The thing in the walls...

This is an amusing story with a somewhat disturbing ending...


It goes back a few blog posts to when we last heard about the adventures of Insulation Man and that non-window in the basement.  Well the following day I got another "Honey, you have to see this" and went tromping back down into my least favorite place -- the basement.  You know that phrase is never going to be followed by good news...

Anyway, my husband showed me how his latest insulation patch was chewed up by something trying to get OUT of the basement:

Styrofoam Insulation on basement floor

Something chewing it's way out

The next thing I knew he had removed the insulation and nailed a thick board in front of the opening.  I asked him how he knew the "thing" was outside and not trapped "inside".  He just smiled and said he didn't have any idea...

The next day was a snow day and I promised the children that if they cleaned up we could sit and watch a movie after lunch.  We all sat down to watch "Enchanted" which just so happens to have a very active chipmunk as one of it's main characters and lots of rodents.  As we were watching the kids said "Mommy!" and pointed to the corner of the room where I saw a blur of gray scampering up the wall.  No one saw what it was.  My son thought it had flown up there (bat?).

So we decided to ignore it and continue watching the movie.  A few minutes later I heard "Mom...." and looked over to the stairs banister where a squirrel was walking down staring right at us.  My daughter screamed and ran out of the room.  My three year old climbed as high as he could on the couch.  I think I shut my eyes.  Thankfully my son watched it as it hopped down from the banister and disappeared down the wall (the walls have no sheet rock and it stuffed itself down where the insulation meets the floor).

I called my husband at work to tell him we were under siege and needed reinforcements.  He said he was bringing the have-a-heart trap back home and that he had received thorough instructions on how to use it.  We did not see or hear from the squirrel the rest of that night.  My husband set the trap in the basement.  Unfortunately the mice were sneaking in and out and eating the bait (peanut butter)...

The next day the kids came home starving from school as usual.  I sent my son to the cupboard to get a snack.  He yelled "Mom!"  and I looked over in time to see the squirrel dart out from under the cupboard and jump in the lazy susan.  We quick shut the door to the lazy susan and grabbed the brooms.  I opened the outside door and gave my son a broom.  We were going to try and hockey the thing out the door.  He opened the cubboard, but there was no sign of the squirrel...

My husband came home a few minutes later and we told him the story.  He opened the cupboard and moved the dishes around.   He saw a small hole by a pipe in the back and figured he must have somehow gone down there.  He reset the trap in the basement. Then we went away for the weekend.  On Monday we noticed a funny smell coming from that area of the kitchen.  The smell seemed to be getting worse...

He pulled the stove out from the wall with no luck.  Then he cut a hole in the cabinet under the kitchen sink and found a body.  It was the squirrel.  It must have gotten stuck or injured itself when it climbed under the sink.  My husband said that maybe it had a heart attack from everyone screaming at it.  I guess it starved to death.  We only seem to have the one (we have not heard any more wall noises) and I guess we should be glad that it is no longer in our house, but I can't help feeling a little sad.  I told him yesterday that I actually sort of miss that thing.  It was not the ending I would have liked for our little guest.  Our house is now squirrel-free.