Going Squirrely...
These are dangerous times we live in. The winds of war are sweeping towards Iraq, terror in our land is a real possiblity, computer viruses are rampant. Yet sometimes the real threat comes to our own backyard, our homes, our attics. The threat has come to me in the form of squirrels. I am living with terror in the attic. And the threat is pervasive.
Ten years ago in Midland, Texas squirrels did not exist, yet somehow these marauding menaces have now become a veritable plague upon our city. They are cunning, starting out in ones and twos, capturing your heart, making a pastoral scene, making us feel like a real cosmopolitan city. Then the numbers increase and they strike. First it was digging up potted plants, throwing dirt hither and yon. Then, advancing to the real damage, tearing up patio furniture and finally to the ultimate threat, inhabiting my attic.
I realized my predicament just the other night. I had heard noises occasionally, attributing these to squirrels in the rain gutters, foraging for pecans. But then, reality had me, I heard them distinctly above my bed. There are no gutters above my bed. It had to be the terrorists come to roost in my attic. They scamper, they scratch, their little claws making "clickity" noises. One started scratching on what seemed to be the very plaster above my bed, intent on dropping down on my head and cracking it like a nut.
I will state here that I love animals, sometimes more than most people, but the line is in the sand, the gauntlet has been dropped. This is a fight for my very survival!
These are dangerous times we live in. The winds of war are sweeping towards Iraq, terror in our land is a real possiblity, computer viruses are rampant. Yet sometimes the real threat comes to our own backyard, our homes, our attics. The threat has come to me in the form of squirrels. I am living with terror in the attic. And the threat is pervasive.
Ten years ago in Midland, Texas squirrels did not exist, yet somehow these marauding menaces have now become a veritable plague upon our city. They are cunning, starting out in ones and twos, capturing your heart, making a pastoral scene, making us feel like a real cosmopolitan city. Then the numbers increase and they strike. First it was digging up potted plants, throwing dirt hither and yon. Then, advancing to the real damage, tearing up patio furniture and finally to the ultimate threat, inhabiting my attic.
I realized my predicament just the other night. I had heard noises occasionally, attributing these to squirrels in the rain gutters, foraging for pecans. But then, reality had me, I heard them distinctly above my bed. There are no gutters above my bed. It had to be the terrorists come to roost in my attic. They scamper, they scratch, their little claws making "clickity" noises. One started scratching on what seemed to be the very plaster above my bed, intent on dropping down on my head and cracking it like a nut.
I will state here that I love animals, sometimes more than most people, but the line is in the sand, the gauntlet has been dropped. This is a fight for my very survival!
