Strange things afoot...

We've got flying squirrels, for one thing.  They're living in our attic and, not content to occupy just one floor, our basement too.  They scritch and scratch all night long and who knows what kind of damage they are doing to create nifty little love nests for themselves, so they must go.  So far we've caught 6 of them- 4 using the cutest little hav-a-hart trap you've ever seen, and two by knocking them off a pipe they were teetering along in the basement and snagging them in a dragonfly net.  (All that dragonhunting has finally paid off- these guys are way easier to catch than a Harlequin Darner.)

These things are tiny!  I had never seen a Northern Flying Squirrel up close before last week, but they're really adorable despite the fact that we have to evict them pronto.  Only about 4" long with a flat little bushy paddle of a tail and lots of loose skin for gliding from treetop to (argh) rooftop.  Getting rid of the squirrels we have now doesn't seem to be the issue- they're easy enough to catch or trap and I've been relocating them 30 miles away, over two interstates and a very wide river.  The problem is we can't figure out where the heck they are getting into the house, so we might as well have a flashing neon "VACANCY" sign on the roof for new ones to move in.  We're working on it though, and hoping not to have to hire a professional exterminator in the end.  Keep you posted.

Another strange happening occurred when we woke up one morning to find New London coated in a soft rime ice... tiny crystal daggers shooting out of every outdoor surface.  I'm sure that in Greenland or Iceland there is a specific word for these formations, but "tiny crystal dagger thingies" will have to suffice in English.  It was beautiful with all the branches and pine needles coated, but it only lasted 1 or 2 hours before the temperature rose and it all melted away.  We're not sure what caused it in the first place, but guessing some perfect combination of temperature and humidity and (lack of?) wind.  Whatever it was, we much preferred it to the solid ice the previous week!