Check Engine

It's a silly story, but one Noah keeps at me to re-tell.

A month ago on Good Friday, I made an appointment with the mechanic.

Our car's "Check Engine" light was on and its automatic transmission lurched with each gear shift.

Within minutes of taking the car into the shop, the mechanic announced, "Something has chewed through the engine's wiring, probably mice."

"Mice?" I cringed. He explained how the little critters climb up into a warm engine to bed down for the night and scamper away in the morning when the car starts up again."

"In fact, all kinds of critters love warm engines," he said. "Once a guy called up saying his pickup wouldn't start. He hauled it on a flatbed trailer to our shop, dropped it off and let it sit overnight in the lot. In the morning, the guys rolled the truck into the shop. I opened the hood and got a big surprise. On the engine sat a great, big long-eared rabbit staring at me. I hollered and slammed the hood shut."

I laughed, "What'd you do then?"

"We wondered how a jack rabbit ever got under there. But more so, how to get it out. Finally, I put on welding gloves. The guys opened the hood. I grabbed the rabbit and flung it out the door. It hopped across the highway to the Honda dealer. The funny part was the guy's truck was a Honda."

"So the rabbit found another Honda to call home?" I asked. Mike grinned with a shrug. "Anyway, the rabbit had chewed through the wiring causing the truck not to start. I'm surprised your car runs."

He noted the cost of the four-hour repair. Since it was 7:30 AM, I phoned home to tell Dan the news and let him speak to the mechanic. I'd brought a book to read and decided to wait for the car rather than put Dan through chaufeurring hassle during his loaded work day.

Soon after I opened my book, Mike beckoned, "Wendy! Come here. I want to show you something."

I followed him into the shop. He pointed to cat tracks clustered on center of car's hood by the windshield. Then he opened the hood, showed me the gnawed wires directly under the tracks and said, "When I talked to Dan, he said 'I can't believe mice chewed through the wires for all the cat tracks on the hood!' I just wanted to show you, the cats were trying to do their job, but they couldn't get under the hood."

I shook my head, "If the cats can't do it, how do we get rid of the mice?"

"Mothballs," he advised. "Some people try strong-scented dryer sheets, but we've seen that backfire. The mice shred the dryer-sheets and make nests in the engine or even in the seats. So I recommend mothballs.

"Just a couple," he warned. "I had mice in my truck. I was so mad, I figured: if one mothball is good, a whole box is better. So I dumped the works all over the engine. The next morning I fired it up – and OH – the smell! I ruined the truck. So, two or three mothballs is all you need. I'll show you where to put them when the wiring's done."

A few hours later, Mike called, "You're all set!"

As I signed for payment, I asked Mike to show me where to place the mothballs. An incoming customer raised an eyebrow. I said, "Mice chewed through our engine wiring."

"Ah!" he said. "I had a chipmunk chew through trailer wires."

Driving for a box of mothballs, I reflected: mice, jack rabbits, cat tracks, chipmunks...

Then it dawned on me.

Like Dan, I was skeptical about mice in our garage.



We'd had no signs of these rodents other than the gnawed wires.

However, just days earlier when I'd opened the porch door to feed the cats, I spotted – lying on the floor between the food and water dishes – one of Tickles' kills: a large chipmunk laid out like a trophy.

Aaron's mama cat not only knew her job, but had also done it well. Check Engine!