Friday, April 29, 2011

There's a Possum in the House...

That's a favorite children's book in my house...and now I fear I may have a critter in my house for real. Last night it was supposed to get pretty cold, so I brought my fern into the dining room, as I had already put it out on the porch. Then I went and laid on the couch. Soon I thought I heard something that sounded like bugs hitting the light. I thought, uh-oh, some flying insects must have come in with the plant. After a while a moth flew into the room, and I got up to get some Raid. Dave saw it, and immediately scolded me for bringing the fern into the house. "Now you have bugs and animals in the house!"

Animals??

"Yes, didn't you think some animal might have crawled up in there, looking for some warm dirt?"

NO! I didn't think of it...but now I think that "flying insects into the light sound" might have been little creature feet running across the hardwood floor.

My eyes are scanning the corners of the house today. I hope a mouse doesn't jump out at me from anywhere.

7 comments:

Ada said...

ooooooooo - or crawl into bed with you tonight!?!?

Probably no animals there and a few little bugs won't bother you, so don't worry too much.

Ann said...

When Andrew was a baby, Mike had to work in Charlotte every week for nine months (training) and we were alone from Sunday to Friday nights. One Sunday night I heard pitter-patter sounds from downstairs and a "zinging" sound across the grate of the downstairs heater and across my hanging pots and pans. I didn't sleep much, wondering if we had an intruder and why the noises were so unusual if a person was in the house.

The next evening I found the culprit - a flying squirrel had gotten inside. They are nocturnal so it didn't come out in the daytime - but when darkness came it was hopping up and down the stairs! The neighbor helped me set traps - nothing worked - I could hear it in the walls at night. It was a terrifying week as you can imagine. I was so afraid that it might somehow get in Andrew's crib.

When Mike got home, we covered a live trap with screening (they can get out of incredibly small holes) and finally caught the thing. Mike drove it to the state park and let it go. It was limping from where it had gotten partially caught in the trap earlier in the week.

Anyway, I have great sympathy for people when animals get in the house!

Nog Blog said...

Ugh! I am not fond of squirrels of any kind. They run rampant, and to me they are rats with busy tails. People would not tolerate rats to run around thier homes, but squirrels seem to get off the hook.

Casey and Jamie had a mouse who caught his leg in a mouse trap...then unwisely hopped across the basement floor and caught his head in another trap. A double whammy!

Cleve said...

Interesting stories. Last week, I'd accidently left the screen door open for a few minutes. Later we walked into the kitchen and saw a beautiful red Cardinal bird sitting on the ceiling fan. Unlike Ann's flying squirrel, the bird immediately flew right out the same door it came in from.

Anonymous said...

we had a bird in our yellow house in Gridley once. The girls and I came home to find blood splattered here and there around the kitchen, so we ran over to Dohman's, which was behind us not too far. John went to our house, found a bird in the basement, and shoo'ed it out of the house. Apparently, it had flown into a mirror or window, which started the bleeding. Then, it flopped and flew around, getting blood on quite a few surfaces. Gross. Scary!

Ann said...

Ooohhh - I love birds, but not in the house. Seeing a panicky bird in an enclosed space makes me panic also. We get them in the garage from time to time - but having them in the house would be much worse!

Ann said...

This is Mike. I agree with the assessment that squirrels are just rats with bushy tails. Good for nothing except maybe for people to eat who can't afford to buy meat.