What's in the wall?

Yesterday when the boys and I were having lunch, I heard something in the wall. We haven't redone the kitchen yet, so we still have one of the those ugly intercom systems. It sounded like it was coming from the intercom, but it was a scratching noise. Worried me. I knew it was either a mouse, a rat, or a squirrel. There are lots of squirrels in the yard right now, so I kind of hoped that would be the case. Second choice would have been the mouse. The cats were very interested in the scratching and I knew that wasn't a good sign.

Pat had worked night shift, so I didn't wake him right away. As SOON as it was time for him to get up, I mentioned that I thought we had something in the wall. He came downstairs to check it out, and one of the cats was right up to the intercom. He agreed that there was definitely something there. He asked if I wanted him to take the front plate off. I said, "yes," and climbed up on the chair.



This is what we saw.....




So the good news - it was a squirrel. While I realize there isn't a huge difference between a squirrel and a rat, something about the fluffy tail makes me more comfortable. Besides that, squirrels weren't involved with the plague. More points for squirrels over rats. We SHOULD have just grabbed the thing and put it in a container, and by that, I mean PAT should have. Ha ha. He said there was no way he was "grabbing a squirrel's tail." We started thinking about what to do next.

Pat hoped the clamps would allow him to get the squirrel. I worried that the animal was too thin, and would just slip through, but it was worth a try.




The clamps were a failure, so Pat tried this long pinchy thing. That didn't work either. Then he tied rope to the pinchy thing and tried to loop it around the squirrel. Another failure.



The squirrel didn't appreciate what Pat was doing, so he moved up a little. Now all we could see was his tail. In a moment of desperation, Pat got the clamps again and tried to pull him out by his tail. Not only was that a failure, but the squirrel ran away.



Pat had to go to work. I had to take care of the boys. We hoped the squirrel would find his way out. No such luck. We kept hearing scratching, but this time it was near the butler's pantry, which shares a wall with a guest bathroom. Before Pat left for work, he mentioned that the squirrel might be stuck. I hoped not. Most of the evening, the boys and I could hear the squirrel scratching in the same location. Eventually he stopped, and I hoped that meant he had found a way out.



The next morning (today), there was more scratching and it was in the same location. As soon as Pat got up, I let him know. He figured the squirrel had fallen between two studs in the wall and was trapped between drywall. He was right. So he tried one hole up high. No squirrel.



Then he tried a hole down low, and out came our little friend. I tried to get a picture of the squirrel in the bathroom, but it scared him, and he started back toward the wall. We couldn't risk it. At that point Pat chased him out of the bathroom with a broom (in a nice way), while I held a quilt in the hall to keep him from coming my way. OF COURSE he started my direction and began climbing the quilt. I shook it, and the squirrel ran out the door.





Pat got the camera and took a picture as the squirrel was running off. Here he is! Bye bye squirrel. Eat our acorns, but stay out of our walls!