The joys of being a homeowner....

Dh and I moved into our house less than a month ago after a year and a half of looking for the right house. We're still learning (the hard way) about the little things that you don't think of when you're in an apartment. I hope you ladies enjoy this story- and use our error as your knowledge!
yesterday, I come home from work, exhausted. DH was home and had been running errands all day. I sit down in our new chair, Dh sits on the couch and we discuss our days. The cat jumps up next to me and I pet her. Everything seems normal. I go upstairs to change while DH was going to hook up his stereo....he calls me downstairs 'um...honey, you have to come look at this- I think we have termites'. I run downstairs into the living room and the window sill and grate is chewed up- pieces of wood everywhere behind the loveseat. This was not like this the day before- as I vacuumed there and did not see anything. He moves the loveseat a little and I see.....'a TAIL'!!!!! We had a squirrel in the house! Apparently, it got in through the fireplace flue (which we ASSUMED was closed) and had tried to gnaw its way out of the house. PIcture me screaming at the top of my lungs, jumping up and down 'GET IT OUT- CALL 911- CALL SOMEBODY! GET IT OUT'. DH calls his Dad who gave him the # of an exterminator who told us it would be 600$ to get this thing out of my house! So we opened the front door and tried to scare it out. Well, it got scared and ran torwards the sliding glass door and jumped THROUGH the screen! So we were left with:
a damaged window, a hole in our screen,squirrel poop and pee, and the knowledge that we should never assume that the flue is closed!!!!! We spent hours cleaning- there was squirrel poop all over the downstairs of the house- including on the kitchen counter
We kind of chuckle about it now but just the thought of this thing in my house gives me the creeps. So ladies- if you have a fireplace- GO CHECK TO SEE THAT THE FLUE IS CLOSED!!!!!!

Wow what a story!

Squirrels are something else!

At my MIL's house out east, they have a room thats like a screened in room/porch, the 'walls' are all screen and vinyl type windows. They left a big bag of bird seed inside the room and came home to a big hole in the screen. The squirrel chewed its way in, ate, and chewed its way out another screen on the other side of the room.

They are something else!
edited to say the room/screens my in laws had done was custom done and wasn't cheap! Damn squirrels!

well...at least its not $600!!!

My friend in College woke up with a squirrel perched on her bed frame!!!!

OMG! I would have FLIPPED OUT! I am surprised that your cat was so calm and okay - and that the psycho squirrel didn't hurt the cat

A couple of weeks ago when the exterminator was here to treat our house, he told my hubby that we have 'squirrel' problems. Apparently, we had never noticed the scratch marks all up and down the side of our house. There is a small hole in the siding where they were trying to get IN! Now we have to have it patched - but, THANK GOD, they haven't penetrated the house!

What you really need is to have a chimney expert come and put a cap and screen on the chimney because that will keep squirrels, birds, bats and other things out completely. They can't get in at all. Just having the flue closed won't help if they get stuck in the chimney then fall in when you open it to build a fire.

While you're at it, have the chimney cleaned, and repaired if it needs it, so you're ready for your first cozy fire of the season!

On a side note - my parents live in Arizona and they once had a great horned owl stuck in their chimney - it was sitting in a nook inside. A chimney expert came and finally got it out by dropping down a big chimney sweep brush with some food on it. The owl jumped on the brush and they pulled it out.

Holy chit, I got the heebie jeebies just reading that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whenever I see anything that moves and is not a resident of my house I scream 'BUUUUUG!!!!!!!!' and DH has to *remove it*!!

Bug tangent:

Last Sunday I was at my BIL's father's funeral and there (apparently) was a HUGE bug on my right shoulder! We were all standing quietly at the gravesite when my sister, who was standing next to me, looks at my shoulder and whispers 'Kathi, I don't want you to freak out'... I knew instinctively that it was a bug so I whisper 'just get it off...get it off'. She gently flicks it (she won't even kill a roach!) and it crawls towards my neck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just then, my 10 y.o. nephew (grandson of the deceased), points at me and says 'Kathi, Kathi!!!' trying to get me to *look* at it! (naturally, the whole family knows bugs freak me out!!!!) My sister flicked it again and it fell off! My nephew was so disappointed that I didn't start screaming like a lunatic and my sister says 'It landed on a soft patch of grass so it's ok'... uh, I would have shot it if necessary!!!

OMG - to be honest, you should be lucky he didn't do more damage - I've heard they can run all over the house destroying everything in it's wake trying to get out

I'm like Kathi ... any type of 'foreign living being' in my house has to be removed by Rob!