Monday, March 24, 2014

Fighting For Territory

A few nights ago, Mike and I awoke to the sound of little footsteps in the attic above our head.  The feet scampered from one side of the attic to the other and kept us awake for several hours.  I don't like any kind of critters in my attic and made sure Mike knew how important it was to get rid of whatever was up there.

Mike set and baited a live trap the next morning.  On his way home from work, he stopped at the store and picked up some rat traps to place in strategic spots throughout the attic.  That night, we heard more animals clunking around.  There was obviously more than one critter up there and it was bigger than a mouse.  Mike kept reassuring me that it was probably some squirrels, but I didn't believe him.  The thumping was loud.  It finally quieted down and we went back to sleep.

After about 2 hours, there was lots of noise from above and the sound of an animal growling.  The thumping moved from one side of the ceiling to the other.  I was afraid that whatever was up there would end up coming through the ceiling.  Mike was pounding on the ceiling and shining a flashlight.  I grabbed a comforter and my pillow and headed downstairs.  Brave is what I am not in situations like this. 

I sprawled out in an recliner and tucked the comforter around me.  Mike ran through the upstairs of the house, shining the flashlight into various sections of the attic.  All the lights are on in the house.  Mike is pounding on the ceiling and walls in our room, trying to scare the critters out into the night.  It seemed like a long time had passed, but it was probably 1/2 an hour later, Mike came into the living room and asked me to come back upstairs.  He thought that the animals had left the house.

We returned upstairs and tried to settle back down to sleep with the overhead light on.  I had just started drifting off when we hear a loud howl above our head and the sound of a creature running towards the front of the house.  The animal slid down the slanted part of the wall and we heard him climb out the soffet at the corner of the house.  A short time later, we heard a second critter slide down the wall and out the same soffet. 

Two hours later, we had to get up to drive Madelyn to a cheer competition.  We were both exhausted!  It was a long day and there was lots to do when we returned home.  Mike nailed wood up in the area where the soffets were damaged.  He also reset traps.  He went through the attic thoroughly to make sure that no creatures were there. 

That night we slept fairly soundly.  Around 2 a.m., we heard something trying to get through the soffets in the front of the house, but Mike ran outside with the dog and nothing got in.

Last night, they returned with a vengence.  We have raccoons who are fighting turf wars in our attic.  The are climbing up a pine tree next to the house and scampering across the roof until they find a spot where the soffits or facia isn't in good repair., then entering the attic.

We ended up several times last night trying to scare them outside.  Amy heard them fighting next to her room.  Eventually, they quieted down around 6:00 this morning.  Mike tried to keep them out with Dudley's help, but we know that they are in there.  It's important that we kick them out and get everything tightly closed up before we have one give birth up there.  Mike will be purchasing more live traps to set up tonight, installing motion detecting lights all around the house and tightly closing up the house.  We will also be cutting down a pine tree next to the house Tuesday. 

Needless to say, I'm feeling discouraged and tired.  I'm also planning to skip taking my blood pressure this week.  The numbers are probably through the roof.


No comments: