Southern Living

My newest neighbor...

Sorry for the slow post day--again--but by way of excuse...I've been shelling out $$$$ from my emergency home repair/maintence fund for emergency repair/maintence, specifically, removal of some trees that were potentially hazardous (they were leaning precariously in the direction of the house)...and a different sort of threat.

Um...for a couple of weeks I'd been hearing some scratching above the ceiling in a back room. Either fortunately or unfortunately it's a part of the attic that I can't get into--an addition to the original construction that lacks any means of ingress...that is, unless I want to remove facing boards and/or the celing itself. Anyway...I thought it was a squirrel. Nope--turns out it's not even a single raccoon, but I'm pretty sure a mama raccoon and one or more little ones (for the record, they sound a bit like birds.)

Fun, eh? Fortunately there's a "pest wildlife removal" service here in town, but they aren't cheap...which means I'll probably be vacationing close to home this year. They came by, set the trap, and now it's a waiting game.

For the record, I'm in favor of trees AND wildlife...but not trees that threaten the structural integrity of my house, or wildlife seeking sanctuary within the same.

In the meantime, here's hoping the scratching I hear above the back room ceiling goes away REAL SOON...and that the damage they're no doubt causing is minimal.