CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – During winter, rodents like squirrels seek warmth in cars, causing significant damage.
It’s one thing to know that a squirrel or a mouse is hanging out underneath the hood of your car but it’s another thing when they’re costing you thousands of dollars of car damage.
A Clinton Township community is no stranger to that.
Kevin Swee has lived at Crosswinds Condominiums for 15 years. In the last couple of years, he said the squirrels have become a real problem and have damaged his car twice in the last nine months.
“So between all of our cars since late last summer, we’re talking over $5,000 of damage,” Swee said. “They chew through my wires on my fuel lines. This time, they chewed through the wires on top of the engine.”
He’s not alone. His neighbor, Curt Goetz, got stuck with a big bill to pay too.
“I took it to the dealership and they told me that it was squirrel damage,” Goetz said. “It had eaten through the electrical lines in there.”
It cost him nearly $1,000 to repair.
Residents said the problem has gotten worse because people are feeding the squirrels. They’re asking management to do more than posting a sign to not feed the animals. They want a pest control company to get involved.
Management told Swee “Squirrels are part of nature and in their natural habitat and are not trapped and removed.”
When reached for comment, management told Local 4 “This request has not been implemented since trapping all squirrels is impossible.”