For those of you who don't have window wells and don't live in the way west, you may not be able to relate directly to my story but I am sure you will find this funny nonetheless.Sunday afternoon after grocery shopping, my dh and I had went down into our basement to put things away and retrieve other items. While down there, I heard a noise and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. It was not in the basement. Thank GOD! It was in the window well. I should correct that. THEY were in the window well. THEY were critters! :(
Where did they come from? Well, we have a prairie behind us and I guess that's where they were originally. I was staring at this thing trying to figure out what it was. Nope. What THEY were. They weren't possums, raccoons, skunks, squirrels. What were they??? And, how do we get them out, I pondered.
Well, animal control should be able to take care of this, I thought. I made my call to the local pd to get the number and the police officer told me that animal control does not deal with wildlife but only dogs and cats. WHAT? She told me to try Department of Conservation, Department of Wildlife or a Forest Preserve. Lots of help that was.
I called Animal Control anyways and sure enough, their recording said they only dealt with dogs and cats. The recording also said to call back during normal business hours and they can refer you to offices that deal with other animals. Normal business hours?? It was Sunday at 5:30 pm. What was I supposed to do until a government agency opened on Monday, I thought.
As I was trying to come up with ideas and researching answers, my dh visits a neighbor to see what he suggested. He comes back and says to me "The guy said he's been needing some target practice." "NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. We are not killing animals. Come up with another idea", I responded. DH responds with, "Well, I can put a ladder down there and see if they can climb out." At that point, I was willing to try anything so that was exactly what he did. He scared the little one but it did not move.
At that point, I got online and started doing more research as I heard the critters clawing away at the window downstairs. Gross! Well, I found what I thought was a government agency. I should have known better. What government agency is open on Sundays at 6:45 pm? This company was privately owned and dealt with wildlife removal. Alright, now we are getting somewhere. Well, I didn't know that when I called they were in Indiana. We are in Illinois. It took them a few hours to get to us. They removed 2 dead MUSKRATS (the little one had escaped up the ladder) and we were now critter free after paying $55 per animal dead or alive. What a business. It only took them 5 minutes.
Last month it was frogs. This month was muskrats. Those window wells covers are going on very soon. What a Sunday.
