Honey, there’s a flying squirrel in our dining room

Early Monday morning, we came downstairs to find our two cats going absolutely mental, trying to get at something under our dining room buffet. This is what we could see:

Despite the fact that this is a fluffy tail, and obviously NOT a rat, it took a long time and a lot of logical reasoning to convince rat-phobic Hubby that this was obviously NOT a rat.

Meantime, Monday mornings are crazy hectic at baseline, never mind with a squirrel skittering around behind the buffet, two large cats going insane, and both kids obsessed. “Can I see it? Can I see it again?… Can we keep it?”

I have afternoon clinic those days, and can help get the kids out the door, but it was nuts. Somehow we made lunches/ got kids breakfast/ got kids dressed/ teeth brushed/ cleaned up/ out the door, all while keeping a wary eye on the wildlife situation in the dining room.

I had to leave for work, but before I did, I called my mom, who happens to have a Have-A-Heart trap. (Long story there.)

Meantime, Hubby called an exterminator, and as luck would have it, we happen to have one for a neighbor. He walked over, took one look, and announced “You know what you’ve got here? This is a baby flying squirrel!”

Hubby and the exterminator guy came up with a plan and managed to haphazardly shoo the terrified creature past the cats, up and down Hubby’s leg, and out the front door, where it zigzagged across the front lawn, right in front of my mother, who had just arrived with the Have-A-Heart trap. It scooted past and up the big tree in our front yard.

And then, the most incredible part of the whole saga: the three of them watched in horror as a huge hawk swooped down, grabbed the baby squirrel in its talons, and flew away!

They were all dumbfounded. My mom is still traumatized.

Everyone agreed that we would only tell the kids up to the part where it ran out the front door. “And that was that!”

We still have no clue how it got into our house…