“I had to respect this king’s tenacity”: Trapped squirrel survives roofer sabotage, escapes drywall prison, and earns his freedom after wild kitchen chase

Now, us hoomans tend to have two very distinct views when it comes to uninvited animals in our homes. Some of us would be prepared to tear the house down to the studs to stop our uninvited guest for hanging around any longer on property that is not his to hang out on. While others of us would look for ways to rehabilitate the curious critter in our walls, seeking to keep it safe at almost any cost.

And while the latter is the costlier and tougher option, that is exactly what our story's hero did when confronted with a squirrel living in his attic. And while this phenomenon would scare the pants off many of us, no one needs to hear the midnight scratchings of a trapped squirrel above their heads while they sleep. Our hero did not let it stop him from finding a humane way to rehome his squirrel squatter. But what came after is truly surprising…
 

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Author image for Laurent Shinar Laurent Shinar
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    Squirrel is now desperately trapped in our ceiling...
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  • Oh jheez, this is one heck of a conundrum. For anyone who has not had the pleasure of living with a squirrel above their heads, let us tell you it is a nightmare. You hear some of the scariest, most ominous sounds you could ever hope not to hear. And all the while you know that there is a creature who has no concept of electrical lines or plumbing, tearing up your attic in hopes of making a comfortable home.

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    Over the last week, my wife and I have heard a ton of scratching and rattling coming from the ceiling above our bed. We had an exterminator come by, who said that it was likely squirrels not mice, and pointed out a lift in our roof where the shingles
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    meet the gutter, basically exactly where the noises were coming from. He recommended getting the hole fixed. Flash forward to this morning and I have a roofing company come by who say they deal with this
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    sort of thing all the time. They get up there, open up the hole a bit to make the repair and two squirrels immediately run out from the rafters. They claim to have dropped some spray or a chemical bomb of some kind to scare out any stragglers, then they went
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    about their business fixing the hole along with some other vulnerabilities on the roof while they were up there. My wife gets home just now and is sitting up in our bed, and, of course, she hears the same pitter- patter as before, only
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    seemingly more hastened and panicked. Looks like one of these guys got caught behind enemy lines. I called the roofers back and got a voicemail. The thing is, the hole is three
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    stories up and totally inaccessible without a roofing ladder, and now I'm just trying to figure out if it's better to try to convince these guys to come back and undo their work to let the poor thing out, or if I should try to figure out
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    Cheezburger Image 10536295680
    via Anze via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    another way to liberate it like cutting through the ceiling in our bedroom or floor on the top floor in some way. I feel like a jerk cause everything I've read about this sort of situation here and elsewhere warns about making sure you don't trap
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    any stragglers and I emphasized this a bunch to the roofers who are ultimately not exterminators. Not expecting any miracle solution here but any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.
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  • Sometimes people take their jobs a little too seriously. Like, what should it matter to you that you need to make sure there is no animal life present in the space that you are boarding up so that no animal life can get in. you are essentially building an inescapable prison. Do you not check who is in the prison before locking it up?

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    Update: Roofer called me back. He is coming back tomorrow to see what he can do. At least he feels some responsibility here so there's that.
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    Update 2: Found a very reputable humane animal control company nearby (I live in a big US city and these guys seem to be people for this) and they are scheduled for tomorrow. If/when the
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    roofer comes back today I'm going to see about boring a small hole where the previous access point was to give the squirrel a chance to get free and you know like not die in my ceiling. Then when the
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    animal control company comes we can go about setting a proper trap/one way door etc. It'll be an expensive set of mistakes. on my part... but hey at least the economy isn't tanking with record inflation or anything like that.
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    Update Squirrel is now desperately trapped in our ceiling...the shocking conclusion
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    Hey All -- Wanted to give an update to this post from a few days ago. Really appreciate everyone's suggestions and thoughtful replies.
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    Cheezburger Image 10536295936
    via Guy Sagi via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Per everyone's suggestion, I scheduled a visit from a wildlife specialist company (shoutout to ABC Humane Wildlife in the Chicagoland area) for today. In the interim, the squirrel, seeking a new means of egress, wound up falling from that floor in between
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    some studs and ended up trapped in an interior wall on my lower level. My large but ultimately useless cat stood sentry as the squirrel's noises became increasingly desperate and unsettling. I swear, if I didn't know it was a squirrel I would think it was
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    a boar or wounded hyena of some sort trapped in there. What was especially troubling is at this point the squirrel had been stuck inside for over two days, and presumably would de at some point. Fortunately,
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    the wildlife specialist made it in time and two modest holes in the drywall later, he was able to reach in and remove the squirrel. In a final plot twist, the squirrel broke free of his grip, dashed into my kitchen, where the pro had to recapture him using a large
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    net like a dog catcher in an old-timey cartoon. This squirrel was an absolute unit. Like a small raccoon sized squirrel. I was given the choice to let it free on my property or to have it euthanized, but by this point, despite the sleep
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    loss and annoyance and holes in the walls and who knows what else in the joists and studs, I had to respect this king's tenacity. I gave the squirrel a thumbs-up in the fashion of a roman emperor overlooking a gladiatorial melee, letting him run free
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    into my yard with his squirrel friends. Will he back and attempt to re- enter my ceiling? It's possible. But if so, I hope he does so as a friend.
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    The strangest thing of all though is that this whole neighborhood is just lousy with squirrels.
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    We see them jumping around all the time in all sections of the yards, sidewalks, and streets. I know because I have a cat and small child, both of
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    whom love to stare at the squirrels in the trees with equal curiosity and wonder. Today, I've been in and out of the house a good amount, and
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    have been monitoring the perimeter to check for any new efforts at infiltration. Friends, I am here to tell you have I have not seen a single squirrel outside
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    today. It's as though the local squirrel organization decided to have an offsite to team build and discuss their next moves. I hope to be able to
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    discuss their findings and reflections in the spirit of reconciliation when we all come together for a thanksgiving feast next week.
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