Squirrels Gone Wild!

So, it has been quite a while since I last posted. A lot has happened. And I'll try to catch you up in some other posts... but first... this. There was a squirrel living in my fire place for 5 days. 

Now, our fire place isn't really a fire place... its the vent pipe thingy for a wood stove that comes out of our ceiling, but the wood stove was actually removed prior to when we bought the house. So, the clever person who lived there before us decided that the best way to seal off the open vent pipe was with layers of duct tape. No, it did not match the color of the vent pipe. No, it did not look good. Yes, it worked because it was duct tape.

Anyways, on a Tuesday evening while watching TV, my wife and step-cat suddenly heard a little squeal and they both immediately looked up at the vent pipe. (of course, I'm practically deaf, so I did not hear it at first.) But sure enough, there was some creature living in our chimney. We hoped it was a bird or bat, and that it would just leave after a couple days... but as the week progressed, we realized that this thing could not fly. I'll be honest, I thought maybe it would die and the problem would be no more... however, my wife did not like that idea. (and, I suppose, the risk of it smelling was not worth it). 

So Saturday night, I recruited my good friend TJ to help me remove this little critter. We had one 12 ft ladder (since we have vaulted ceilings), a clear plastic storage bin (so we could see it when we caught it), gloves (so that I wouldn't get rabies), and a flip video camera that had a battery that was about dead. It turns out, the video did not stay alive long enough to get the good parts. And let me clarify/emphasize one thing: we had ONE 12 ft ladder. So, since TJ is kind of tall, he stood on a wobbly bar-stool and held the box. I was on the ladder trying to remove the 6 layers of duct tape while holding the flaps of the box open so that this thing could fall in. 

It took awhile to get the duct tape off, and TJ's arms got tired as he played the part of Moses. It was intense. We were sweating, laughing, and... scared. or maybe I just was. Leslianne was in the garage peaking through the cracked open door. She had a plan as well: If that thing fell out and not into the box, she would slam the garage door and jump on top of her car. 

This is getting long. So I'll cut to the chase. Basically, it was like Squirrels Gone Wild up in this joint. After some wrestling with the squirrel, I finally got him (or her) to fall out and into the box. We went to the street, kicked over the box and ran. He/she ran too... straight back into my backyard. SMH...

If that things goes back into my chimney... he might just stay up there longer this time.