The town that I live in has two different sections of town. One is newer with the grocery stores and box stores that most are familiar with. The area that I live in is part of the original town center. It is currently being revitalized and I love walking around and seeing this area get new life while still retaining its original charm and character.
I’ve always had an appreciation for older things, it’s probably why I’ve ended up with most of the family furniture (think grandparents’ upright piano, great-aunt’s hutch, parent’s kitchen table, etc.). That’s probably why I’ve ended up in this part of town and with an 80-year-old bungalow.
My goal with my house is to make it a home where friends and family can find rest and restoration. I want to be a good steward of this home and property. Obviously, there’s a lot to learn with home ownership. If I’m honest, animal interactions were not on my radar when I bought this home last August! So, here’s the humorous renditions of my interactions with the local wildlife and what I’ve learned. Yes, I’ve named most of these animals. It’s how I’ve made them a little less overwhelming. 🙂
Ivan the Mouse – He first made his presence known last November. I realized he’d been my attic neighbor when he decided to come and visit the main level. He has since moved to the country to live with his cousins. That’s what I choose to believe as I’ve not seen or heard from him since December after my pest guys visited his home in the attic.
In previous campus housing, I’d dealt with squirrels and lizards, but never mice so I wasn’t sure if this was an appropriate friend conversation or not. I learned that this is totally normal to discuss with friends and I actually was able to get great advice about how to rehouse Ivan and it made it less of an overwhelming situation for me.
Raccoon – I actually haven’t given him a name, so you’re welcome to give me your suggestions. One Sunday night in the beginning of March, I heard some scurrying above my den. I went outside to look, but couldn’t see anything even though I could still hear scurrying when inside. About five minutes later, I heard a loud thump on my back deck as if something had fallen off my roof. So I grabbed my putter and went outside to see what I could find. Again, I didn’t see anything, but no longer heard any scurrying, so I peacefully went to bed.
The next morning the Lord prompted me to go look on the side of the house where I’d heard most of the noise the night before. It was then that I saw shingles on the ground and saw that several shingles had been ripped off my roof! After talking with various people, I believe it was most likely a raccoon. I found a roofer who was able to fix my roof the next day (Tuesday). On Saturday morning, I was working in the yard and happened to look up and noticed that two of the shingles (that were previously fixed) were bent up into a tent shape. I called my roofer who again came out and fixed my roof.
Thus began the adventure of trying to catch the raccoon in order to keep him from damaging my roof again. I learned that having a great local home insurance guy is very helpful. He gave me the recommendation for the roofer and told me that anytime I had home issues, to let him know as he might have a connection.
The Four Cats – I didn’t name these guys either as my interactions were pretty limited. Because of trying to catch the raccoon, I rented a humane raccoon trap from Animal Control. Their suggestion for bait was wet cat food. Thus, you understand how I came in contact with these four cats. Don’t worry, they got a free meal and I let them go immediately when I found them in the trap as Animal Control didn’t have space for them. Thankfully, each cat didn’t return after they got stuck in the trap. Though getting some of them to leave the trap and then my yard was its own adventure! I learned that reaching out to Animal Control can be a great resource. They let me rent the trap for half the cost of buying a trap and taught me how to use it.
Marshmallow and Charm the Possums – Because I was tired of catching cats, I switched to using marshmallows as bait as I’d heard from multiple sources that raccoons like marshmallows as well. To my surprise, I caught two possums on two different nights. The first one, Marshmallow (named after the food she’d eaten), was tiny and calm when I found her. She was just relaxing after her midnight snack. Charm (named for Lucky Charm’s marshmallows) was anything but charming. He was hissing at me and very unhappy that I didn’t let him go after his midnight snack. Thankfully, Animal Control came both mornings and relocated them to the same area near a pond a couple miles away from my house.
I learned that Animal Control has a couple places where they rehome wildlife outside of town. As I had no idea where to take the Possums (or any other wildlife on my property), it was a great relief to have them handle this part! Plus, I didn’t want to get anywhere close to Charm and his frustrated hissing!
Alfred the Bat – In the midst of my trapping adventures (never did catch the raccoon), I discovered a bat hanging off my roof one afternoon in the middle of March. After about a week-and-a-half of him hanging out there all hours of the day and night, it was decided that he probably needed some help. At one point, I found him lying face down in the dirt and thought he was dead. Next morning I discovered he’d resurrected himself and was back up on my dormer. Thus began my journey of trying to find someone who could help Alfred (yes, I named him after Batman’s butler).
After various phone calls, I discovered that there was a woman who rehabilitates bats about 30 minutes from my house. She didn’t have anyway to get him down, but said if he ended up on the ground again that I could bring him to her.
A few days later I saw him fall while I was out in the yard. I immediately called the rehabber and a couple of environmental friends and got their suggestions on how to safely get him into a container so that I could transport him. After some finagling (and maybe some yelling) I was able to get Alfred safely (for him and me) into a disposable 9×9 foil container with lid and transported up to the rehabber. I later found out that Alfred passed away four days after I dropped him off. The rehabber believes he was old as everything else health wise checked out for him.
I learned that there are people out there that are very gifted with animals and that I am not one of them. 🙂 I also learned that I could catch a bat and transport him. Something I don’t plan to do again. If you don’t believe that I did this, I’ll put the pictures of Alfred in my 9×9 container at the bottom of the blog. I actually have pictures of the possums too and will gladly share if you ask.
Needless to say, it’s been a long four months (and March was its own “cat”astrophic experience) with my local wildlife! Recently, I’ve only seen Furry (named by my friend’s six-year-old) the neighbor’s squirrel who likes visiting my trees, Red and Ruddy the Robins who love hanging out on my front porch, and the various cardinals, blue jays, and other birds that have made their presence known. 🙂 I’ve been enjoying these visitors as they’ve been leaving my house alone.
I hope my stories have made you smile and maybe even given you some insights on how to handle your own animal adventures. As I was writing this blog, I was reminded of Psalm 24:1, “A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” May I realize that I am called to multiple areas of good stewardship including the animals that I interact with on my property. May I not have a narrow view of stewardship and may the local wildlife not be destructive to my home! 🙂
Adventures of a Single Pretzel 