A few years ago a squirrel got into our attic. (It’s the hazards of living in a rural area.)
I was the one to discover it one rainy Sunday afternoon. While sitting on the couch reading, I heard the distinct sound of something above me. To some people this would be normal, but our attic is only a crawl space. I paused, listened and then I heard it again. Delilah sat up.
“I heard it too” I told her and got up and looked out the door.
Did you know that squirrel’s paws look a lot like a human hand? Well they do.
I stood there, staring up at the roof of my house.
Im not sure how you would react to seeing what looks like a tiny human hand sliding under the edge of the roof of your home, but I can tell you how I reacted.
I may have screamed and it’s possible I even tinkled a little. I’m pretty sure I swore (A LOT) and I know with certainty that every hair on my body stood at attention.
Yeah, they look like fingers bitch, whatcha gonna do about it? (Photo courtesy of Daily Mail)
We needed to get rid of the squirrel and fast. Squirrels can be very destructive inside a home.
We borrowed a Have-A-Heart trap and while we waited to capture that little beast, we learned a little bit about squirrels.
The most important thing we learned is that squirrels are territorial. Let’s just say a squirrel somehow gets relocated to another neighborhood. There’s a good chance the new neighborhood will not welcome the squirrel, and he may have to keep moving. Sort of like a fugitive or a gypsy.
Yeah, a gypsy squirrel. That’s it.
It took a few days, but eventually the squirrel was trapped. (I know I had a picture of it, but for the life of me I can’t locate it) There was lots of information on the internet about how to dispose of the squirrel but they were all distasteful to me, so Hubby kindly relocated the squirrel to a nice wooded area.
Since that time, we’ve lived with virtually no squirrels in our yard until just recently. I’m not sure why, but this year we’ve had an influx of squirrels.
Maybe we’ve got good nuts.
Don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here eating my nuts. (It kind of looks like it too.)
I snapped this picture out my front window on Tuesday.
Yesterday morning I snapped this one in the back yard. (Before I threw a rock at it and scared it off. Hey, I couldn’t find the BB Gun.)
Can’t a squirrel eat his nuts without someone shoving a camera at him?
All I’m saying is keep to yourself, you can eat your nuts in my tree, you can eat your nuts on the roof of my shed, but stay out of my house Mr. Squirrel, or you’ll go the same way as your predecessor.
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Oh my gosh I would of been freaked out, too! LOL!!
Haha, the only squirrels here are in the park. Sorry to hear they can be a menace!
Eek we once had a mouse come in look around at all the dogs and cats and literally die of what I assume was shock
Retro rover
Oh my, my dream! A squirrel in the house…wouldn’t last long, maybe 30 seconds between Bert, Bailie and I. We have more and more squirrels in our yard as the trees get bigger we think. Pesty tree rats! Grrr…
We have lots of squirrels in our yard. They taunt Barley and Soth by running up to the French doors and doing a little dance on the patio knowing they’re safe. Barley caught one a few years ago and I thought about leaving it’s head a stake like Vlad the Impaler to serve as a warning to all other squirrels who dared to enter the yard.
We think those tree rats are more human than us
Snorts,
Lily & Edward
Squirrels are destructive whether inside or outside of a home. The ones in my yard chew the tender twigs and bark of my trees. Attempts at relocating have been unsuccessful. Ours must be urban gang squirrels (are there such things as Crips squirrels?). I’m positive when I turn my back, they flip me off with those tiny fingers. Bastards. 🙁
Okay, I did not know that squirrel paws look like creepy human hands. I’ve never gotten up close enough to notice. There is a squirrel that lives in my neighbor’s shed, which is right next to the block fence separating our properties, so Blueberry and I have spent a lot of time watching the squirrel. She (yeah, she, cause she had babies one year) likes to sun herself on top of the block fence. I’ve even put nuts and fruit out for her before. I like her because she provides hours of entertainment for Blueberry. I know that while I am at work, Blueberry is hard at work at home, staring at and stalking the squirrel.
We just had the same problem with a critter in the attic! There’s nothing more distracting than trying to write a blog article while you listen to something partying in the attic above your head, yikes! Luckily, ours has been relocated now too. I read you have to take them at least 5 miles away from your home or they’ll likely find their way back.
You’re lucky. Some friends had a squirrel invade their home while they were on vacation and it did over $7000 worth of damage. They think he must have thrown an orgy for all his little woodland buddies. They had to hire an exterminator to get rid of him (or her, not meaning to be sexist).
Maybe the original squirrel spread the word not to mess with you? Now enough time has gone by that word in the woods has faded. 🙂
The only squirrel we’ve had in our house was a flying squirrel that I think our cat brought in back when we had outdoor cats and a cat door. Now, that was an adventure, and I don’t even remember how we got it out now. If it comes back to me I’ll let you know!
We have so many squirrels and we live right downtown. Kilo Pug loves to try to chase them. He had not got out much when I first started fostering him and would look all around the base of trees not realizing they had climbed up. Now he gets so indignant when he sees them escaping and they sometimes taunt him from our fence. We had them in the house and roof a few times- very nasty. They are turbo squirrels and can eat through plastic and wood it seems. X Susie (look forward to meeting you at BlogPaws- this is our first time on this Hop)
TREE RAT ALERT !!!
Hilarious!! That picture of a squirrel scared me, I’d have peed my pants if a squirrel hand got in my face, too. We don’t have squirrels in our town. Probably all the raccoons chased them out. The raccoon mafia has more nuts than the squirrels. And they’re too fat to get in the attics.
Tree rats. Squirrels are eeeeevil. They can do thousands of dollars of damage to a home. My dogs won’t let them live in our yard.
OMD!!! I’m sitting here laughing at the thought of you talking to the squirrels — like I do!! Our squirrels seem happy enough just staying outside, playing tag with each other and teasing the living $h#^ out of Ducky and her big sisters. But so far they seem to have learned to judge Ducky’s speed and agility better since that day she caught one of them.
Squirrels are unpredictable and scary. And that’s BEFORE I saw their tiny human hands. GAH!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Oh man! Ziva would go nuts if a squirrel got in our house!!
Glad you were able to safely relocate him though..Dz Mom is a softie for fuzzy critters. It’s the spiders that better watch out!
My neighbor had a squirrel in her attic and they had to trap it too. They had an opening and had to plug it so it couldn’t get back in. We are not fans of them either.
A squirrel got in our neighbor’s attic and caused a fire! They are nasty little buggers. Hope the squirrels stay away from your house (and mine too).
HAHA I love that squirrel photo and that you admitted you tinkled a little! love it! I wouldn’t want them in my attic, they can cause all kinds of problems.
I had no idea their “hands” looked like that; I would have been so creeped out by that as well and probably have had a few choice words after I was done dancing around acting a fool.
I have had to deal with squirrels in my attic before and it was the most frustrating month of my life. Good to hear that you got everything taken care of. Thanks for sharing your story!