Uninvited guest...

[VolunteerChin22]

My husband and I awoke to an odd sound - sounded like something was in the aluminum dryer hose - so I opened the access door and sure enough something was in there! I thought it was stuck so I called pest control and they came out and "it" was gone. Now our dryer vents outside about 12ft in the air so we couldn't figure out how it got into the vent. But whatever right its gone....

So right after the pest guy leaves I hear it again! This time when I open the access door the hose has ripped open about an inch and i see a face! So I freak out naturally and run for a flashlight and the broom and my husband, we come back and are waiting for the monster to emerge...

And out crawls the cutest flying squirrel I have ever seen. He looks at us and is goes right back to what he was doing. We googled "flying squirrel" and sure enough he is a southern flying squirrel.

Our landlord's contractor is on his way to remove him...He now has access to our bedroom since he chewed through the hose so I am cautiously going in and out scared he's going to jump out!! I have no idea how we will get him out of there!!!:hmm:

 

[macygray]

I for a second thought it was a chinchilla! LOL. I scrolled down and see a pic of a chinchilla...

Don't mind me! Thats crazy! I must do a google on the flying Squirrels...Never heard of them

 

[VolunteerChin22]

LOL I checked the cages! Everyone was accounted for...they look a bit like sugar gliders- cute but he's destroying the hose!

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

We don't have those over here in Belgium
Scary encounters in the middle of the night LOVELY

 

[Chinmama]

Flying squirrels are adorable, but not when they are loose in your house! Good luck catching him.

 

[Jenn]

Maybe you could have your camera in hand and snap a picture for us before he is "evicted"

 

[Rickman]

Leather gloves - he can be as hard as a chin to catch - "re-home" him to a forest preserve in a carrier!
They do make slotted vent covers - Home Depot!

 

[threewingedfury]

Oh I'd love to have a little flying squirrel. Since they're native to NC, you can't have them as pets though.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Oh no!

Well the contractor friend came to help get her out and we succeeded. But when I walked around the house to see if she was out I heard little noises and she had had babies while she was in there!! They are 4 tiny, eyes closed and fell about 12 feet out of the dryer vent. One is a runt and looks about half the size of the other two. Im balling my eyes out right now because Im so afraid she wont get them before another bird or the red ants do!

:cry3:

I called a wildlife rehabilitator and she told me she didn't do squirrels and I should put a box near by with hay in it and just let her come back to move them. She was watching us and I didn't touch them, but Im so afraid she wont go get them!

They are hours old im sure - would goats milk formula I feed chins with be ok I wonder if I tried to hand feed them? I feel so helpless and terrible. They are endangered species also!

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I just went out to take a peek and thank God all four are gone! I think she found them! Whew

Only problem now is I think she took them into the attic through another hole near the roof (This house is a rental and was built in 1929 so it's got all kinds of "character")

 

[Adhafera]

Oh my goodness! They are cute, but not something I'd want in my house uninvitied. My father in law used to have two pet squirrels!

 

[MischievousChins]

Obviously, she has adopted you has her family, and refuses to be evicted! lol

I'd call around and see if there are any other rescure/rehoming services for them.... preferably one far away from your house! lol

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Yeah the contractor said he would wait a month or so until they were big enough to trap and then relocate them before he patched the attic hole.

She was precious. And now I know why she didn't want to leave - she was being a good mommy! I have been thinking about those babies still!