The Brilliant Squirrel Catcher

I had wanted this photo to go with the squirrel posts below. But this image alone is enough to instill giggles in even the most post holiday depressed person.

What was I thinking? Wild Oats bags + wet dog food, stuck precariously on tiny hooks was going to equal a trapped squirrel? Me and my hairbrained ideas. Then DG put about 16oz. of water in the bag to weigh it down and hold it in place. His reasoning was that the squirrel was more thirsty than hungry. Seriously?

Merry Christmas and Goodbye Mr. Squirrel

We came up to Lafayette on Christmas Eve to spend the night with DGs sister and family and have had such a great holiday. All I can say is that I must have been such a good girl this year. *wink wink*

I'll give my version of the Squirrel situation later this week. Let's just say that Mr. S made it home for the holidays safely. You can read DGs account here.

Wishing you and your family and joyous and loving holiday!

DG vs. The Squirrel Round II

Saturday morning, after the dogs woke us up at 6am, DG noticed the kitchen floor was wet. With dismay we looked up at the ceiling fan. Though we could not see the vermin, we suspected he was snowed into the damper and could not get out. Later in the morning, DG went back up to investigate. Guess who chewed through the electrical on the ceiling fan? It appeared our new house guest was more clever than we thought. We began to strategize our plan of removing our unwanted friend from the premises. Plan one was to go to the damper on the roof. We decided against this one due to all of the snow. Plan two was going into the crawl space combatting the fields of insulation. We put off our attack until later in the afternoon. When we returned home from our errands, the dogs were frantic and again there were piles of chewed plastic on the floor. Monsieur Squirrel was as well planning his method of escape as he chewed through the vent of the ceiling fan.

DG removed the chewed ceiling fan cover, the chewed fan, and the chewed electric of the fan and there sat Mr. S just out of arms reach. The household then turned into an I Love Lucy episode consisting of 1 squeeling girl, 2 barking dogs, 1 grouchy husband, gloved hands, garbage bags and BBQ tongs as we delicately tried to extract Mr. S from his location.

We gave up after an hour, and as a last resort, we created a trap consisting of a grocery bag with water and dog food hanging over the hole in the ceiling. We suspect some action in the middle of the night.

Round II: The Squirrel

To be continued...

DG vs. The Squirrel Round I

Friday afternoon, Gibson kept going into the kitchen and barking. I heard some rustling, but didn't think anything of it, until after several hours of it, I noticed a bunch of junk on the kitchen floor. I looked up into the ceiling fan and saw a bunch of fur sticking out. It appeared that a squirrel had come through the damper and was taking a nap against the grate. With my husband at work, I did the next best thing and called my dad. 35 years of instinct are hard to break. Dad insisted we needed to take off the cover of the fan and get the squirrel out. Option number 2 was to turn the fan on, which would open the damper and allow the squirrel to get out. I was too afraid that the fan option would produce blood and guts, so I decided this was a man's work. I turned up the music to drown out the rustling squirrel and barking dogs and waited for DG to get home.

Upon arrival home, DG scared the squirrel up beyond the fan, turned the fan on to allow the damper to open and the squirrel disappeared. I proclaimed "my hero" and we left the house to go out to dinner. Round I: DG.