Aw, nuts. Why won't my car start?

[December 12, 2008]  DEMOTTE, Ind. (AP) -- Aw, nuts. That's likely what Hope Wideup thought when her car's turn signal and windshield wipers wouldn't work. It's also what she found later when she opened the hood. "There were thousands in there. They were everywhere," she said, speculating a chipmunk found its way into her car, which had been sitting idle for several weeks, and used the engine compartment as a storage depot for a trove of black walnuts.

Wideup thinks it all started last fall when a chipmunk snatched a garden glove from her yard. She later found the glove in the engine compartment when she was trying to repair the broken turn signal. Unable to fix the problem, however, Wideup let the car sit unused for a couple of weeks and then heard a loud revving sound from the engine when she tried to start the vehicle.

That's when she looked under the hood again and found the walnuts.

"Apparently this little guy stuffed a bunch of these nuts in the accelerator throttle," said Wideup, who had to spend $242 for towing and repairs.

The chipmunk hasn't returned, Wideup told the Post-Tribune for a story published Wednesday. But she's not taking any chances, alternating use of her two cars so neither one is sitting too long.

"It's funny, but it's not," she said.

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Information from: Post-Tribune,
http://www.post-trib.com/

[Associated Press]

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