Rats in cars

“The ‘check engine’ light came on, and I brought it to my mechanic, who popped the hood and found chicken bones, some bread and part of a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich sitting there”: “Why So Many Cars Have Rats in Them Now” (The New York Times ).

A tip our Toyota dealer offered: set the ventilation to recirculate if you’re leaving a car parked for any length of time — say in an airport parking lot. Doing so keeps at least some of the innards off-limits to critters.