My red squirrel story

Last edited Mon Dec 15, 2025, 05:03 PM - Edit history (1)

My housemate likes to throw peanuts and walnuts out on the back deck for the squirrels and chipmunks. When she puts out walnuts, I can't stand to be around because she leaves the sliding glass door open forever while tossing one at a time. I keep telling her I'm afraid that one of the squirrels will get into the house but she ignores me. Finally, Wednesday morning, a red squirrel did get in but she was sure he got out just as quickly as she saw him near the open door.

Wednesday evening, she thought she saw something moving near the top shelves of the bookcase in the family room and Nicky, our cat, seemed to be interested in that location so I went and looked. I saw a red squirrel running around the top three shelves, disappearing on the top one, where lay a bicycle helmet box. I wasn't prepared to deal with it because I had no face or hand protection but I realized I could use the thick, arm-length, wild-animal handling gloves I had gotten for our now-departed cat Felix's vet visits, during which he could be bitey. For face protection, I figured one of those face shields some people wore during COVID would work. Until I could get one, I put one of those cheap pet/baby barriers over the top two shelves.

Thursday morning, I finished clearing the driveway and drove to Lowe's to get the face shield, which I finally located in the welding department. I also picked up a Havahart trap in case my plan to grab the squirrel didn't work. When I got home, I locked Nicky in the bathroom, donned the mask and gloves, got up on the ladder, removed the barrier, and, with a laundry bag nearby to capture the squirrel, I grabbed the bike-helmet box. The squirrel jumped out of the box and ran around the room, at one point posing triumphantly on an ottoman like he had just conquered the family room, finally ending up on the top shelf of the other bookcase (we have two cases, on either side of the fireplace).

We still couldn't see the squirrel but I was pretty sure he was hiding on the top shelf of the left bookcase now so I put the barrier up there and went to my retina-specialist appointment. When I came back home with dilated pupils, I decided to try the trap, even though reading the instructions was tough. I set it up on the second shelf which was also covered by the barrier, using a walnut as bait.

Friday morning, at around 5 am, my housemate told me she heard the trap make a noise so I investigated. The squirrel had tripped it but the lever that shuts the door got stuck on the roof of the trap and the squirrel escaped. Using duck tape and corrugated cardboard, I managed to get the trap working so that the lever didn't get stuck, and replaced it on the shelf. Within an hour, she heard it make a noise and the squirrel was indeed trapped, frantically trying to bite through the cage. I put on the gloves and brought the trap to the front porch where I carefully opened the door and the squirrel ran off into the woods. At that moment, I felt a bond with that red squirrel in that we both were finally enjoying our freedom, which for both of us meant returning to our ordinary lives. Later that day, my housemate said she saw the red squirrel outside, chasing another one around a tall pine, which they both then climbed to the very top. She thinks they were celebrating their reunion.