Squirrels
There is, as I have mentioned before, an ongoing debate in our household as to the existence of and validity in belief in the supernatural, the spiritual, and all manner of ghostly things.
It's interesting then, to see the difference in mine and my wife's responses to a particular pest problem that we are currently experiencing. We were awakened one morning, last week, by the sound of something scraping, scurrying, and running in what sounded like our attic (just above our heads... what a wonderful way to wake up).
After rolling around, moaning, and sleepily deciding that something had to be done in the way of investigation, I eventually got up, got semi-dressed, armed myself with a broom and pulled down the door/steps to the attic in our hallway.
It's important to note, here, that I have an irrational fear of rodents. Anything even resembling a rat, from mice to gerbils and hamsters is persona non grata, so the fear and trepidation that I had as I ventured into the attic was in response to my assumption that there was some rat-like creature roaming around, and, if provoked, would take occasion to jump in my face! My terror had nothing to do, as some would expect, with any creepy fictional stuff that might presumably go on in an attic. I even reminded my wife of the scene in The Exorcist in which the mother first hears the "demons" scuttling about in the attic and mistakenly assumes it is the activity of rats. I was actually hoping for the demons. I'm pretty sure I could kick some devil butt, but the thought of a confrontation with those of the rodent variety is quite terrifying.
Long story short, I trekked up to the attic, trembling... but never encountered the problem, rat, devil, or otherwise. My neigbor has, since, informed me that he has witnessed squirrels running in and out of a nice sized hole they have created just under the roof. Now we have to contact someone to take care of this little problem, at no small cost, I'm sure.
Damn squirrels. At least all a demon would do is possess one's soul. They have enough common courtesy not to destroy real estate.