Never underestimate the allure of peanuts

I do believe the last squirrel is out of the attic. Hoorah! Since I mentioned my squirrel problem here the other day, I thought I'd report back.

Setting three bug bombs off in the attic was a waste of time (and somewhat evil, seen in retrospect). We thought we scared them out so we closed up all the holes. Dum-te-dum-tum. No go. The squirrels stayed up there throughout the whole thing. I find this shocking but that's what happened.

So then I had dog knows how many squirrels penned up in my attic, breathing horrible gas fumes. In other words, the situation was even worse. Luckily, a friend of my sister's lent me a squirrel trap. I put some peanuts, still in their shells, into the trap and left it on top of a duct (that looked fun to walk on, if you were a squirrel).

Worked like a charm. Within a matter of hours, I trapped four squirrels (one at a time) and let them loose outside. There were three babies and one adult and all seemed fine despite the bug bombs. Phew. I'm glad for that.

In all, it was so easy that I'm not worried about any future squirrel-tenants. I'll just lure them into the pain-free trap with the food of the gods: peanuts. Never underestimate the power of a peanut.

Squirrels in the attic

No, it's not another post about religious wingnuts. I'm talkin' real squirrels and attics here.

At least one squirrel has moved into my attic after weeks of eating his way through the walls of the house. I tried to dissuade him on many occasions by throwing uncooked soy beans at him but it didn't work. I won't hurt him, of course. It's Slappy, my friend and most favorite squirrel in the world. Hurt Slappy?! Never.

Which is why getting rid of him is going to be a pain. I'm trying to enlist two friends to enact a plan. I think I know where he gets in, and if two of us watch the house from outside while another goes into the attic to freak Slappy out, I figure he'll leave and we can patch the hole.

Mind you, he'll just eat his way back in. Poor Slappy. He's just making a safe nest to have babies. It's Spring and it's what you have to do if you're a squirrel. It's the rules. So I can't blame him. In his shoes, I'd be doing the same thing.

Anyway, you oughta hear my attic right now. It's a party up there. Now, where are those damn friends?