The house invaders

There seems to be an epidemic in Northeast Arkansas.

I'm battling ants.

A friend who lives near Pollard says her mobile home is being infested with ladybugs, red and yellow.

Another friend in Mississippi County is battling skunks and their invasive smell.

And a man I'll call Earl has an invasion of flying squirrels.

The first time Earl realized he had a problem he heard gnawing coming from his living room after he had gone to bed for the night.

He investigated and saw a bug-eyed squirrel zip across the living room into the kitchen.

The little rodent froze in its tracks, staring at the hulk of a human who approached.

Earl remembered thinking that he wished he had on his heavy gloves but if he left to go get them, then the squirrel would get away. So without further thinking, he reached down and, barehanded, grabbed the bushy tailed squirrel.

The squirrel let out a high pitched scream like that of a terrified baby screeching for its mama. "I'd never heard anything like it," Earl said.

Before Earl could react, the squirrel buried its incisor teeth in Earl's thumb bringing blood and a scream from Earl. The squirrel refused to let go. No prying would release the grip of those teeth. So, Earl opened the door, walked out onto the deck in the dark of night, and the squirrel released its hold and disappeared into the darkness. As Earl explained later, "I didn't catch the squirrel; it caught me."

Earl was left with a sore thumb and interrupted sleep.

But that was just the beginning.

In the following days, Earl was revisited by flying squirrels. He could hear them scampering overhead in the attic while he sat in his recliner watching television.

Then that night one of them would somehow get indoors.

Late one evening, Earl saw a squirrel coming up the basement stairs. It paused when it saw Earl, then scampered back down the stairs.

There was nothing to do but start setting a small trap for the intruders.

Earl used unshelled pecans as bait and the squirrels took the bait, one at a time, until Earl had caught five of them over a period of several weeks

At last, they were gone and the house was silent. That is, until Earl went to bed and fell fast asleep on his stomach.. He suddenly felt a squirrel flit across his backside.

This squirrel was larger than the rest and more elusive.

But it, too, took the bait and was caught. Earl later released it in the woods far far away.

Now about the pesky skunks.

Some skunks decided to take up residence beneath a brick home in Mississippi County. For some time, the woman of the house had complained she was hearing strange noises from beneath the house. The man of the house said no, not possible. But the ruckus continued.

Then a pungent odor began to seep inside, not too noticeable at first. As days went by, the stink grew stronger and was most noticeable when the couple returned home from outings. When they entered the front door, an unpleasant aroma greeted them.

"There are skunks under the house," the woman insisted. He again insisted that wasn't possible. But it is true that skunks will sometimes set up housekeeping in the crawl space under a house.

When a skunk becomes frightened or agitated, it squirts a foul-smelling oily fluid as a defensive weapon. Some have described the stench as a combination of rotten eggs, garlic and burnt rubber. The putrid smell is so strong it can ward off a bear.

The mystery was solved when three skunks were seen near the foundation, trying to get into the crawl space.

It was an I told you so moment.

Last Friday when I talked to the woman, she said the dog catcher was there and he was setting traps.

City workers were there to help too.

To date, six skunks have been trapped. .

Time will tell if the skunk encroachment has been resolved..

And the flying squirrel invasions too.

Remember when man had only to contend with mice?