Our home...a squirrel's paradise

So, here it is...a veritable squirrels paradise. We live in a heavily-wooded area of Houston. Our whole neighborhood is full of trees. Our lot alone has 20-30 trees, and for some reason the squirrels prefer our yard. At any given time during the day, you will see numerous squirrels frolicking in our trees, running along our fence, and even playing on our swing set in the backyard. It's like disneyland for squirrels! When we first moved in, we thought it was so cute. In the above picture, in the big tree, do you see the stump that kind of sticks out? That's the squirrel's little perch to sit on while he eats his little acorns. I actually caught one in action a couple of weeks ago.

Awww...cute right? Sure, you can continue to think that for the moment. While these little creatures are cute, they are wily little devils. Last spring, in the wee morning hours one morning (Trevor had just left for work, so I was alone), I heard some rustling above my head. I totally freaked out. I thought someone (or something) was in my house. My bedroom is on the main floor, and the girls are upstairs, which is where I head the rustling coming from. I immediately called Trevor (it was about 6:30am, and he had just walked into his office), and was whispering on the phone that something was in the house. I didn't know what to do. I ran upstairs and barricaded off the rooms in which I heard the noises, so that whatever it was couldn't get into the rest of the house. I continued to hear the rustling noises as well as some animal chatter. So I knew it was an animal of some sort. Well, to make a long story short, we had squirrels in our attic. And every morning, I would be awakened to them knocking their nuts and acorns around, and scampering through the walls. I called Critter Control, and they came and set traps on the roof and in the attic and found a hole in our roof where the squirrels had chewed their way in. (And you thought they were cute and friendly! oh no.) Do you think that we caught any squirrels in those traps? Oh no, they are way too smart for traps. Look in the below picture. Do you see the above the upper window some vents? Well, we also discovered that they were getting there as well.

So, Trevor fixed all the points of entry. He put chicken wire over the attic vents, and for a year we have been squirrel-free (in the house, anyway). Well, a couple of weeks ago, we started to hear a bit of rustling in the room that is just under that attic vent (you know, the one with the chicken wire). Trevor ran outside, and guess what he saw! A racoon was hanging from the tippy top of the roof upside down, pulling up the chicken wire. That's right, the racoons and squirrels have formed an alliance against us. Here's a close-up picture of what the racoon did. Incredible!!


Trevor threw a stick at it, and scared it off. And the next day, he climbed up there and fixed the chicken wire. So, problem solved, right? Read on, dear friends, the fun isn't over.

Well, this morning (and when I say morning, I mean 4 am!), I was enjoying the first full night's sleep in several days due to a sick baby, and what do I awaken to? Not a baby crying...but the rustling above my head! I listen for a while in shock! How are these creatures getting in?! I rolled over and said, "those d#$% squirrels!" Trevor just laughed...he had been awakened as well. Neither one of us could go back to sleep because they were being so loud.

Let's not think about the fact, that they could be chewing through my electrical wires, and could possibly cause a fire. Let's not think about the fact that they are probably having their babies in my house. That's right, it's that special time of year when animals procreate. Let's not think about the possibility of spending another $200 to have Critter Control come set traps that WON'T catch them. I'm not going to think about any of these things.

I will, however, be making a trip to the sporting goods store and seriously consider buying a pellet gun.