Adventures in squirrel catching

We have a fireplace in our living room that we don't use. We bought one of those electronic insert things with the fake logs and fake fire to warm the place in the winter because there is a draft when the weather is cold. The insert doesn't block the whole fireplace, so we have a piece of wood on the right side that blocks most of the remaining gap. If it sounds ghetto, well, it is.

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch feeding Kai and I heard a "swoosh" sound and then a thunk in my fireplace. Shortie and the cats went over to investigate. I thought it was a bird because we found a dead one in there once.

All the sudden I heard something scrambling about and making some kind of primal growl/screech. And then through the small gap between the wood and the insert, a paw came out swiping!

It was a freaking squirrel!! Shortie would not stay away and the poor squirrel was getting really pissed off. Fairfax County sent out an officer and we spent 10 minutes trying to get it into a trap, but the squirrel wasn't having it.

We ended up taking out the fireplace insert and bam! The squirrel came flying out and headed toward the dining room. Shortie took off after it like a dog half his age. The squirrel ran a few laps around the dining room while the cop yelled at me to open the front door.

The squirrel made a final lap and headed toward the door. He jumped up onto the landing and Shortie jumped, trying to catch it in mid-air. He was thisclose, but luckily he missed.

The squirrel headed out the front door, followed by the nice lady officer.

Shortie spent the night peering into the fireplace and looking around the living room for the squirrel. He wanted to eat it!

Squirrels are so cute. But it is a little freaky to have one running around your house.