When I lived in the Wissahickon neighborhood of Philadelphia, I used to get along just fine with the squirrels. I even gave them names.
Like Britney:
Britney was my favorite.
But since moving into this house in South Philadelphia nearly four years ago, squirrels have become nothing but pests. Trying to grow any vegetables in my little back yard is next to impossible, as they eat practically anything that isn’t a herb. So rosemary and basil and a couple others are about all I can grow.
A few weeks ago I started to hear some noises in my ceiling. At first I thought one of my neighbors was having work done. But the noises persisted.
The noises never occurred before 8:00 AM and always stopped before 6:00 PM, so they were certainly in some way consistent with a contractor doing work. But I never saw anyone coming or going from her house. And the noises kept on for days, and then weeks. And they were often in the ceiling directly above me. So it didn’t make sense that they were coming from her house.
Finally, I decided, they must be caused by squirrels. It’s just they didn’t sound like what I thought squirrels would sound like. I thought squirrels would sound like they were scampering around. These noises were like the sound of rewiring or soft drilling or just sort of indescribable.
So I called Critter Control of Greater Philadelphia, and today Brandon arrived to evaluate my problem.
The Good News
He spotted the holes at the top of the house where the little buggers got in right away. He said they can put one-way doors on those holes so the squirrels can get out but not back in. They’ll put traps in front on my house and relocate the squirrels at least 15 miles away. [I interjected that I didn’t care what they did with the little vermin!] Once all the squirrels are out, they’ll spray to fumigate to kill any bacteria and then seal the holes. Oh, yes, he said the squirrels probably found their way in there because this is the time of year when they’re pregnant and there’s now not much time left to get them out before they give birth.
The Not So Good News
There are power cables leading into my house where one of the holes is, so I have to get Peco to come out and cover those wires before Critter Control can do its thing (he gave me the link to the web site to fill in the form). That’s a free service from Peco. Critter Control, however, will charge me $2000.
Oh, great. At this rate I’ll never get my new Apple HomePods.