When it comes to cars, it’s usually horsepower that matters, but a vehicle in for servicing at Red Bank Volvo Cars Tuesday morning had a little something extra under the hood: a trio of newborn squirrels.
Red Bank animal control officer Henry Perez told redbankgreen the babies, found in the engine compartment by a shop employee, appeared to be just hours old.
“They’re not even an inch-and-a-half long,” he said.
An employee at the Volvo dealership, on Newman Springs Road, said it’s not the first time critters have been found under a hood. “It happens,” he said.
Perez took the triplets to Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls for rehab, and said he expects to release them in the vicinity of Count Basie Fields, behind the dealership, once they’re healthy enough to live in the wild.
According to a 2001 paper from Cornell University, squirrels usually spend 10 to 12 weeks in their home nest before beginning to explore the outside world.
