Squirrelly Adventures

Ripley the wonder dog let us know there was a critter in the basement in no uncertain terms: pacing back an forth, staring at the ceiling, racing to and from one room to another and panting excessively. 

We have an unfinished basement, and living in the country creatures can sometimes make their way in through cracks, crevices and doors that get left open when they should be closed. I suspected that we might have a squirrel down there given Ripley's behaviour as he generally demonstrates the above behaviour when the squirrels in the yard taunt him from their lofty perches in the trees just beyond dog reach.

I could not see or hear anything, but with Ripley's far superior sense of smell he was in the know. We went to bed that night and woke up to crashing and banging in the basement as bottles and cans from the recycling were tipped over. The dog flying down the stairs whining and barking and the scolding chitter of an upset squirrel added to the general chaos. 

Long story short, we cleared out the dog, opened basement windows and hoped like heck our squirrelly friend would take the easy way out.  A few minutes later, I saw a small furry body come flying out of the bush near our bird bath for a long drink and was hopeful that was our guy. 

Ripley the wonder dog agreed. A last tour and sniff of the basement confirmed that the adventure was over, and we quickly shut the escape hatches. Adventure over for the day, Ripley spent some time holding down his bed, making sure "it" did not get away.