Squirrel Lifeguarding Part II

Before I get to the squirrel's escapades this past week-end, I think I should share some pictures and give a bit of explanation. When the first squirrel fell in the pool, we did not yet have a screen enclosure so the squirrels had open access to the pool. Now, it's more difficult for them. See:

This is our view from our family room. Yes, that's our dog, Miffy, chasing away the squirrels. They drive her nuts; she chases them. They try to get her to fall in the pool. She chases them some more. And so on.

So, in Florida, the screen enclosure is pretty much a necessity because the bugs are bad--especially for me, for some reason. Seriously, our whole family can go outside and in ten minutes, I'll be covered in bites while our daughter will have a bite or two, our son might have one but my husband won't have any. It's not fair!!! So, that's one of the reasons we got the enclosure.

Anyway, here's what the screen looks like from the outside:

The squirrels climb all over this all day long. Up. Down. Back and forth. Honestly, it's the first time in my life that I've been able to look at a squirrel and tell you its gender because I always see their bellies as they scamper across the screen.

Here's a girl squirrel helping herself to the squirrel . . . ahem, I mean bird food. And that brings us to why we had a squirrel adventure this past week-end. You see, my husband had just filled and moved the bird feeder from by the screen to closer to the fence where the squirrels wouldn't be able to reach it. (Obviously, my husband under-estimated the squirrels.) He left the bag of birdseed on the table by our sliding glass door. Then, he proceeded to prop the door open to run the hose into the pool to add some water.

Enter Wily Squirrel. Wily proceeded to chew holes through the bag of seed and have a feast. My son was the first to notice and I was out the door on a mission to get it out of the screen. I ran for both doors to prop them open and here's the squirrel: Up. Down. Back and forth. Up again.

In the meanwhile both kids and the dog followed me out the door, causing the squirrel to switch to panic mode. Seriously scampering! Up! Down! Back and forth! Up again! I can see it's chest heaving from the stress and fear.

Quick! Chase the dog back in and then the kids because they're just getting in the way. Okay, now for the squirrel. Nope! Out comes the dog again. Chase the dog back in. Chase the kids back in. Try to walk the squirrel towards the door. Nothing doing!

Now, Wily is so terrified that he has decided to eat his way out. I'm not kidding. See:


By this time, my husband has come out to "help" causing the dog and the kids to come back out one more time!

Chase the dog back in. Chase the kids back in. Find the net! Quick!!! Because my husband won't let me forget how much that enclosure cost and Wily won't stop chewing on the screen! Bryan grabs a broom and knocks the squirrel . . . into the pool.

Here we go again!

And I don't know where the net is. You really don't need a net when you have a screen enclosure because the leaves and other debris can't get into the pool. Right? Yeah, what about Wily?!!! LOL!

There's that net. Quick get Wily out of the pool. And, he jumps off the net and tries to go back up the screen again.

And, finally, we seem to be gaining the advantage. Wily's wet feet do not have the gripping power and he's getting tired too! Using both the broom and the net, Bryan was finally able to show Wily the door.

The bird food is now stored in an airtight plastic box. The doors won't be left open again. We hope Wily won't be wily enough to figure out the dog door. Of course, I'm not holding my breath.

Until next time, Happy Creative Time!