The Squirrel Saga

Well some of you have heard this story already, but it must be documented for all the 5 readers that I have.

This past Friday morning, we were sound asleep with Mia cuddled up at our feet (she snuck up because I forgot to put the gate up). Well, she started getting anxious for food, so she got off the bed. I thought she was going downstairs, when all of a sudden we heard all this thumping. Scott got up to check it out, and then there was a lot of commotion, followed by Scott forcing Mia downstairs. When he came back into our room, he told me that there was a squirrel in our office! I was half-awake, and I think I asked him a couple times whether it was really IN the office (rather than just in the wall) and whether he SAW it. The answer was YES and YES.

Well we both had to get ready for the day - I had to go to work, and Scott had to leave for Man Camp. When I got home that day, Mia was still obsessing (i.e. pacing the kitchen and standing at the gate whining incessantly), and the squirrel was still upstairs in the office. Kira was also quite interested in this whole ordeal as well. That night, when Kira alerted me to the squirrel's location, I decided to attempt to catch it. I brought a pair of oven mitts and a tupperware container upstairs. I thought maybe I could grab it out of the drawer where it was hiding, but I was super scared of getting bitten or scratched up. Hence, the oven mitts! Well, let's just say that was a silly idea! As soon as he saw me coming towards him, he freaked out and jumped in behind the drawer again.

I went to bed that night, trying not to worry about a squirrel coming to visit me in my room. I also had to lock Mia in the bathroom so that she did not drive me crazy. The next morning, I checked on the squirrel, and he was still in the drawer. He looked a lot calmer, so I thought maybe I could capture him this time. First, I went outside and got the live trap and set it up. That, in and of itself, was quite a job. Then I took part of the graham cracker that I had put in the trap and stuck it in the drawer for the squirrel. Then I got my tongs and thought, perhaps I can just reach down and grab him and then dump him in the trap. Attempt #2 to capture him was not successful either. Once again, he was a lot faster than I was, although he was definitely a bit slower after sitting all night with no food or water.

I had to leave that day for a trip down to a birthday party, so when I returned home, I went upstairs to check things out. Kira ran up with me, and we saw the squirrel scrambling back and forth between two windows in the craft room. That's when it occurred to me - open a window! I did that while the squirrel hid in the heating register. I was hoping that he would realize that the window was open and escape that way.

Later that night, I looked around and listened and determined that attempt #3 was successful! Thankfully, I can report that our home has been squirrel-free since. Now, if we only knew how he got in...