(CNN) Don't underestimate the damage a few hungry rodents can inflict, even on something as inedible as an SUV.

During an event hosted by The Economic Club in Washington DC, Speaker Paul Ryan said his Chevy Suburban was gnawed on by a family of woodchucks

"My car was eaten by animals. And it's just dead," Ryan said.

As a top congressional official with a security detail and a chauffeur, Ryan says he hasn't driven in three years. So while he isn't using his car, he says keeps it at his mother's house in his hometown of Jainesville, Wisconsin.

According to Ryan, every month she revs up the Suburban just to make sure it still works. Recently, after returning home from a trip to Florida, it was dead.

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