Hudson County Now reported late last week that a flaming squirrel fell from the sky and blew up a woman’s car in Bayonne, NJ. Lindsey Millar, 23, and her brother, Tony, 22, were inside their home when they looked outside and saw Lindsey’s car in flames. Local firefighters were called and after extinguishing the flames they found the crispy culprit. Apparently the squirrel had been gnawing on power lines directly above Lindsey’s Toyota Camry. After chewing through the power lines’ protective coating, the electric current was enough to turn the fluffy squirrel into a flaming comet. In a performance that must have been worthy of Greg Louganis, the squirrel hit the windshield and slid directly into the engine compartment, blowing up the car. And we thought Toyotas were supposed to be safe! Do they not have flaming squirrels in Japan!?

In other rodent news… something about scientists creating first interspecies mammalian chimera… species evolved separately for like 20 million years or something… huge breakthrough or something… blah blah blah science world amazed… first step towards breeding man with fish and allowing us to breathe underwater… BORING. Why can’t these mice catch fire like their awesome squirrel cousins?

From left: Mus musculus (house mouse); chimera, a genetic fusion of a house and wood mouse; and Apodemus sylvaticus (wood mouse). (Credit: Photo courtesy of Bruce Lahn)