Squirrels Evil?

Okay, I've liked squirrels for some time. As a kid I remember my Great Grandfather feeding a squirrel that would come right up to him. I enjoy watching them run around the yard burying nuts and looking for previously buried nuts (which they seem to only find again by chance). Even after we had one romping around in our attic, I still did not hate them. Now, however, they're crossing the line. First one car and then another have been attacked by these little beasties. How does a squirrel attack a car, you may ask? They chew on your wires, that's how.

The first vehicle was one I was getting ready to sell and was parked in the back of our house. After I took care of some minor repairs I noticed some wires had been chewed on and the hood insulation used to start a nest of sorts. The wires were to an electrical connection on a sensor that caused the check engine light to come on. With some soldering and additional wire I was able to fix the problem.

A couple of weeks later, I am driving my car (that is parked in the front) during a warm day to run some errands for work. I notice my air conditioning is not blowing cold air when it had just the afternoon before. I figured maybe it needed to be charged so I got a can of freon or whatever they are calling it these days. However, as I was checking that out, my neighbor noticed some wires had been chewed on and severed near an electrical connection for the air conditioning. Another car had been attacked by a squirrel!

No, I haven't witnessed a squirrel doing the deeds but they are pretty much the only critters we have running around that I have seen and can list as suspects. There's been a couple of regulars as of late. My wife is not appreciating their presence as they seem to be digging all over the place looking for their lost food storage. Also, it seems I'm not the only one that has had similar problems. There is actually a website called Squirrels Ate My Wiring with tales of this type of squirrel shenanigan.

Maybe it is time to look up some of those squirrel recipes. Is there a squirrel season? Do I need a license?