Not a varmint is stirring....

Varmint #4, which we took up to Brook Farm State Park, seems to be the last varmint, at least for now. We put the trap right back up there yesterday after we got back. So we've been varmint-free for over 24-hours so far.

This leads to a disconcerting theory: what if there was only one varmint? What if he came back every time after we drove him to Shedd Park (less than 3 miles away, though across the Merrimack)? What if driving him all the way to Brook Farm was the only way to really get him out? Brook Farm is 12 miles away from here (though, as Jake pointed out, not as the squirrel flies). Will it just take him a couple of days to get back?

We wait. We wonder. We leave the trap set.

We also spent some time in the attic, plugging up a few likely places. It has rained a lot all day today, so we had a chance to see the extent of the chimney leakage. It's a lot. It looks like it will be clear for the rest of the week, so we're hoping we can get the mason in to take care of it. He has recommended that we take down and re-build the chimney. That's probably what we'll do. The thing probably hasn't been touched since the house was built, so it's time. And then we won't have to worry about it again for another hundred years. By then, hopefully, they will have trained flying squirrels to take care of jobs like this.