A young mom of two little ones had a neighborhood-known bed of orchids growing in one of her kitchen’s bay windows.
A total of 13 pots had more than 100 different orchids blooming at one time. People would drive by her house just to peek in on her beautiful flowers.
One Tuesday, the young mom woke up and was making eggs for her kiddos prior to zooming them over to school, then zooming off to work. As she flipped the eggs, she noticed one of her orchid plants was a bit tilted. She started to ponder over why it was tilted, but got distracted by her son calling for mom. She never got back to finishing her thought process on the tilted plant.
On Wednesday, the young mom was making eggs for kiddos again, when she noticed a couple black marks on her counter next to her tilted plant. Her focus again shifted from the tilted plant as she started scrubbing down the marks, thinking maybe somehow soil from the plants scattered out.
On Thursday, the young mom went on with her routine when her eye caught the tilted plant again. She reached out to straighten the plant. She held the pot with one hand, wiggled the plant’s stem at its root with the other.
Out jumped a squirrel – right next to her hot stove. It just missed the eggs.
The young mom screamed two mighty times. The squirrel jumped down, ran across the kitchen and speedily made its way into the basement.
Ultimately, an expert came to make sure the squirrel was returned to its natural habitat.
Carl Wilki, Owner of Carl’s Wildlife Control in Elmhurst, Illinois
Carl traps all kinds of animals, including squirrels, raccoons, skunks, snakes, beavers and chipmunks.
“Typically, most of the animals that are actually in homes, it’s by accident,” he said. “They don’t want to be there. More often or not, they usually fall out the chimney or come out of the furnace.”
Carl encourages homeowners to keep the flu of the fireplace closed, as well as having a chimney cap.
“If the flu is open on the fireplace, the animal falls through to the bottom,” he said. “It’s a free-fall. Once they’re at the bottom they just try to find a way out.”
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this short story, excluding interviews, are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
