A Squirrelly Story

I used to enjoy seeing squirrels in the yard. They're cute, they're entertaining, and, as I recently discovered, they're destructive.
Apparently our squirrels feel that the eaves of our house are far superior to trees as a place to call home sweet home. Two squirrel size holes have been chewed in our soffit siding, providing the perfect front and back doors for their cozy new abode. Now I certainly don't mind sharing with wildlife, but this situation creates a bit too much togetherness for me.

I launched a search to find solutions. It appeared that our best plan of action was to trap and relocate the offenders. So we put out a live trap, baited it with bird seed, and...success! A fat, albeit highly annoyed squirrel had become our captive guest. Per my hubby, the wildlife expert, our squirrel had to go far, far away or he'd easily find his way back home...sort of like a rodent version of Lassie. So we loaded our squirrel into the truck and chauffered him to a heavily wooded park across the river and miles away. As soon as the trap door opened, he flew to the trees and disappeared from sight. And unless he's a powerful swimmer, he won't be back.

Meanwhile, many of his relatives remain. Not one of them has yet tripped the trap. In fact, I saw them scurry merrily in and out of it to enjoy their free feast with little concern and nary a quiver from the dratted device. For having such a tiny brain, guess they're smarter than I thought.

I'm looking at other options. Like putting the siding repair guy on permanent contract.