Varmints

One day, early spring, with that dirty brown snow still clutching the edge of some sidestreets, something died in my girlfriend’s car.

A good two weeks went by, us wondering what could possibly cause that smell. We smoked a lot of Gitanes and drove with the windows down.

Day by day, the reek grew worse.

Lucky for me, I wasn’t around the day our neighbour asked for a lift, tracked the smell, and disposed of the broken sack of bones and black fur. A squirrel, it seems, had curled up in the engine seeking warmth.

Since then, I’ve buried my share of dead critters. A rat, couple raccoons, a great blue heron, and too many birds, fish, mice, and squirrels to count. Apart from the mice and two of the squirrels, they all died outdoors in inconvenient places.

Thing is, you don't have to bury them all that deep to get rid of the smell.

And you sure as hell don't want them dying in your car.