Shortly after my last post, the little fella took the bait! It is a European Red Squirrel, different to the Western Grey Squirrel featured earlier, as you can see from the red tinged tail. He is also smaller in size, but sweaks just as loud.
Tomorrow he will be on his way to a nice wooded forest with hopefully more acorn trees to feed on and a better place to build his nest for the winter.
Living in a near-rural area brings with it a variety of animals and birds that you just do not get in the city. Of late we have been hearing scampering activity in our roof and bits an pieces of insulation at the corners of our house.
Upon a call to the critter experts, their diagnosis is that we have a squirrel preparing their nest for the winter. Out come the traps then to catch them!
As you can see, it is a cage with a lever with food on it when pressed will close the trap door. The squirrel can then be safely removed to a forest far far away from us.
They have already trapped one squirrel, but we are still hearing the noises. Today I saw one this little guy running around who could be the one in our roof.
The first weekend of September is Labor Day and marks the end of summer and the start of school. It is the last public holiday before Thanksgiving and so we took off on Friday for a nice long weekend.
FridayThe drive between Midland and Chicago is about 5-6 hours, but we stopped off at Michigan City, IN (1hr away from Chicago) to stretch our legs, and check out the shops at the Lighthouse Premium Outlets Mall. I got a good deal on some Nike Trial Free 5.0 shoes - they feel like you are not wearing shoes at all!
It is time to move on and before we know it we are on the outskirts of Chicago and head to China Town for some good food before heading to the hotel.
This time we are staying in the area that they call The Loop, which is the financial district of Chicago situated south of the river. Our hotel is a block away from Sears Tower - W Hotel. It is a very modern hotel with great service, very comfortable, and so we settle in for the night.
$8 Water Anyone?
Saturday
We are going to see the matinee show of "Wicked" at the Ford Oriental Theater - a show about the Witches of Oz and is a prequal to the Wizard of Oz story. We have a quick breakfast at Starbucks and walk up to Michigan Avenue to the shops to walk around for a couple of hours before the show (
http://www.wickedthemusical.com/).
"Wicked" is very well done, great music, acting and story line. You learn more about the history of Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West, how they became that way, and also about how the characters in the Wizard of Oz came about. See it if it comes your way!
SundayMore wandering around Michigan Avenue...then dinner with some friends at Japonais - Japanese fusion food.
Interesting Shots Around Chicago
MondayWe head out on the long drive home after a leisurely time in Chicago.
Shortly after my last post, the little fella took the bait! It is a European Red Squirrel, different to the Western Grey Squirrel featured earlier, as you can see from the red tinged tail. He is also smaller in size, but sweaks just as loud.
Tomorrow he will be on his way to a nice wooded forest with hopefully more acorn trees to feed on and a better place to build his nest for the winter.
