The Squirrel Saga continues

I can't believe the squirrel saga continues.
3 have been exterminated.
We thought they were gone and we could close up the hole, but no... he/she/it/they came back. And so did my nightmares.
We tried glue traps.
We placed them all around the hole.
They worked.
Until the little bugger chewed his way out.
(I was likely listening in my sleep and had a nightmare).
Then there were the rat traps, but I don't think they like our bait.
I'm not sure is SP put up poison on his last trip up there.
I am not sure what he did but it involved a lot of banging.
I bet he squeezed shut the old dryer vent that the squirrels kept getting into in the middle of the night so that we woke up to screamingscratchingscootchingsquirrels in the wall by out heads.
(Did I mention the nightmares?)
Anyway, thanks to good old cousin Lukey we have a new weapon on our side.
I meant weapon when I said it.
Air powered bliss.



















Sigh... this better work.

Are squirrels monogamous?

That is one of many questions I answered on Friday night.
Oh no I 'm sorry , I learned it on Saturday morning.
VERY early on Saturday morning.
There's nothing like a frightful 2 AM wake up on Halloween.
Yup - those darn flying squirrels were busy once again.
But by 4 AM there was no ignoring the noise.
A noise like no other.
The noise of rodent teeth chewing wood.
Since the attic hatch is in Baby's room, he was brought to our room.
SP began his squirrel crusade.
It was scary and sounded violent.
Have you ever been below an attic who's floor insulation is being ripped up?
It's a racket and it is unsettling.
Needless to say we didn't get back to sleep.
Nor did SP find anything in the insulation.
So he came back down to talk to me and that is when he heard it.
WHAT?
SCRITCHYSCRATCHYSRICTCHYSCRATCHY!!!
Coming from the wall!!!!
Yes... the damn flying squirrel was in the wall between our room and baby's room.
How?
Well... he went down the dryer vent.
Fortunately for us, when we moved the washer and dryer to the basement
to make room for Baby, we left the wall "in tact" so that if the house sells
the new owners can decide where they want the laundry.
SO... SP slowly detached the panel.


















Then we saw, hiding behind the old face plate, the culprit.




















So SP reached in to grab him...










but that didn't go well. The squirrel decided to run around the room,
and under the crib, and through the clothes.
There were a few screams uttered from both me and Shane.
Fortunately we were locked within one small room.
The squirrel finally decided to hide under the heater.
This is him when he decided to come out.
















SO we tried to catch him AGAIN!
Did you know that like lizards squirrels drop their tails?
















Well they do.
We finally got him.
This is him on his way out.
Kicking
and
screaming

all

the

way

to

his

high

speed

dirt

nap.

Sunday's Sandwich

We now have one less squirrel in the attic. I never knew that squirrels liked to commit hari kari.

So much for a humane solution!

I have squirrels. Yes. I do.
We have squirrels.
They live in our attic.
They play in our attic.
They romp at all hours of the dark early morning.
They cause nightmares.
My kids have nightmares.
I have nightmares.
They really need to leave my attic before we all go insane.
All I can say is that this:












did not work!
So... we are off to find rat traps and lots of them because this is getting out of hand!

An attic full of Glaucomys sabrinus

It's been a while since my last blog. Things have been busy here at our abode. The early spring gave me a healthy head start on the garden. But today, trying to neaten things up inside while SP repaired some outdoor window trim, I heard the unmistakable sound of scratching in the attic over Puckstopper's bedroom. A month or so ago, Puckstopper asked me what the sound in the attic was. I said, "Oh that's nothing dear - it's just the cats in the garage!" Until today, when I heard the noise that was distinctly overhead, did I actually go into the garage to see if my earlier hypothesis could have been correct. I couldn't have been further from correct. The garage comes no where near the ceiling of Puckstopper's room. So, in near panic, I wandered out to the front yard to get SP's attention on the roof.
The funny thing is about 3 years ago to date, I had done a similar thing, pacing like a lone wolf at the foot of his 3 story scaffolding, while SP was building our chimney, waiting for the "right moment" to tell him "the news". The news? Yes, the news that I was pregnant with Baby. His response upon seeing me pacing was a blunt, "What the hell is wrong now!?" Nice way to break the news, eh? Well today, he saw panic and his response was exactly the same. "SP there is something in the attic and I need you to help me get it out NOW!"
Thankfully for our well insulated attic, our house stays very cool in the summer, but today our attic was a sweltering 110 degrees, at least. Following carefully along the beams of the attic, we found the corner that the noise was coming from, but all we saw was undisturbed insulation. SP and both thought, "Hmm... there's nothing there and it is far to hot for anything to WANT to be up here!" but decided that taking a look under the insulation was warranted. Sure enough, with the first piece we pulled back we saw an awesome furry fat grey tail slink away under the insulation. "Aw crap" was the least we said, and proceeded to pull back more, sending the cutest flying squirrel scurrying toward my feet. Fortunately I had a good hold of the rafters and pulled my feet up, and watched it move past me, run the length of the attic, launch itself up into the rafters, and out a hole in the far corner. A hole in the far corner? Did I mention that that chimney project is still not done? That's next weekend's project. Well, one squirrel down, how many more to go? Back to the insulation. We uncovered 2 more squirrels, one quickly squirreled it's way off into the soffit, and the other we managed to get into a box and out to the kids for an exciting Sunday afternoon show and tell in the front yard. After it tried to bite SP and he flung it, we actually got to see it fly. It's nap time now, but we'll be back at the squirrel eradication in a few hours I am sure. Oh the life of being a homeowner in rural Maine.
Isn't he cute? Here's lookin' at you babe!