Unwanted Visitors By Evelyn Taylor

Evelyn writes: This is just one of many of the Bryant Taylor’s unwanted visitors.  We have had a snake, a bat, sparrow over the year, and a mouse in an 18 foot trailer we lived in before we had a house.

These two “critters” came to visit our A-frame house in the village.  They were not invited and definitely “unwanted.”

As Bryant and I walked toward our house after a stroll in our backyard, we noticed that the metal louvers in the ventilator window at the peak of the roof line were bent and twisted.  What animal could do that, and was it in our attic space?

That evening Bryant was inspecting the roof with a flashlight when the beam picked up a fat, handsome raccoon staring back with his innocent eyes set in his cute black and white face.

 



The mystery was solved, but now what to do?  We worked out a plan of action:

·         A ladder was put into place to reach the ventilator.

·         A board, hammer, and nails were placed on the top to cover the opening when the raccoon was out.

·         When the latter occurred, Bryant would hurry up the ladder as I held it, and quickly hammer the board in place.

This all sounds simple enough, but the raccoon had other plans. That first evening we sat quietly in our living room with the TV off and neither one talking.  We listened intently for any slight sound on the roof.

Nothing happened!  So the next night we would catch him with a “live trap” and raccoon scent, provided by the Animal Shelter.  Again, our silent vigil-------a sound------the trap!  We flew out the door, only to find we had the neighbor’s cat!

The third night we heard a noise on the roof.  Putting our plan into action was successful.  The raccoon was out, and scurried off the roof.

With a sigh of relief we got back to normal.  However, a week later, we discovered that the front ventilator window was bent out of shape.

Our conclusion was that we had had two “unwanted visitors.”  Mrs. Raccoon had to claw her way out when Mr. Raccoon didn’t come home.