WEST LINN, Ore. -- It's 'Squirrels gone wild' - and car owners are paying the price.
Randy Lenz is just one of several West Linn homeowners victimized by squirrels chomping into the wiring of area cars.
“Every time I get up in the morning, I hope all the lights don't go on,” Lenz laughs.
But the problem is no laughing matter. Lenz says his SUV has been hit twice in the past month. Squirrels ate away the insulation from a firewall under his hood.
“The last time, they really hit it hard,” says Lenz. “It’s like getting your house broken into, wow. What can you do? Can’t move!”
The rain seems to slow the squirrels down, but when the weather is dry, that's when the animals attack.
Another neighbor, Bob Brune, found leaves and a nest inside the engine compartment of his truck. The repair cost him $325.
Mechanic Russ Leinbach says he's fixed four other cars in his shop with the same problem.
“Why, all of a sudden? That's the perplexing thing,” says Leinbach. “I don't know!”
The residents are now using cans of mothballs, pepper spray and traps in hopes of fending off the furry animals.
The squirrels’ curious attraction to car wiring remains a mystery to neighbors.
But Bob Brune has another solution. He has trapped four squirrels already so far, and released them across the river in Clackamette Park.
“A lot of big trees, and nice area, so I thought they'd like it over there!”
According to the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, it is illegal to relocate squirrels, but the department offers several solutions for removing them from attics, preventnig them from traveling on wires and more.
Click here for the ODFW 'Living with Tree Squirrels' pamphlet
