Seren- have you checked the guests?

Hi PJ, it is 8:30 am here, and they are all still asleep. But that's business as usual for this crowd - family from out of town :)

FeelingGreat....a few weeks ago, I heard an odd noise during the night....and went to investigate. I discovered a possum on a table in the dining room enjoying a meal of the cat's food. I have reason to believe that he/she had been coming every night (3am) for a feeding....
The American cousin of your Australian friends.....lol.....

***The dog was sleeping, soundly, on a couch. just a few feet away.....

The difference between our convict possums and your colonist squirrels is possums usually do Amway. I think it is because squirrels are always looking for a more efficient way to store things. Possums have a bit of an inferiority complex- so they want to cleanse.

LOL!!!

Proof that the fear of something is always worse than the reality.

They're probably old mates......

Both of these things are hilarious! How was the possum getting in the house? And how was he climbing onto the dining table--via a handy chair? I know they can go in trees, but they are somewhat ungraceful...

honeypig.....it was very hot and humid, at that time....so I left the back door cracked open....(it leads to a fenced in and obscure back yard)....
He had some easy access!.....
Yes, he climbed on the chair..then onto the table....(he also had been checking the dog dish for any excess dry food, there...I thought the dog was just eating more!)....
honeypig....they may look ungraceful...but, I can assure you that they are quite agile...lol....The speed and agility with which he moved, once he saw me, was astounding. And, he was huge...as big as a raccoon......

I simply told him...."GoodNight, my friend...the party's over"

Oh dear, you all are bringing memories.

A long time ago, in a land far away, I married this lovely woman who came with a 16yr old daughter as part of the package. Two of her high school besties were living in an abusivie situation so we took them in. Per Social Services it was only a temporary situation while they found apropriate housing. Three weeks they said, which turned into 3 years.

Soon after came the younger siblings of the two besties, a total of 5 little ones under the age of 10. And with them came a whole parade of hamsters, gerbils, turtles, one garden snake, three rabbits, fish, ant farms, dogs and cats.

We had indoor cats, and heaven help the poor soul who let an indoor cat get out because all the little humans would go tumbling after it to try and get it back inside. We had outdoor cats, and it was worse to accidentaly let one get inside because the cat-catching-chaos would then ocurr inside the house instead of in the back yard. Cats can climb up curtains, but children can not. They bring the curtains down.

And we had cats that were allowed in or out as they pleased, and you were accused of being mean if you did not open doors as the cats requested.

I could never remember which cats belonged in which category, so I was always in trouble. I still think they switched them on me every so often just to mess with me ;)

No, we had no doggie-doors. That proved to be a worthless experiment because only the children used them.

All this activity, and animal food, atracted a lot of possums to the garbage bins. But they were declared "cute", and I was tasked with building little possum-houses for them out in the side yard. Where they would get in fights with the outdoor cats. Some coons took residence up the orange tree, and would sneak into the attic, and get into fights with the bats that had decided to sneak in thru the same hole the coons had found.

Then we had a family of skunks move in under the wood pile. And one of the dogs got stuck in there trying to get at them, and 2 of the little ones went in to save the dog. Tomato juice does ok on human skin, but it does nothing to remove the smell from clothes. Or dogs. Or wood piles.

Social Services was ok with all the children, but Animal Control was not so understanding about the critters. So we had to get a license, which somehow got us listed with the local veterinarians, who then started sending us dogs and cats that people had found lost on the street but nobody had claimed. I was spending every weekend buying used plywood and building more and more critter-houses.

Oh yes, every critter had a name, and the relevant name had to be stenciled on each plywood box. Dogs would get old blankets to have in their boxes, cats got old towels, possums had bedsheets, and by morning all that linen would be all over the property, and every critter had switched boxes and nobody was sleeping where they were supposed to.

Except for the indoor cats, which slept at the foot of the bed under the covers and were far more efficient at waking you up in the morning than the alarm clock. Don't get me started on the 100-lb boxers that darling step daughter decided to raise because whe was going to be a veterinarian when she grew up.

I was saved when the two older girls went off to college, daughter got married, social services found placement for the little ones and a porcupine dropped in to see what all the fuss was about. He cleared out the wood pile family as well as the possums. The kids took all of the cats and dogs and miscelaneous fauna with them. We saved enough money on animal food to have the house fumigated.

Then some pigeons started nesting under the eaves.

We sold the place and moved to the suburbs.

Mike :)

DesertEyes....I love these memories.....You remind me of Noah......(you know---the one with the arc).......

Oh My gosh - what a perfect thread to read on a Monday morning!

That squirrel - the look of desperation and panic - and then finally the resolve to DO IT! Amazing!

Than then the LOL hilarity in the comments to follow.

THanks for starting my Monday off right!

Holy cow, Noah--I mean Mike--what a crew! What pandemonium! I got tired just hearing about it!

I enjoyed the video but was wondering...what happened next? Did the squirrel survive the jump? Is he limping away? Is he back in the roof with a limp?

* lol *

Noah had it easy. He only had two of each critter.

Mike ;)

He scampered off, apparently. I don't see any tiny wheelchairs or walkers in the vicinity. They are pretty resourceful and resilient critters.

I had a squirrel problem a few years ago that was solved in a similar fashion to yours. Last week I heard a scamper not in my attic, but in the space between my first and second floors and have arranged for someone to fine the hole, put the one way "door" in, and then seal the space.

I live close to a few hundred acres of woods and we have lots of wild life. Squirrels are in abundance and while they are a PIA for what you're going through and less offensive things like digging up flower boxes I marvel at their collective athleticism.

It is truly amazing--I've seen mine do a vertical leap from a standstill to get onto a feeder hanging 4-5 feet off the ground! And falling/jumping, even from great heights, just doesn't seem to result in injury. They can walk a wire or clothesline w/impunity, too--their powers of balance are astounding.

All of this is why I thought perhaps Lexie's squirrel really HAD developed super powers and was walking right up the smooth glass surface of a window--given all the OTHER stuff they can do, it just didn't seem outside the realm of possibility!

Children's python. Bearded Dragon. Hermit crabs. Gold fish,angel fish, god knows what fish, cats, ducks, geese, chooks, g-pigs, doves, finches, a 15 year old much loved 3 legged farting lab'r, mad as cut snake blue healers, acat who thought it was Einstein. A f... Burmese cat (cheese- it was supposed to eat just cheese- nope). The best sort of kid's pets (except the (healers- they were mine) were flushable. I got my son's fears of cockr's dealt with in 1 sitting. I collected the bug and got the boys to watch the cockr Olympics....Flush. They loved it.

what is WRONG with you people????? LOL

* lmao *

Yes!!! Somebody who understands!!!!

Mike ;)