Squirrel
I'm sharing this story with you, not necessarily because it brings a burning issue to the fore, but because it's Friday. If I were bringing the burning issue to the fore first and foremost, it would be this: 'What is the use of plant-based plastics if squirrels keep eating our cars'.
This has been a major concern to many motorists for some time - or at least since this morning when several of the UK's major news outlets reported that a Croydon motorist's Toyota Aygo had been nibbled on by the local wildlife.
Tony Steeles told the London Evening Standard that his car has been attacked on numerous occasions when parked outside his house and he suspects squirrels are the culprits, as they have developed a taste for plant-based plastics.
The auto repairman who came out to Steeles' home to investigate the vehicle after one of these 'attacks' informed the unwitting driver that the damage was likely caused by a Croydon critter. Indeed, there was evidence of teeth marks where the aerial had been chewed off (this has happened twice), the oxygen sensor has been damaged and various rubber-like trims have been gnawed on.
No other cars near Steele's home have been feasted upon in such a way and he has hypothesised it is his Toyota Aygo's plant-based plastic exterior - used to boost the vehicle's green points - that is attracting peckish pests.
Auto Express reported, however, that a Toyota spokesperson has heard few complaints of this nature in the UK, nevertheless the company is investigating improvements to deter ravenous rodents.
Whether a story like this arises again or not, in this editor's view, one case is one case too many and I put it to the automotive materials developers in the plastics industry to try harder when developing plant-based plastics for car exteriors that the finished product is in no way delicious to squirrels - or any other animal for that matter.