SAY, IS THAT A VIPER UNDER YOUR HOOD?

Everything from snakes to squirrels and dogs to deer love to get under the hood By Roy Nakano Following up on the story about yellow sac spiders liking Mazda6 sedans with four-cylinder engines (Along Came A Yellow Sac Spider, Or Two, Or More), LA CAR decided to look into other love stories between cars and critters. Well, it’s not just spiders. It seems all kinds of animals love to poke around in engine compartments. Everything from snakes to squirrels and dogs to deer love to get under the warm hood. SQUIRRELS AND HONDAS

“Squirrels or chipmunks have been wreaking havoc on our two Honda Civics and Suburu Forester,” says Nanette Hatzes on Squirrelsatmywiring.com. “They appear to prefer Hondas since they most often feast on them. This problem has caused us much grief and cost us thousands of dollars as well.” “The malfunction light came on,” says Lynn Gee about her 2003 Honda of Squirrelsatmywiring. “I took the car to a dealer and was informed that something had eaten my wiring, and it will cost about $1,100 to rewire!” D. Vermilyeas of Squirrels had a similar story. “The squirrels invaded my Honda Civic and ate all the wiring! At first we didn't know it was squirrels. The lights stopped working and when I went to replace them, all the wiring was disconnected. We fixed it and two days later again there were no headlights. This time we had to buy replacement parts because the wires were too short to fix. We ordered the replacement parts and they finally arrived on Sunday. So after church we lifted the hood and a squirrel ran out leaving a baby behind and even more wires chewed.” SNAKE UNDER THE HOOD

The most popular critter-loves-car story involves snakes. It seems to be a perfect fit. The engine compartment provides warmth, and there are plenty of openings under the car for a snake to slither in. It’s like posting “vacancy” signs for the serpentes. For some reason, a disproportionately high number of snake stories in this country emanate from the South, like this one out of Everglades National Park: Ron DeLong was traveling the Everglades, when he spotted a six-foot Burmese python slithering across the road. Ron pulled over to get a better look. “Bad idea”, said Kurt Repanshek, who reported the incident to NationalParksTraveler.com. “As DeLong stepped out of his Ford Explorer, the python began crawling underneath the vehicle and into its engine compartment,” according to Pine Island District Ranger Willie Lopez. “Long attempted to grab the python with the curved end of his walking cane, but was unable to stop it. After several failed attempts to remove the snake, DeLong decided to drive 15 miles to the main entrance station for assistance.” Acco failed because the snake tightened its hold on the car,” said Repanshek. The four then tried to use a Taser, but it resulted in the snake excreting bodily fluids all over the responders. Ultimately, they had to disassemble the Explorer's undercarriage in order to get to the python, according to Repanshek. “Since Burmese pythons are exotic, prolific and aggressive, the snake was euthanized and taken to a lab to be studied,” said Repanshek. DOGS AND DEER

Okay, so we know about snakes and squirrels, but dogs and deer? According to Crookedbrains.net, it’s happened—and they have the photographs to back up their claim. In the case of the alleged deer, it’s very difficult to tell what kind of animal is stuffed in the engine compartment—and how it got there. You’ll have to decide for yourself: Deer in BMW When compared with the above, yellow sac spiders in Mazdas don’t seem so bad.