For a couple of weeks I kept telling Jeff that we needed to get an
arborist to come and trim a large branch from our ash tree. I thought
I heard it scraping on our roof near my daughter's bedroom. But on
Tuesday I realized it wasn't the tree, but it was a noise from inside
the house...(Scratching, gnawing and squeaky kinds of sounds).
We
called the wildlife control services technician, who came and after
talking with him about the "symptoms", he informed us that squirrels
were the most likely culprits. He set four traps on the roof.
While
outside talking with the tech, Jeff & I realized that we smelled
gas. And when the gas company came to check it out, they confirmed our
suspicion of a gas leak and promptly shut off the gas to our home!
So yesterday was a parade of technicians. My plumber came and dug up the yard to replace the gas line. An arborist
came to give me an estimate on removing an arborvitae right by the
house and some large branches from the ash tree where the squirrels
were gaining easy access to our attic. And I spoke with the wildlife guy, Jeff (yes,
now we are on a first name basis), to let him know we needed "Plan B"
as there were no squirrels in the traps. (BTW-If you are an animal
lover, you will be pleased to know that Jeff will not kill them but
"relocate" them further north. If you live north of me, well, be on
the look-out for some potential house-loving squirrels guests!)
And
while the money I am now spending on squirrel-related costs is not
exactly where I would have chosen to spend money, I can't be too mad at
these little furry guys... It is because of them that I realized we
had a gas leak. We don't normally hang out much on that side of the
house and I might not have realized the problem for a while.
So the moral of this story--even a pest can be a blessing!
