An Unexpected Visitor

T'was the time before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring...unless you count the squirrel that decided to pay us a visit. I was sipping a quiet cup of tea near the warmth of the fireplace watching CBS Sunday Morning when suddenly Toby went berserk, barking in a way I'd never heard before. His tail was standing straight up as was the hair on his back. I got up and peeked around the corner just in time to see a young squirrel come through the dog door. 

The little guy made a bee-line for the living room, with Toby in hot pursuit. I yelled to Andy to come out of the bedroom where he was watching soccer and he got to the front of the house and grabbed Toby so he could stay in the crate. We lifted the chairs, thinking the squirrel was under one of them, but no. All the doors in the hallway were closed. A look around the family room yielded nothing. We figured that the squirrel had exited the way he came in.

Toby was let out of the crate, but immediately headed for my office where the squirrel had taken up residence in the corner behind a file cabinet. Once again, Andy took Toby to his crate while I tried to get the squirrel to move. He moved, all right, straight down the hall and into the family room where he hopped on the windowsill in the far corner and began scaling the blinds: up, down and across. Now Andy is armed with a broom and is stabbing at the blinds, trying to get our tiny guest to leave. We finally get him to exit the window and run under the kitchen table. With a little encouragement from the broom, he left through the open door, headed for the back yard and beyond.

What a way to start a Sunday morning. Now Andy is looking for a squirrel Christmas ornament to commemorate the episode. I don't think I'll need a reminder. 

​P.S. If you want a good laugh about a squirrel on the loose, watch this classic from Ray Stevens: g.co/kgs/Bv5rNp.

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