Birds make nest in engine compartment

Gardnerville resident Sharon DeCarlo was preparing to jump start a friend's car Monday morning, but found a complete surprise waiting for her under the hood of her 2002 Toyota Tacoma.

Tucked away to the rear left corner near the cabin was a large robin's nest, complete with five blue eggs.

"I was astounded," DeCarlo said. "I couldn't believe it.

"I opened up the hood and two birds flew right in to take care of it, so I left the hood open all morning."

The nest was particularly surprising because DeCarlo said her truck hasn't been sitting in the driveway much lately.

"I don't know when they had time to build it," DeCarlo, who edits and publishes the Horse Tales newspaper, said. "I put about 500 miles on it last week delivering my newspaper all over the place.

"I just came back from an assignment in Sierra Valley near Loyalton, Calif., yesterday."

DeCarlo said she suspected that the birds flew in through the wheel well and pieced together the nest in a short amount of time.

"They must have been attracted to it because of the warmth of the engine or something," she said. "I have no idea how long it has been in there, but I just had the truck serviced five weeks ago and it wasn't there then."

DeCarlo said she planned to call animal control about the nest to see if it could be moved without harming the eggs.

"Obviously the birds are still taking care of it," she said. "I'd like to see if something can be done without causing any harm to the nest."

DeCarlo, who lives near the Carson Valley Golf Course, said she was surprised the nest wasn't built in her older truck, which sits in her driveway often for weeks at a time.

"We got lots and lots of different kinds of birds out there," she said. "But I never thought I'd find anything like this in my every-day vehicle."

n Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.