I waited until Mrs Squirrel went out to do some nut shopping.

Armed with my trusty squirrel prodder (nice long broom handle) I went into them loft to "encourage" the baby squirrel to vacate its penthouse suite.

I was giving it some grief by flashing my 500w light at it and prodding it when it got near. Then suddenly it sailed through the air, missed the rafter it was aiming for and plopped through the open loft hatch.

Hurrah. It zoomed to the end of the landing and hid under the blanket box. I raced round closing all doors and other avenues of escape and then used some large pieces of cardboard to create a guide to the front door.

Then I went back with the squirrel prodder, prodded him from under the blanket box he immediately tried to scoot up the wall but fell down. He then raced downstairs and through the hall and porch guided by said pieces of cardboard and out into the great blue yonder.

I phoned my neighbor and asked if we could chop down the offending branches the squirrels were using to get to the roof. He hauled out his ladders and saw and we spent a happy 10 minutes removing the squirrel stairs.

Satisfied I went home. a job well done.

But Then...

The next morning we heard squirrel noises. Both squirrels had returned. We hadn't cut enough of the branches down to stop them coming in. And worse Mrs Squirrel has created a new nest!!

How did they get in with no squirrel stairs? I found out fairly quickly, they were using a branch that wasn't even close to the roof to launch themselves from. We need to chop the whole tree down, or kill the squirrels!

The saga continues...