After extensive damage to my work restoring our side porch, a family of squirrels has taken up residence in the roof of the porch.  I’ve since discovered that squirrels can effectively bring out the most bestial impulses in my normally placid and unflappable demeanor.  I throw rocks at them (successfully knocking a couple of them out of their trees, I might add), I’ve toyed with the idea of a pellet gun, and I have fantasies of stomping on them and squashing their little bitty heads.  It doesn’t help that  the ones in our neighborhood are loud and mean, or that someone on the other side of our block feeds the varmints, or that they eat all of our birdseed.

We tried a small Havahart trap borrowed from a friend (something along the lines of this) which proved to be ineffective, basically just feeding the squirrels our bait.  I think it was too small and that the vermin could get into the trap and back out without the door closing on them all the way.  Then on Friday a co-worker loaned us a larger version. 

Suffice it to say that this one has worked like a charm.  The most difficult part of the process with this trap is resisting the urge to drown the suckers in the river instead of releasing them in a wooded preserve a mile and a half from our house.  The whole process is quite satisfying, in fact; we caught 5 over the weekend and, Cynthia tells me, one already this morning.  The score thus far:

Currently listening to Cello Song by Nick Drake from Five Leaves Left.