Squirrel Stuff

Can I just say that I don't mind squirrels at all...in fact they are fun to watch frolicking in the yard and jumping from tree branch to tree branch. What I DO mind is when they are in my house, or rather the crawl spaces in our attic bedroom. We had an issue last year that involved a pregnant squirrel building a nest in our attic, which became a home for her three newborn babies, two of which were scooped with a long handled pool net out of a hole in our siding. The mother squirrel was very determined to get in to our house to nest and went as far as finding a small corner of our aluminum siding that was pulled back just enough for her to crawl in between (the house and the siding mind you) to chew a hole near the peak of our house in order to get in. Again, the mother and two of her babies were gently "escorted" (alive) from our attic, the access point was boarded up, and the drama was over.

Fast forward to today.

Jon, Madison and Emerson decided to go around the lake and I figured I would enjoy some quiet time watching trashy TV, when I heard the scuffling, gnawing, scratching sounds of an intruder in the attic. This same sound nearly drove me to the brink of insanity last year, so hearing it today sent me into a whirl of post traumatic stress disorder.

I was tormented by the sounds for a full hour before Jon got home, when of course the sounds stopped and Jon gave me the "you are losing it" look. S ee, since our last squirrel incident we had our house re-sided, quite beautifully (Thank you, CitySide Exteriors) if I may add, but it is sealed up tight as a drum, so the idea of how the squirrel gained access was baffling me.

After about a half an hour the noise started again and this time Jon heard it too. He went upstairs with a club like stick and a garbage bag...squirrel warfare tools. The noise stopped and there was no sign of the critter in the attic. Half an hour later, more noises, Jon investigated and SAW it with what he thought was a baby squirrel in it's mouth.

My blood pressure shot through the roof.

I suggested he visit our neighbor to see if perhaps he still owned a BB gun...which illustrates how crazy this was making me...scary. Anyway, Jon instead went outside to see if he could find the access point because he was baffled too. He found it and it happened to be the ONE place that was not recently covered with fresh, crisp, new, white siding.

There is a spot just under the overhang of the roof near a gutter, just big enough for an extremely motivated squirrel to fit through. UGH!

Jon came running in the house to tell me that the squirrel just came out, and to watch the spot until he could get something to fill the hole once and for all. I have never stared so closely at a spot. Anyway, Jon came back with chicken wire (which as I type it sounds pretty ghetto) when I suggested tucking a brick into the space, which is heavy enough that a squirrel cannot move or chew through, which seemed to do the trick, oh and Jon put some chicken wire in there too, just for good measure.Jon also said the squirrel looked pretty fat, which I am hoping means she hasn't delivered yet.

Please let it be that she has not delivered yet, please.

All this to say, I think that there is a conspiracy among the squirrels in our neighborhood, and I have never been so certain that I absolutely need to refill my anti-anxiety medication.