Speaker Ryan: 'My Car Was Eaten by Animals'

While House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was away, the woodchucks played — hard.

"My car was eaten by animals," Ryan declared Thursday during an appearance at the Economic Club of Washington, The Washington Times reported.

Ryan explained he had parked his Chevrolet Suburban at his mother's house in Wisconsin when he obtained a security detail in 2015 — and she dutifully started the vehicle every month.

But after a winter in Florida, Ryan said his mother could not get the engine to turn over.

"So, I towed it into the dealer, they put it up, and they realized that a family of woodchucks lived in the underbody of my Suburban," devouring the wiring, Ryan said, NPR reported.

The retiring lawmakers said he will need to start driving himself when he returns home at the end of the year — and has renewed his license and plans to buy an F-150 pickup truck, The Washington Times reported.

• Speaker Ryan Makes Election Year Pitch for GOP Tax Law
• Congressional Leadership Raises $51M in Second Quarter