Rocket J. Squirrel, the sequel

Regular readers may recall that I posted the other day about trapping and relocating a red squirrel that had been running around in our attached shed and mud room. At the time, I thought capturing Rocket J. Squirrel (yes, I know Rocky was a flying squirrel, not a red squirrel - don't be so persnickety) had put an end to my rodent run-ins. 

Sometimes, I’m incredibly naive.

After I caught Rocky in a Havahart trap last Thursday and drove him out to his new home just beyond the city limits, there were no more squirrel sightings in our 140-year-old house. Until Friday morning, that is. That’s when scampering resumed behind the mud room wall. So I slathered more peanut butter in the trap, topped it with sunflower seeds and placed the trap in the adjoining shed. 

That was at 9 a.m. on Friday. By 10 a.m., there was a red squirrel scurrying around in the trap. Off we went to the williwags, where I released my captive. Returning home, I reset the trap late Friday morning, only to find a third squirrel right after lunch. Setting the trap yet again, I caught a fourth squirrel about 2 p.m. on Friday, and a fifth around 8 a.m. on Saturday. 

The mud room and the shed have been silent ever since. Our cats, who had been on high alert, have calmed down. And the nearby bird feeder, which the squirrels had commandeered as their own, has now been reclaimed by chicakees and other feathered denizens. 

Mulling over my experience as operator of the Squirrel Relocation Service, I’m left with the impression that wild animals, like the domesticated variety, have individual personalities. As I watched each of the squirrels in the rear-view mirror during our rides out to Squirrelville, I noticed that squirrels one, two and three ran around frantically in the trap during the entire trip, trying to escape. 

But number four used his ride as an opportunity to chow down on some leftover peanut butter. (A squirrel after my own heart, that one.) And number five simply sat upright in the cage during the trip, looking around and showing no signs of agitation. I hope he wasn't making a mental map of the route. Maybe he plans to lead his brethren out of exile, and back to the land of plenty.