The Tale of Peter And The Squirrel

October 22, 2011 § Leave a comment

Autumn. Nature prepares for winter. Animals and plants get ready for a long sleep in the quiet months of cold and dark.

Prepares…For some this seems to turn into a frenzy such as one would witness in a coastal town before a hurricane. I am talking about the squirrels who have been populating our garden for generations: the place being prime real estate equipped with three bountiful walnut trees, no pets and an old house with plenty of access holes.

Yes, plenty of access holes to cosy little shelters in the walls and eaves. Ideal for storing food and hunkering down for a few months.

One of those shelters is precisely located in the wall behind and next to our bed.

And we found out the hard way, for the little critters did not bother to give us prior notice of their moving in.

On a blissfully quiet night in late August, as my husband and I were deep in the realm of Morpheus, a sudden and very noisy racket startled us out of sleep .

What’s this? Can you hear it? Where is it coming from? Oh, it’s probably an animal running on the roof. Go back to sleep…

Yeah try: The noise intensifies, stops, starts again, erupts in various spots and seems to happen right next to our heads, our ears. We knock on the wall and for a few tense seconds of held breaths and immobility, it stops…and starts again, ensuing a futile waiting game that soon wears us out. The next option is to bury our heads under the pillow and ignore.

And so we do, careful not to remark on the dawn’s early light that forebodes the imminent wake up time.

To be continued…in my next post.

Do Not Disturb...

Marchand de Couleurs