It can be an easy thing to forget, but here's another reminder for car owners in Michigan: Check under the hood every now and again.

A Gaylord resident, Kellen Moore, found that out the hard way last week when he popped the hood of his car and found that a squirrel (or several squirrels) stashed more than 50 pounds of pine cones in every possible free space and corner around the engine.

We're guessing no squirrels have been taken into custody yet.

It's not uncommon for this sort of thing to happen in this state, but you have to see the image to believe this one. Gabe Awrey, a friend of Moore, shared this on Facebook last Friday:

It took two people about 45 minutes to clean the engine of all the pine cones, Awrey said.

"I'm going to strangle that squirrel with my bare hands," Moore cracked in a Facebook comment on the post.

The best news to come out of this, however, is that the car still runs fine after the cleanup. But maybe use this as a reminder of what can happen if you don't check your engine often.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.

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