Squirrels are fun to watch, but never in your house! When we were newer to the neighborhood, we played in a local Saturday night bridge group. Afterwards, we returned home, took the baby sitter home, and went to bed, only to be awoken by hammering. It was 1:30 AM and it sounded like somebody was building a dog house in the back yard!
I looked around in the back yard to spot the trouble but couldn't see anything. We live in a pretty quiet town, so I reported the disturbance to our local police - fearing somebody was trying to break in somewhere. We saw the next door neighbors the next day and they sheepishly explained that the police had visited them last night. They were 15 years older than we and their kids were long grown and out of the house. They stayed on at the bridge group for a bit of socializing and returned about 1:30 AM. They had been having problems with squirrels in the attic over their bedroom. When they returned home after bridge and heard no squirrels, the husband seized the opportunity to climb up into the attic and nail some boards over the hole in the eves where the squirrels were gaining entrance. This explained the 'somebody building a dog house' noise I reported. The neighbor said the police had rung his doorbell and paid a visit to make sure things were OK. He also said it would have been better if he had locked the squirrels out of the attic instead of locking them in! Regards, Bob S. On 12/28/05, Gonz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > You really had me laughing out loud. > > rg > > > Perry Pellechia wrote: > > (long tale of woe follows) > > > > My wife, Marianne, and I love to head to the shore any chance we get > > to beach comb. > > We live about two hours from Charleston, SC and the beach we go to > > often is Folly > > Beach. Since we spend all our time looking for shells I rarely bring a > > camera > > because my hands are usually pretty sandy and wet. Today I took our > > Canon A80 and > > got this photo of the Morris Island light house. As you can see there > > is nothing left of > > Morris Island due to erosion. Yes the light house is tilting. > > > > http://homer.chem.sc.edu/perry/peso/img_1962b.jpg > > > > The image is nothing special but offer comments if you please. > > > > We had a great time at the beach. We found a couple of species of > > shells we have not > > found before, which is rare because we have been to this beach pretty > > often. Everything > > was going great until we got home. Shortly after we finished cleaning > > up we heard a thud > > from the fireplace. At first I was not sure what it was but soon > > figured out that some > > animal fell into the chimney. My hope of it climbing out the same way > > it got in was quickly > > dashed. When it started clawing on the flue door I knew it had to be > > a squirrel. > > > > After several minutes of paralysis we devised a plan to trap the > > squirrel in a large plastic > > storage container that fit under the flue. We sealed off the opening > > of the fire place with a > > clear plastic shower curtain and duct tape so that if something went > > wrong the squirrel > > could not run into the house. We had the lid of the container ready > > to slide over the > > plastic tub. All we had to do was: > > > > 1) open the flue > > 2) have squirrel fall into tub > > 3) slide cover onto tub. > > > > So I reach in and pull the flue open. We hear something fall into the > > tub and we slam the > > tub shut. Great, the plan worked! Then to our dismay we realize the > > squirrel was on top > > of the cover. After cursing we get the cover off the tub and find the > > damn rodent perched > > on the inner wall of the hearth. We tried coaxing him into the tub > > but had to pull open the > > shower curtain to reach in with a fire poker. The furry menace did > > not take the hint. I > > reach for a hockey stick and with the stick in one hand and the poker > > in the other I try to > > force the sooty rodent to fall in the tub. > > > > This is when things went horribly wrong. As I am trying to knock him > > into the tub he > > crawls onto the poker. He then races along the poker, to my arm then > > over my head and > > down my back as I knelt in front of the fire place. Marianne screams > > as the squirrel runs > > to the far corner of the family room. We chase him into the kitchen > > (thankfully he does not > > go behind the fridge), back into the family room. Here he tries to > > jump into/over the TV. > > We finally get him into the enclosed porch and finally out into the yard. > > > > Afterwards I thought I should have taken photos of the ordeal but at > > the time I had other > > things on my mind. I do have this photo of the aftermath: > > > > http://homer.chem.sc.edu/perry/peso/img_1966a.jpg > > > > This is the back of my shirt and the tracks left by the sooty pest. > > > > <----------------------------------------------------> > > Perry Pellechia > > > > Primary email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Alternate email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Home Page: http://homer.chem.sc.edu/perry > > <----------------------------------------------------> > > > >
