When you glance out the window of your home and look at your car you see transportation. Critters may see a home.

Have you ever run out to the car in your Johnsburg driveway, started the engine and, before you moved more than a couple feet, an animal has scurried out from below? Maybe the critter was just hiding under the car. Then again, maybe the animal was making a home down there.

An automobile is full of nooks and crannies that an animal might find enticing. This is especially true under the hood. There, however, the problem is that some parts move and many parts get hot while you’re driving. Those critters could get hurt under there.

The spectrum of wildlife in Johnsburg is fairly extensive. Those that might look to an automobile as a place to set up house is fairly wide, too.

Some of the more common animals found living in automobiles probably starts with squirrels, chipmunks and small birds. But you might also find snakes (who might be attracted to warm engine components), reptiles and insects.

Insects are a given, though most of these are small enough that they really don’t interfere with the condition and operation of the vehicle. Who hasn’t seen a spider crawling across their windshield? 

Of course, it’s better that these invaders don’t make their way inside the cabin. It can be hazardous if you’re driving down the road and discover a spider crawling on your arm. You’re liable to react and could run into something.

Birds sometimes create nests within air filter boxes. In the process, they can constrict the airflow into the engine.

The likelihood that a small animal will create a home in an automobile increases the longer the car sits unused. In other words, it’s difficult to set up house if the house is constantly on the go. But, if you parked a car in your Johnsburg backyard and didn’t drive it for an extended period of time, you can almost bet that someone out there among the fauna will see the car’s potential as a home.

The longer the car sits, the larger the invaders may prove to be. Of course, here in Johnsburg, at least we don’t have to worry about finding mountain lions in the front seat as reported to happen sometimes in places like Colorado.