This old house.  A squirrel found his way into my attic, and the only place I see any light along the eave is so small that I can’t believe one got in.  My son says it has to be more than one, and he knows more about squirrels than I do, and I hope he’s wrong.

Anyway, one night at 9 PM MaChatte ran thru the upstairs hissing and growling with her mouth open to hiss farther than I thought a cat’s mouth could open.  She wouldn’t let me near her, hissing and growling at me when I came close.  Then I heard what she was warning me about:  small footsteps running thru the attic!  A squirrel had gotten in, and squirrels are supposed to be asleep in the dark, but this one was running frantic up there, maybe looking for the way out.  OK, now he has to go and I have to figure out how he got in.

So off I went the next day to buy a live trap. We had a squirrel in the other side of the house years ago and I called an exterminator.  He caught the little red squirrel.  They  were still around this area then, but not for years now.  Now we have only gray squirrels here. He said to prevent them coming back in, you have to take them across a creek to turn them loose.  So I figured a live trap isn’t bad to have on hand, cos there might be more, (oh I hope not) and buying one of them is cheaper than having the exterminator come.  When I catch him, I can take him downtown and turn him loose beyond the Branch Creek.

I know they really like peanut butter, and that’s what the exterminator used for bait.  So, I set the trap with a little piece of cracker with peanut butter. Checked the trap for days after not hearing any more activity and found the trap undisturbed. Maybe he had gone out and not come back in………

I checked the trap this morning and was not happy.  Trap sprung, peanut butter missing, cracker inside the trap, no squirrel!  So, you’re a smart squirrel, and you don’t like the brand of cracker I gave you, but wow, that peanut butter was great, lol.  Now squirrel you made me angry, and I will get you, and you will relocate to a different part of town.

There are always squirrels around here, but only a few decide to try to find a way in.  The rest can stay, OUTside, but this one needs to GO.  And I need to block the only place he could have come in.  The trap is now set again, with a smaller piece of cracker and more of that good peanut butter.

Squirrel, 1, human, 0……so far!