"charles krin" wrote in message
...
| On Sat, 22 May 2004 03:16:52 GMT, "mark dunning"
| wrote:
|
| I'd have spent a dollar on letting the car idle for a half gallon of gas,
or
| so, then removed the carcass.....
|
| Mark (just trying to save you $144 next time) Dunning
|
| reading in misc.rural.
|
| fun part is that depending on how new the car is, that might not work.
| since about 1995, the car computers have been smart enough to stop the
| engine when the oxygen level falls below 16% or so...and with the
| modern cat cons, that might not have the carbon monoxide level high
| enough for more than a head ache.

Actually the variation in O2 levels as controlled by the computer is not
that great. Regardless it is the blood's affinity for CO that is the danger
and CO levels way lower than can be minimally produced by an internal
combustion engine are sufficient to kill after prolonged exposure. The key
is time. I should also mention that CO is heavier than O2 so the atmosphere
at the bottom of the rat hole will be have increasingly concentrated CO
levels. If all else fails the critter will have one h*ll of a head ache.