Things That Go Bump In The Night

So this story is a little late, but....

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, a creature was stirring but it wasn't a mouse.... In fact, when I felt something run across the foot of my bed, my first thought was that it was a rat because when I quickly sat up with my sheets held taut against my body, it felt heavy as I unwittingly flung it across the room in my haste. I heard a loud thud as it hit the floor and then I went back to sleep... AS IF! ...I started to and then realized that this thing, whatever it was, was still running around my bedroom! It was tempting, though. I had gotten in late that night from a flight and had to wake up early the next morning for another flight on Christmas Day.

So at 4:00 A.M. "I turned on the light to see what was the matter..." and I saw a huddled little mass of fur with a big bushy tail staring up at me from the floor as if frozen in place. It definitely wasn't a mouse or rat, but despite the tail, it didn't really look like a squirrel either. Hmmm... so I got out of bed to get a better look and to chase it down. (This, by the way, would be one of those instances where a husband would have come in VERY handy.) The poor little fella started scurry along, but verrry slowly. It ran into my bathroom and stopped. It didn't look like it was going anywhere, at least not very quickly, so I got close to try and figure it out. And then, a la Christmas Vacation, it lurched toward me and clung to my face. (OK, now I'm just messin' with ya...!) It didn't jump at me, but rather oddly, it just stared at me, too, with it's big bulgy eyes. It was a round ball of fur with a scar on it's tummy. Well an injury (from the scar) would certainly explain why it had trouble getting around. So what's a girl to do but get out her camera? But snap!, my camera wouldn't turn on. So I took a picture with my cell phone. Then I remembered my digital SLR and dragged it out of the closet and got some great close-ups. All the while this little thing is just sitting there not moving. But sadly, it had to go so I could get back to bed. I went and found a paper shopping bag and went back to the bathroom to chase the "Thing" down. It didn't take long (or very far across my bathroom) before I had it in the bag, the bag closed, and then freed it out the front door. (Did you actually think I would try and squish or kill it?!? Oooooh, gross!)

A few days later I was telling my cousin, Emily, the story. My other cousin, Claire, walked up part way through the conversation and said, "Now what country where you in when this happened?" "Um, right here in Georgia," I responded, "in the guest house." But you'd think...

Oh, but the story (as is par for my course) does not end here. I must sound like the biggest story teller, but these are the facts, people. True story. A few weeks ago I was just chillin' in the living room of the guest house when I hear something. At first I thought it was a bag of chips or something falling in the pantry. Then I looked up onto on of the rafters and saw something running across it. It immediately stopped when it sensed I had spotted it. I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture in case it ran off--just so people wouldn't think I am making this stuff up. Well, this story could go on forever, but the gist of what happened is we played hide and seek as it ran around the back of the rafter and across it, pausing several times as if I might not notice it. This time, I went straight for the camera and got a few good pics. What I noticed was... the same strange scar on this squirrel. But it wasn't all round like the first one. Maybe it was the angle? Hmmm... Well it really had to go this time so I went into the house to rally some support from my family. Noooo takers. The women were too scared to help and the men were unavailable (except one man who thought it was perfectly normal to have a squirrel in the house, being that we live on 50 acres in the middle of nowhere Georgia... but I won't mention any names.)

So I went back upstairs and found the "Thing" (now decidedly a squirrel) and determined to just watch this little fella to see what it would do and where it would go. And then I heard it. The little squeaks from the end of the rafter where it goes into the attic. Aha! It was a squirrel that first night--a pregnant one who had its babies in my attic. Niiiiice. Eventually I got tired of watching it so I kind of prodded it along as it slunk through a little crack in the ceiling and found refuge behind the wooded slats with its babies.

I hear it once in awhile--the little squeaks--and I pretty much just ignore it or tell it, "Don't even think about coming out right now." As long as I don't see Mama Squirrel, then I can pretend she isn't there and sleep in peace. I suppose I should be grateful to have a roommate who doesn't drink my milk or leave hair in the tub. But then I would also have to be grateful for the lizard I found in my bathroom a few days later. (Again, I took a picture for proof because I wouldn't believe it myself if someone else told me this stuff.) But I told that little guy that there is NO VACANCY! Then I reconsidered. We had lizards in our apartments in Puerto Rico on my mission and they eat bugs. So I told the little guy he could stay if he would keep the bugs at bay. He must be a vegetarian lizard because he hasn't come back.

I swear there are pictures but they will have to come another day. It was all I could do to get a January post on here, however unbelievable you think the story is, so the proof will have to come another day. Check back later to meet my roommates. Maybe by then I will have met the whole squirrel family. If so, you can bet I'll have my camera. ;)