So I’m in the office in the early morning, which happens to be in the basement, and Lucy the Cat is getting all buggy. I soon realize why when I hear noise in the ceiling. Crap. A mouse. This happened once before… Damn mice…
Sure, you would think with two cats in our house the mouse problem would be nonexistent, but you would be wrong. I put Lucy on top of the large metal cabinet where we last saw a mouse, and we wait. Finally! A small face appears in the crack between the ceiling and wall, right where the window is. (I’ve long ago caulked the window shut due to August flooding…) Lucy the cat and the mouse are now face to face, maybe 6 inches apart and… nothing. Lucy sort of stares at it, and it runs away. Thanks, Cat!
Later Tinkerbell (Cat Number 2) is trying to get behind the clothes dryer because she hears something. Now I thinking it’s more than one mouse, since, you know, we’re on the other side of the basement. I jump on the dryer and look and see something which appears mouse-like scurry away.
Mouse 2, Cats nil.
One more time down to the basement at night, and I see a tail right behind the door. A bushy tail… Too small for a cat’s tail. Well, it was no mouse, it was a baby squirrel. Well, my size 12 boots made short work if it! I’m kidding, you don’t kick (or stomp) baby squirrels. The little thing was no threat. It was lost and confused. I slowly put a bucket over it until I could get it out. Lucy came down and I showed her the baby squirrel and she was curious, but that’s about it.
I got some heavy gloves and a big glass jar and put Simon (yes, I named him Simon) inside. I showed the girls, and the cats, before I took it outside. I thought we should give Simon some nuts, but it was ultimately decided against, so there were no nuts for Simon.
I took Simon the Baby Squirrel out to the park behind our house and after I forced him to get out of the jar (I don’t think he wanted to) he scurried up a tree. Goodbye Simon!
Oh, Emma informed me it was a flying squirrel, and she should know since she did a report for school on squirrels.
Squirrels in the house is not uncommon I guess, though I’d keep them out of your bed. Supposedly flying squirrels were often pets. Of course I also discovered that one of it’s principal enemies is the cat. Flying Squirrel Central has more, and if you are looking for a great webmail application I highly recommend SquirrelMail