Saturday, July 30, 2011

A rat's tale

There are 8 million stories in the naked city, and this is one of them:

My friend A was getting her oil changed, and the mechanic told her she had a rat's nest in her engine. Could he remove it? A asked. No, he told her. She had to go to a specialist in the Bronx who could wash the debris out of the engine with a high-pressure hose. The engine stank of urine and feces, and when it was hosed, bits of paper and old food and other nasties were flushed out. A had read that red pepper discouraged such infestations, so she sprinkled her newly sanitized engine with Tabasco. But here's the interesting thing: this is a common problem in New York. Many people get rat's nests in their car engines. And rat infestations can be destructive. Rats' teeth grow five inches a year, and to keep them filed down, rats chew on hard things like plastic, concrete, wire and so forth. So a car engine is just a giant emery board. The rat's-nest-in-the-engine specialist who hosed out A's nest advised her not to park near garbage. Good luck with that.

5 comments:

A said...

Eeeeeeeewwwwwww!!!!

Robin Amos Kahn said...

Wow, you learn something new every day! Rat's nest in a car engine - never heard of that before! Glad I don't have a car.

Mia said...

See, we're lucky to be poor!

"A" said...

Rats redux. Tobasco did not discourage the sharp-toothed rodents. Today the same engine had to go in for expensive wire and hose replacements. We also fished out a crisp piece of pita with rat tooth marks. Mechanic recommended moth balls, which I purchased while paying for 3 hours of parts and labor on said car. Ugh.

And the critters are munching on festive goodies at the post office: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/holiday-gifts-intercepted/

A said...

Rodent Redux. Car wouldn't start the other morning. After several months of blissful absense, the neighborhood rats have returned. They chewed through the spark plug wires and built themselves a little nest of yellow locust leaves and crumpled paper (including what looked like a waterlogged parking ticket). Tow truck, replacement parts, $$$, and laughter with my good-hearted mechanic.