Why I was late to the 2600 meeting last Friday
I headed over to Brad's last Friday evening in order to carpool to the 2600 meeting. When I arrived, he informed me that he was also waiting for noweb4u, who should be showing up around 19:00 (by which time the meeting would already have started--and we wouldn't have left yet.) As luck would have it, Paul did show up early, after sending out an odd distress call on IRC.
Some weeks ago, noweb4u discovered that he had a squirrel living in, and damaging the masonry of, his chimney. Madison Heights animal control loaned him a live trap and gave him a number to call should he be successful. I figured out how to set the trap, told them to bait it with cheap peanuts in the shell, and wished them luck.
Apparently, when ladymace had left that morning, the trap was still baited, set and empty. However, when noweb4u arrived home from work, he found a very agitated black squirrel in the trap (this is actually good, as the squirrel living in the chimney was also black, presumably they are the same individual.) First, he called Animal Control, which had already closed for the weekend, then he called the non-emergency police number; the police told him, somewhat unhelpfully, that he should merely release the squirrel in his backyard, which would defeat the whole point of the exercise.
He then headed over to Brad's to find the two people with the know-how and odd assortment of tools necessary for handling and releasing the squirrel. We rounded up some heavy work gloves, tools, and a can of ether (don't ask--I didn't), as well as a large paper yard waste bag. When we got to Paul's we found a very scared, and very vocal black squirrel in the trap. He was thrashing around so violently that he was moving the trap three feet or so along the patio blocks next to the house. Note the field jacket and heavy glove I'm wearing to protect me against potential bites from the squirrel.
Shortly after that video was taken, I placed him in the paper yard waste bag, which calmed him down and allowed us to transport him to an undisclosed location several miles North which seemed like better habitat for him. Given that he was wild, and under significant stress, I thought it was best for all of us to give him some space when we released him into his new home.
Some weeks ago, noweb4u discovered that he had a squirrel living in, and damaging the masonry of, his chimney. Madison Heights animal control loaned him a live trap and gave him a number to call should he be successful. I figured out how to set the trap, told them to bait it with cheap peanuts in the shell, and wished them luck.
Apparently, when ladymace had left that morning, the trap was still baited, set and empty. However, when noweb4u arrived home from work, he found a very agitated black squirrel in the trap (this is actually good, as the squirrel living in the chimney was also black, presumably they are the same individual.) First, he called Animal Control, which had already closed for the weekend, then he called the non-emergency police number; the police told him, somewhat unhelpfully, that he should merely release the squirrel in his backyard, which would defeat the whole point of the exercise.
He then headed over to Brad's to find the two people with the know-how and odd assortment of tools necessary for handling and releasing the squirrel. We rounded up some heavy work gloves, tools, and a can of ether (don't ask--I didn't), as well as a large paper yard waste bag. When we got to Paul's we found a very scared, and very vocal black squirrel in the trap. He was thrashing around so violently that he was moving the trap three feet or so along the patio blocks next to the house. Note the field jacket and heavy glove I'm wearing to protect me against potential bites from the squirrel.
Click to viewShortly after that video was taken, I placed him in the paper yard waste bag, which calmed him down and allowed us to transport him to an undisclosed location several miles North which seemed like better habitat for him. Given that he was wild, and under significant stress, I thought it was best for all of us to give him some space when we released him into his new home.