Oh Crap!!!!

Does it ever end?  Yet another one!  Looks like they had three kids as this one looks pretty young too.  So, another relocation is happening as we speak.  Maybe we should start up a squirrel trapping business. 

I wonder, how hard is it to skin a squirrel?  We would be well on our way to a nice fur hat or maybe some warm mitts by now. (Just kidding!)  Sure hope this is the end of critter trapping, but I somehow have a feeling it won't be.

Success! (at least so far)

Well, it looks like the freeloading squirrels have been evicted.  No scampering and scratching noises overnight or this morning.  Both the traps are still vacant, but we will continue to monitor those as well.  It appears they were a family of four, two kids and Mom and Pop..

The first two to be caught and relocated were smaller and quite young looking compared to the next two.  They were also very curious and mischievous and didn't seem to be afraid of us either.  The last one was larger than all the rest, so it was either daddy squirrel or fat mama getting ready to present us with more problems.

All four were released at the same location, so maybe they were able to have a  family celebration or big reunion of some sort before taking on the task of preparing a new home for the coming winter.  Hopefully they stay in the forest and don't find another attic to inhabit.

And The Saga Continues!!!

Gulliver is now on squirrel release mission #4.  This last one was caught today in the middle of the afternoon and was very determined to get away. You could feel it throwing itself against the pipe trying to escape.

The warm weather also must have dried the oil some because he was walking up toward the top.  I looked in to see him and it was about one and a half feet from the top.  I knocked him back down, quickly sprayed  inside the top of the pipe with vegetable oil and then put a bag and elastic over the top.

How many more can there be?  We're hoping NONE, but we will continue to set the traps out.  I am really getting worried now about how much of a mess has been made with the insulation in the attic.

The people are coming to do the new gutters and soffits on Monday and we will be able to see how the insulation is then.  Plus there will be no more access points after all that gets done.

Squirrel Update!

Here is squirrel #2.  I never thought this was going to work!  I was saying, here we go again, another $26 down the drain . This thing is fairly simple to make.  It is just a length of plastic sewer pipe, cut in half so that each length is about 5 feet.  Then cap one end of each piece.  Put some seeds or squirrel bait in the bottom.  Then liberaly coat the inside of the pipe with vegetable oil and stand it up where you know the squirrels are travelling.  The guy at the store said to use peanut butter for bait, so we did.

Yesterday, right after I posted, I got Craig to go out and check the trap again.  Lo and behold, there was a squirrel in it. I was some surprised.  Poor little guy was dripping in oil from trying to get up the tube which was too slippery.  He looked pretty funny.

So Craig took the pipe with the squirrel at the bottom and stood it up in the cab of the truck and took it for a little ride about 5 kms away.  When Craig lowered the pipe it took off like a rocket.

So after Craig got back from his little journey, he readied the trap again and put it back in the same spot.  At six in the morning he checked, but no squirrel.  Right after breakfast he checked again and yup, squirrel #2.

So off for another ride to the same spot for release into his new home in the wild.  Same scene, took off like a rocket.  I'm sure they found each other and will be very busy licking the oil from each others fur for a day or two at least.

Haven't seen a squirrel all day and I sure do miss them.  NOT!!!

Pesky Critters!

Yes, we have pesky little critters.  Two of them.  And they are squirrels, but that's not what I call them.  They are very content and think they have a nice home.  They seem to prefer the upstairs attic over the lower one.  But I have a surprise in store for them.

After we got back home in early April, Craig was visiting with the neighbor at the back and he mentioned that he saw a squirrel coming out of the upper corner of our house.  We didn't really take him too seriously, but checked the vent screens around the whole house and couldn't see any holes.

So life went on and then some of our guests in the front bedroom starting saying they thought they sometimes heard scratching noises in the night and it sounded like it was coming from the area where the eaves meets the roof line.

Then we were sitting in the living room visiting and the two of them were running around on the front walkway and trying to shimmy up the garage man door. When we went outside to investigate, one of them was sitting in the rain gutter over the front door trying to enter through a hole in the screen and into the soffitt.

So we got some tin and blocked it up.  Then we started seeing them playing all over the roof. We shooed them away and starting investigating for access points where they could be getting in. HA! We found about four holes in the screens.

They weren't shy either.  They would come and play on the deck and around the pool and back door, as well as the front walkway and drive. Craig would get the camera and they would just stand there while he took their picture.  If they were on the roof they would run from the front to the back playing catch me if you can with us.

Here are some pictures of our pesky little critters.

After that Craig went outside the patio doors just in time to see it walking straight up the wall and into the hole it made in the screen and then sit in the soffitt looking down at us. We have seen it do this many times since.  I used to think they were cute, but not so much anymore.

So we are getting new gutters, fascia and aluminum soffitts all around and then the attics will be completely sealed.  In the meantime, Craig went online and found a site for homemade squirrel traps. So we did that, but nothing is going in so far. Oh, life is so much fun.  Spend, spend and spend some more!!  Hold on, I 'll be right back. I have to go give my money tree some water.

Special Bonds

 A sister is one of the nicest things.

She is someone to laugh with and share with
to work with and join in the fun with
She is someone who helps in the rough times,
and knows when you need a warm smile.
She is someone who will quietly listen,
when you just want to talk for a while.
A sister is dear to you always,
for she is someone who is always a part
of all the favorite memories
that you keep very close to your heart


Author Unknown