Category Archives: Life’s disappointments

Critter Gitters, Conclusion

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After pest-pro Eric inspected my house and found all the spots where multiple animals were entering and exiting, he set traps to begin catching (and relocating) them. The very next day, several of the traps had bounty in them, so he came right over.

I knew he was pleased at our first catch when I heard his excitement high on the ladder. “Flying squirrels!” he said. “I didn’t know there were any in this area!”

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Remembering my ceiling stains, I couldn’t share his joy. But there they were, three grey squirrels with white “ruffles” on their sides, flaps that opened into wings allowing them to fly from tree-to-tree. “They’re practically tame,” he said. “My boss will want me to bring these to his property.”

“And how far away is that?” I said.

“Far enough. Seventeen miles.”

There were other catches as the week went on, and Eric also thinned our prolific chipmunk population, thwarting their repeated attempts to get into my house.

Critter Gitter.As he worked, I followed him around, watching him work and learning about his business. “People think we enjoy killing animals. One woman even called me a murderer. But we do our job with great care and as much kindness as possible.

“We keep a record of every animal we catch, whether we relocate or euthanize, and when, where, how. The Department of Natural Resources monitors everything we do, and if we make a mistake, we answer to them. And we have to be current on which animals are on the protected list, to be sure we release any caught by mistake.”

As he described how careful he was in ridding homes of critters, it made me wonder how careful I am in ridding myself of the negatives that tend to sneak into my life – things like a critical spirit, an exaggerated truth, or a complaining attitude.

Do I regularly examine my motives and emotions, inch by inch, to be sure nothing problematic is taking up residence within me? Do I hold a mirror up to myself, hunting for even the smallest sins with a desire to route them out?

Critter GetterIf not, I’d do well to remember Eric’s diligence. And once the offenders were out of my house, he was just as thorough in sealing everything up, which wasn’t easy. It meant repairing a broken window (left), buying a missing piece of siding and reinstalling it, tightening up other rows of siding, purchasing a new dryer vent-tube and putting a cage over the exterior vent, trimming trees to within 10 feet of the house, using stainless steel and other “non-chewables” to fill up holes, and doing it all on a series of ninety-degree days.

May I be just that thorough in blocking every opening where sin may try to enter my life.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)

Critter Gitters

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I live on the edge of a forest that’s alive with critters of all kinds, everything from ants to owls to fox to turkeys. Of course there are also deer, mice, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, gophers, ‘possums, coyotes, spiders, and raccoons. All of them were here before I was, so I try to give grace. But when they leave the forest and enter my house, all bets are off.

Though I would never harm even an ant when it’s outside, killing that same ant on my kitchen counter feels right. The same goes for any other critters who take up residence with me.

Last summer the situation reached a new low when I found chipmunk droppings scattered over my silverware and in my measuring cups.

IMG_3646Then winter came, with the pitter-patter of little feet in my attic, and this spring I noticed yellow urine stains on the white bedroom ceilings. Logic told me a crowd of critters was cohabitating with me, breaking house rules.

That’s when I called “Awesome Critter Gitters,” a local pest control service with a reputation for gentle but insistent removal. Eric arrived with a truck full of live-trap cages, all sizes, and the determination of man over beast.

“First off,” he said, “we’ll do a thorough inspection of your home’s exterior, inch-by-inch. That’ll tell us where they’re getting in. After that, we’ll set live traps at the exits to make sure everybody’s out. Then we’ll seal up the house.”

For the next few days, Eric was a steady presence on my property, crawling all over the roof, using a mirror on a stick to look up, under, and behind every inch, just as he’d promised.

Critter GitterHe was up and down his ladder dozens of times, inspecting every crevice, anything wider than a pinky finger. “They don’t need much space to get in,” he said. I watched as he pulled acorn caps and shredded nesting material out of some very strange places.

He put pieces of tissue in tubes connected to several of the holes. “If the tissue falls out, we know an animal exited. If it falls in, they entered.” He showed me evidence of active use next to loose siding pieces. “See that grey smudge? Oil from a squirrel’s fur as he pushed his way in.” Other gaps were clean at the edges, indicating they’d abandoned those.

After Eric left that first day, the very next morning the traps were full, so I called him.

(To be continued)

Even a…”spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.” (Proverbs 30:28 NKJV)

Don’t be a sissy.

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Back in 2004, I was sitting at the small kitchen table in Mom’s retirement apartment when she put a cookie in front of me, along with a cup of Sanka coffee. “Here,” she said. “Have a napkin, too.”

She handed me a luncheon-size napkin with a cartoon and a pithy saying on it. Two old ladies were sitting together on a park bench, and one was saying to the other, “Old age isn’t for sissies.”

Old Age

I chuckled and said, “Cute, Mom. Where’d you get these?”

“I bought ‘em myself, because that’s how it is.” She was 91 at the time and I was 58 – clearly a generation gap.

Now that I’m a dozen years closer to 91, I’m starting to appreciate Mom’s napkin philosophy. Some might say youth is wasted on the young, but the truth is, only the elderly have gained the courage and stamina to deal with old age.

IMG_5759Growing old gracefully is full of daunting challenges. Nothing but a lifetime in the School of Hard Knocks can prepare us to cope with the surprises that come as the years pile up.

The same is true in our Christian lives. God compares spiritual youth to physical babyhood. A diet of biblical milk is all we can digest, and anything else would be like trying to feed steak to a newborn.

Much later, as we accumulate more years of walking with God, we develop some spiritual teeth and begin tentatively sinking them into the harder parts of life. We learn to swallow small bits of biblical meat and receive nourishment enough to weather hardship.

Whether it’s physical or spiritual maturity, it takes time and experience to do life well. And when we’ve passed threescore and ten, living through the years after that requires spiritual muscle that can only come by eating the right diet… with or without a philosophical napkin.

“Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” (1 Corinthians 14:20)