Late Night Critter Adventures in the Forest

So yesterday was the worst allergy day of the year, hands down. I sneezed and sneezed and sneezed (terrifying the dog) and then my asthma flared up and I coughed and coughed and coughed (alarming my Beloved Husband). I sneezed and coughed so much that I messed up my back, and started walking around the house like a mummy whose bandages were coming loose. Not fun.

Somehow I made it to bedtime. I felt so crappy, I didn’t even care that the Colts were playing the Saints. I took enough medication to knock out an elephant and fell very deeply asleep.

Which explains why BH had a hard time waking me up at 3:30am.

Apparently, he spent at least five minutes doing the gentle-nudge-sweetie?sweetie? thing. Then he said, “Honey, you need to wake up, but don’t be afraid.”

My eyes snapped open. Adrenaline surged.

BH explained that we had another critter in the house. (Critters adore us so much, they are always trying to move in. But they never pay the rent on time and they hold loud parties and let their friends smoke, so we’ve had to adopt a firm “No Critter” rule.)

At first I thought he was saying the critter was somehow poised above my head, preparing to drop on me. Second adrenaline surge. But, no. This one was wedged between a window and the window screen. There was a hole in the screen, and BH couldn’t tell if the critter made the hole in order to escape out of the house, or in an attempt to break in.

In any event, BH couldn’t find the camera.

I was so grateful that nothing with claws was about to drop on my face, I staggered out of bed and found the camera. And then I fell back into my coma. BH took pictures of the critter.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic It was a flying squirrel.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic A flying squirrel is basically a small rat with a hot cape, a fear of owls, and a banzai attitude.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic But as far as rats go, flying squirrels are cuter than most. And I will forever love this one because it did not jump on my head. After taking the pictures, BH opened the window and the little guy sprung off into the darkness.

Now I am going to lay flat on the couch and moan about my back, all the while I try not to sneeze or cough. The snow cannot get here fast enough, I swear. Ragweed is the devil’s handmaiden.

14 Replies to “Late Night Critter Adventures in the Forest”

  1. Better flying rodents than ants…. All phobias have their place and time…. Hope your back gets better. Find a pool and suspend yourself from a “noodle”, your back might relax.

  2. Gotta love those little critters!

    This must be the year of the flying squirrel. My husband had a similar encounter at our camp over the summer. He was getting ready for bed one night on our enclosed porch when he heard this tremendous thud on one of the screens. He looked up and there was a flying squirrel attached to the screen. He hung there for quite a while, enough time for my husband to come and wake me up to come out and see the fuzzy guy hanging there starring at us. Unfortunately we did not have the camera ready as you did. The little guy made an appearance the following night also. We must have proven to be interesting subjects to him and he wanted more of look see.

    We also found a bat this summer on the floor after being away from camp for a few weeks. By the time we found it the bat had literally disintegrated and all that was left was this giant black hair ball looking thing. My first thought was that a giant black panther had made its way into our camp coughed up this giant hair ball and was lurking under one of the beds ready to pounce. Total logical thinking….after all black panthers are known to run ramped in the Adirondacks are they not?

  3. Your “no critter” rule

    “Critters adore us so much, they are always trying to move in. But they never pay the rent on time and they hold loud parties and let their friends smoke, so we’ve had to adopt a firm ‘No Critter’ rule.” I love your writing … and not just in your books!

    ~~~ Bonnie Jacobs, a Chattanoogan looking forward to March and “A Tale for One City” (I’m on the committee)

    My blog, Bonnie’s Books:
    http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com

    One of my book reviews:
    http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/speak-by-laurie-halse-anderson.html

  4. Oh my gosh, it has the cutest fuzzy belly!*

    *I am sure the cute factor would diminish the cute fuzzy belly was anywhere near me.

    Maybe eating ice cream and watching bad TV would help your back 🙂

  5. that flying squirrel is so cute. i love watching them jump.

    and i agree ragweed sucks the joy. especially here in the oswego/mexico area where it tends to cover entire fields.
    i totally feel your pain my nose feels like its about to fall off. i hope you feel better.

    ps. i am currently reading twisted and i am really enjoying it.

  6. Aww, cute flying squirrel (and even cuter for not jumping on you!).

    I’m debating having “Ragweed is the devil’s handmaiden” tattooed across my forehead right about now. Or maybe I’ll just make a t-shirt.

  7. Wretched, wretched allergies!!! I feel so bad for you…and so glad that I’m not suffering the way you are. Though, my allergies don’t usually flare up until the spring so I’m past them for now I think. Cute pictures!! 🙂

  8. I was’t aware flying squirrels were native to that area. I sure had never seen one in all my time up there. Usually when a super friendly critter tried to move in with my family it was literally a flying rat (bat), and was never welcome.

  9. i hope you feel better soon! the flying squirrel story was funny and the pictures are cute! so glad you found the camera lol. i agree with you about snow; i wish it would come soon too. miss you! =) ♥
    p.s. i’m doing an article for the paper about banned books week 2007, and i’m excited. (not about banned books but about doing the article.) i hope you write an entry about it if you have time.

  10. I have been sick all week. Not with allergies, but it evolved into the same thing. Problem is, when I did the knock-out-an-elephant thing, I missed three classes, so I’ve had to refrain since then. But I also got a manvoice with which to amuse my friends!! Hahahahaha.

    I love rats. I’m adopting two of them.

  11. I used to date a guy that had a flying squirrel for a pet. It was grey, though. Maybe because it lived in FL? heh

    I have to agree on the Ragweed. I have been dying all week… 🙁

  12. Hi, Laurie! I sympathize with the allergies. If your insurance will cover it, there’s a fantastic new asthma shot called Xolair. It’s been a lifesaving miracle for me.

    Hope to see you one day SOON!!

    xoxo
    Linda Oatman High

  13. Nice blog I should say

    I should say that halseanderson.livejournal.com has lots of interesting information. Looks like the author did a good job. I will be coming back to halseanderson.livejournal.com for new information. Thank you.

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