Alert Bess Averts Disaster

Bessie Anne gave her, "Come now, Mom!," bark just before sundown, and I went out to see.  She was running from side to side and peering under the big truck.  I thought, "Oh, no!  Please don't let it be a skunk."  I could just imagine driving with a hot engine that had been sprayed with skunk juice.  I approached cautiously, but couldn't see anything.  Then I saw that Bess was looking up and under.  "Not again!"  I popped the hood and just caught the outline of the squirrel that was hiding in the engine compartment.  There was also the evidence of several acorn meals, indicating that the squirrel was a squatter who was making a new home for itself in my truck. 

Some years back, I was in a busy parking lot in Cameron Park.  When I went to leave, just turning the ignition key set off the car alarm but wouldn't start the engine.  Trying this and that to no avail, with the horn blaring, I finally called Triple A and was rescued by Cheeto (no, really...that was his name).  When Cheeto opened the hood to disconnect the battery, there was a big squirrel nest, acorns in every nook and cranny, and the all the chewed wiring.  Of course, I later called to put in an insurance claim for the repairs.  The initial adjuster said, "A what did what?"  For no good reason I could discern other than office amusement, my call got passed to three or four other adjusters and I had to explain my predicament over and over and listen to them laugh.  It seems there aren't too many claims for squirrel damage. 

With Bess under the truck and me above, the squirrel had nowhere to go, so Bess and I got in, slamming hood and doors, and drove down to get the mail and the trash barrel.  I cleaned out all the detritus and checked the wiring carefully.  Thanks to Bessie Anne, the squatter was evicted before any damage was done.  Like it or not, I guess I'm going to have to go somewhere more often to show that the truck has not been abandoned.