At the lube shop, it is my responsibility to check the air filter on every vehicle and suggest a replacement if it's necessary. Usually, this involves removing the lid of the air filter assembly and visually inspecting the filter.

Saturday, this Ford Explorer came in for an oil change. I got to the point that the air filter needed to be checked, so I opened the box up and pulled the filter out. What I found in the bottom of the box was simply insane.

I looked at the owner and said, "Do you have dog food in here for any specific reason?" He got a puzzled look on his face and said, "What???"

I grabbed the trash can and pulled it over, next to the front end of his vehicle, and started pulling the dog food out and throwing it in the trash. He came over and saw what I was doing, laughed, then started helping me remove the dog food. His passenger came out to see what was going on, and said "What is it? Contraband?" The driver said "No man, it's dog food!"

More than likely, there were mice in the garage with the vehicle and a bag of dog food, and the mice found a way into the air filter assembly. They probably just put the food there, piece by piece, in an attempt to make a cache for the cold winter to come.