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?

Things swooping out of the sky

Speaking of the birds (and squirrels) that I feed, I experienced a first the other day. I was just opening the curtain to see who was eating at the Bountiful and Fertile Feeding Ground, when . . .

All the creatures scattered for their lives! In an instant, they disappeared into the shrubbery. And in the femtosecond after they disappeared, a huge, winged shadow passed over me as a hawk swooped down and, having missed his prey, shot back up into the sky.

Nature red in tooth and claw! And I seen it fer myself, maw! It's brutal out there, just brutal!

But back to fun and games -- I'm getting a kick out of the squirrels, all eight of them. Most scatter when I open my door but one heads right up the stairs to meet me, and then he sits up and begs. I can actually hand him a peanut! Now, this may not seem like news from outer space to some of you non-city-bred folks, but to me it was like feeding Godzilla a raptor. It was way jungley. I liked it!

Guess I'd better come up with a name for him, huh? Rocky? (As I've mentioned here before, I'm not good at naming animals). Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?