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| Innocent squirrel |
Reclined on
the coach watching the evening news on T.V., my mother was settled in for the
night…until. She heard a scratching sound somewhere in the room, but did not
investigate. Moments later, she glanced away from the T.V. and looked over at
her staircase. She saw something of a shadowy figure.
As mom’s
eyes focused, she made contact with the black bushy tailed squirrel who was
peering at her between the spindled rails of the staircase. Before she could [AV1] blink, it dashed back up the stairs
and into one of the rooms. And that was just the beginning.
It took mom
a little while to collect herself and trudge up the stairs to the bedrooms. She
did not hear the pitter patter of little feet, nor did she search for them.
Instead, the quickly closed the bathroom and bedroom doors. And retreated back
to the living room couch, where she slept intermittently.
The
scratching continued the next day and mom had enough. She called me and asked
if we were still planning to have lunch together. I said, “Yes, as long as it’s
not at your house.” During lunch we discussed a strategy for getting the
squirrel out of the house. We decided to call my teenage son.
My son met
us at mom’s house. He strolled through the door like a sheriff from an old
western movie. He put his clenched fists on his waist like Superman and began
giving orders, “Ma, you take broom and Granny can use the mop.” We opened the
front door and propped the screen door open with a kitchen chair.
My son
climbed the stairs carrying his broom, he didn’t hear a sound, but he saw
evidence of the squirrel. Sawdust was sprinkled across the front of a closed bedroom
door. He opened the door slowly, using the flashlight on his cell phone to
search for the squirrel. The squirrel wasn’t moving. My son pushed the door
open wider and stumped his foot on the floor to rouse the squirrel.
In a matter
of seconds the squirrel shot from the room, began to descend the stairs in my
direction. I screamed, the squirrel tried to run back upstairs, but my son, blocked
him with his broom. The squirrel scrambled back down the stairs and headed in
mom’s direction, she guarded a corner with her mop. The squirrel escaped
outside. Whew.
I felt like
we were playing floor hockey. My son, the squirrel whisper, wild animal tamer,
had devised a plan that worked. Sometimes it’s okay to listen to your children,
teach them to be resourceful and not fearful.
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| This is the squirrel I envisioned coming from the bedroom. |
Have you had
any encounters with wild animals?
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