I will try to keep this short and sweet as there are no photos to go with the telling.
For a few days I had noticed what looked like mouse droppings around the house. Now, this is a mystery because we have 3 cats...in the house....and a big dog, but she never has caught a mouse. So, I couldn't figure it out. Maybe it wasn't what it looked like. Maybe the cats or Mercy were bringing something in on their fur...seed pod things????
About 3 days ago I came home to find many of the things from the mantle no longer where they belonged. Some knocked off and others merely relocated. This wasn't as big a mystery because the cats have been known to perch up there from time to time. I gave Skippy Jo Lohr some grief and cleaned up the mess.
Today, each time I went into the kitchen, Skippy Jo Lohr was sitting on the chair and staring at the microwave. Probably a moth or something, right?
Finally, my brain begins to make some connections and I tell my husband 2 things:
1. I think the mystery mouse is behind the microwave.
2. I'm going to the bathroom now.
He says not so fast and begins to move things. The first clue is a half nibble dog treat. As he moves the microwave a bit more I see a bigish furry body and think, RAT! I run and put Skippy Jo Lohr in the bathroom and Mercy outside. I open the screen in the kitchen window and he opens the kitchen door. I come with a towel. He moves the microwave a bit more and the big scary rat turns into a cute tiny squirrel. One of the squirrels that run back and forth in front of the house on the telephone/electric wires. I get into position with my towel and almost get him when he jumps into the dog treat jar, but I wasn't fast enough. He runs into the living room with me trailing him like a goofy squirrel fighting matador! You don't realize how many places there are to get behind until a tiny squirrel tries them all. Finally, he turns around and dashes back to the kitchen and out the open door!
Mystery solved. But, ummmm, how did this most agile of creatures get into the house to begin with?
New mystery.
And Skippy Jo Lohr has quit staring at the microwave.
12 comments:
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH Well glad you solved that mystery!! DON'T tell the girls or they will be begging you to catch them one! :)
He WAS pretty dang cute perched here and there as he was trying to escape!
I am LAUGHING!! Picturing you and your little husband running through the house chasing the squirrel!
You are one brave woman! I would have told The SM good bye and to call me when he had the problem taken care of!
I'm glad that all ended well. What an adventure!!
I a the wild animal wrangler in our family. Once we found a snake in our driveway and wanted to know what kind it was and if we needed to worry about the cats or dogs getting poisoned, so we caught it and took it to the Extension Office. While there waiting, it got out. You should have seen the mad scramble....I just got a yard stick and put it back in the box. I have rescued mice, bunnies and squirrels and countless insecty like creatures! Oh and bats with a group of old ladies at 4H Leader's training camp. That was fun!
I am the one who is grabbing her skirts and running for the hills squealing like a little girl!!!
But I am glad you didn't catch it with the towel, because those things bite, and they also carry disease. And if you don't think you can get bitten through a towel, think again. DO NO PICK UP RODENTS WITH A TOWEL< EVEN WHEN THEY ARE ADORABLE>YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN.
(panting)
But a squirrel in your house is still kinda special, isn't it?
OK. got it. (smiling....cause you care)
The last time a squirrel got in, our dog, Grace, tried very hard to catch it. When we got home the couch was in the middle of the floor and the slipcover was ripped to shreds all around the bottom...
We put the dog child outside and gently turned the couch over...armed with a broom (for directing purposes only) and a towel (I didn't know then what I know now). That was one terrified squirrel. As soon as he saw light and no huge beast, he skeedaddled right out the door. That one came down the chimney we figured, but that has since been closed off....so, there is still one mystery remaining.
Wow, Donna - I would love to have your services here. Well, actually, I'd just love to have YOU here, but your animal catching abilitites would be appreciated too. We've had snakes, birds, racoons, mice, bats, and chipmunks in the house. And the pony tried to get in once too, but Eldest dealt with that. Oh, chickens and a duck too, though that was on purpose. But no squirrels.
Your house sounds like my kind of place. I would love to be there and I would help capture and release anything that needed relocated....and we'd have the pictures to prove it this time...really really good pictures!
Adventures!
Unless it was a bat - then the pictures would be really, really lousy. No holding the camera still when a bat is involved. Or maybe I could shoot from under the covers?
You probably could....you're just that good!
hee hee!! ;)
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