VICTORIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Ahem.

Ok.

The squirrel has seemed to be mostly hybernating, with just a couple minutes a day of frantic activity. It has been in the "junk room" of our bedrooms since Sunday night. Yesterday the window was propped open for most of the day. I was upstairs not far away, and didn't hear ANYTHING. Not one rustle.

It was cold. The snow didn't melt; that's how cold.

When it started to get dark, and colder, I went in and shut the window at about 4:00.

About 40 minutes later, I could hear it running around madly.

Oh fine.

Today I determined to come home from work early, so I could open the window around 3:45, and maybe have the window open during the frantic activity.

I had pretty much made up my mind the squirrel was going to die in that room -- it had had four straight days (and nights) to go into the trap and had not done so, and if it wouldn't go out an open window..........................

My plan for when I got home was that I would put the dogs out, open the window, and then throw a toy for Buzz for a while.

He wouldn't come down from upstairs to go out. He is getting more and more scared of steps, which is, I suppose, reasonable, given his wobblier and wobblier footing, but I surely wish he would not go UP if he is not going to some DOWN...........

So I went up and got him and then discovered he'd made a puddle at the top of the stairs. Sigh. I carried all 30+ pounds of him down, and put him out with his brother.

I still meant to open that window, soonest, so I grabbed the broom I've been taking into the squirrel room, turned the knob, banged the door a couple of times in an attempt to not lose the squirrel out of that room, and ....................

WAHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





I totally did not expect that. After all those days. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

I've outlined the bread/peanut butter that I wired down. A bunch of it was gone. There were globs of peanut butter, here and there, all over the inside of the trap. I bet it broke off a chunk of the bread, and then carried it around, frantically trying to escape...........





It was biting the wires like anything, trying to get away. I got the camera, snapped off a couple of shots, and then cleared the way to the front door (because the boys were outside the back door).

Here it is on the front stoop. They are pretty. But only when they are outside.

Cool tail, yes? For those of you who don't know fox squirrels, they are big. The trap is at least 10" wide, so that tail is that long.





We walked (well, I walked, it rode) over to the tulip tree in the front yard.

I snapped a couple more pics.







Then I opened the trap. It stood in the grass for about 1 second, and then high-tailed it up the tree.

I managed one snap before it made it from that tree to another tree, and was out of sight entirely.





GOOD RIDDANCE. Don't come back. Tell your friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!

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