Creature Feature: The Automotive Version

As you know from previous posts, our house has been host to a variety of wildlife. Today Jake and John discovered the traces of a new visitor to a new site: our car! While changing the air filter in our Toyota Corolla, Jake noticed some, um, debris. And acorns. No need to take our word for it; check it out:

It seems that some small creature had taken up residence under the hood of the car, under the air filter. John suggests that it was fine place with plenty of room. Really, it's a shame that we evicted him, poor little guy (or gal).

I suppose we should be thankful that our situation wasn't as bad as this person's (I googled "animal nest car air filter" and believe me, you find some scary stuff).

Then I found this info:

It a GOOD idea to leave the car ventilation in recirculate mode whenever you park since it seems that mice like to find their way into your car and make a nest on top of the filter. Recirculate mode closes the outside air entrance to the filter.

Seems like maybe we should start taking that advice.

Jake is guessing that it was a chipmunk, given the half-eaten acorns and the fact that we've seen some of the little guys running about in front of the house. I'm wondering if it's the mini-mouse, or perhaps the return of flying squirrel.