built a nest in our car, frayed wires, and ate the plastic box holding our battery. Before I brought the car in to the dealer for repair, I removed a plastic shopping bag full of leaves, newspaper, paper towels, tape, and anonymous bits of our car.

The wire harness was repaired, but the battery box left as is, which ended up costing us about seventy dollars. I informed the IDF and insisted that the other parkers were notified. That did happen, but the organization’s response was, essentially, that it was a random act of nature and there was nothing to be done. I also tried to get advice from Twin City Honda’s service personnel on how to keep squirrels out of our car, and was told Honda recommends using moth balls. Surprisingly, Honda has an official response on how to deal with rodents because it is an established problem. Service bulletins exist for the Odyssey and Accord models dealing with rodent damage to the knock sensor wiring harness. I did my own research on the internet, and found this blog entry regarding mice wreaking havoc in an Audi TT. It has over 200 comments, many from angry Honda owners! The rumor going around is that the plastic used in Honda cars is made from soy, thus attracting rodents. Further searching turned up various strategies to keep rodents out of your car–moth balls, Bounce dryer sheets, peppermint oil, dog urine, human urine, powdered wolf urine–but the general consensus was that most methods don’t work against squirrels, and who wants their car smelling like urine and napthalene anyways?

We continued parking there, naively assuming it was a one-time event. The day before we were to drive from Illinois to upstate New York, we got in the car at 5:30 pm and the left blinker wasn’t working. Grant and I looked at each other, aghast. We opened the hood of the car, and it was dismal: the squirrel had eaten away at the battery box, ripped up every wire harness in sight, and did not even bother to make a nest–just tore up our car, and left. The service department at Twin City Honda was closed, but I spoke to one individual who said that with so many wires frayed, the car was a fire hazard and should not be driven anywhere. But we had a lot of driving to do the next day. We picked up a rental car and left the CR-V in Twin City’s parking lot, all of this quickly done before dark, because I was afraid the car might explode if I tried to turn the lights on, and even the rear brake lights were not working. We enjoyed our trip while driving a peppy little Toyota Matrix.

Ultimately the squirrel damaged six different wire harnesses that power air compressors, wipers, lights, and so on. The battery box was also replaced, as it was eaten beyond recognition. So far that squirrel has cost us over seven hundred dollars, not to mention our convenient parking spot. But I do feel lucky in a way–for the blogger whose Audi TT was ruthlessly tortured by mice, it took $18,000 and a long time in the shop to repair the damage to his car. Rodent damage is covered by some, but not all, insurance providers. Maybe you should ask your agent about it.