Flaming Squirrel Blows Up Woman's Car

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!?

i-4bf6f6fc45342e7f2c80a46d48a78802-squirrel on fire.gif

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?

i-34256c3ad2a1f74a426ccff46cc55941-mice.jpg

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)

More like this

It would appear that today will be Sex Day at Pure Pedantry. So be it. I didn't know this but mouse and rat sperm have funny shaped hooks at their tips. To the right is a picture of sperm from a variety of mouse and rat species (click to enlarge). A) Variation in hook design across nine murine…
When one thinks of a house mouse, a meek cheese-nibbling furry little critter is most often visualized Don't be fooled. These are nasty beasts. Just ask the chicks of the stormy petrel, Tristan albatross and Atlantic petrel. The vast majority of avian extinctions have occurred on islands.…
If most of the electricity used to charge your electric car is made by burning coal, is it still worth it, in terms of CO2 release, to buy an electric car? Yes. And you will also save money on fuel. Don't believe me? Want me to show you? What, are you from Missouri or something? Fine. I'll show…
tags: hamster, PetSmart, lawsuit, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, LCMV, zoonosis Portrait of a murderer: A Siberian dwarf hamster, Phodopus sungorus. Orphaned image. I just learned that a lawsuit was recently filed in Massachusetts Superior Court on behalf of a man who died one month after…

You know i don't think the Japanese have squirrels in their country, or if they do they're no where near as common as here. Though they've sold cars here long enough to appreciate the threat.

a flaming stunned/dead squirrel slid into an engine compartment from a windshield?

the 'hudson county now' needs to start hiring fact checkers, i think.

By neuralstatic (not verified) on 23 Oct 2007 #permalink

At least the squirrel died, so it cannot commit more crimes.

By bill coleman (not verified) on 16 Jan 2008 #permalink

On some less-detailed maps their layout looks similar except they're inverted relative to one another and there isn't always a sign telling you you've crossed the border from one to the other. I once was using a map to navigate in that area thinking I was in Quincy only to notice that the setting sun was on the wrong side of the car.

I once was using a map to navigate in that area thinking I was in Quincy only to notice that the setting sun was on the wrong side of the car.