All Quiet on the Home Front

Although we spent most of the fall battling the squirrel population of North Shelby County, for the moment at least, we've called a truce.  The squirrels are sticking to the yard, and LBeau has removed this unsightly contraption from the back of our house.

He constructed it of galvanized flashing, and attached it to the house using duct tape and a C clamp.  Although duct tape may be good for lots of things, including getting rid of warts, I can testify that in rainy weather it will absolutely not stick to brick, thus the C clamp.

The idea behind LBeau's creation was to keep the squirrels from climbing up the brick beside the window and jump from there to the roof.  So they just moved to the other side of the window and took a longer leap, making LBeau's next possible move a gigantic squirrel baffle permanently attached all the way across the back of the house.  No thank you.

Meanwhile, we now need to fix the gutter damage where the squirrels ate holes in them.  You heard that right; they ate the aluminum gutters!!  See this hole where the two pieces of gutter meet.  That seam is supposed to be completely covered by that metal strap which used to overlap the top and turn down inside the gutter.

After a Google search to see if anyone else had ever had a problem with squirrels eating their gutters, I found a forum called Undieable Squirrel.  One poster asked for suggestions on dealing with squirrels eating gutters.  I particularly liked one bit of advise.  "Shoot the buggers!!"

As you can see, we are now prepared.  The kids gave LBeau this air rifle for Christmas, and it's already been put to good use.

So just a friendly word of warning for all you squirrels out there.  As long as you stick to the yard and the trees, you're safe.  But if you make one move on our house, we'll be waiting for you.