Our first over-night houseguest

It all began a couple of days ago. I awoke early, before the alarm. I went to the kitchen for a glass of water. On my way back to bed, I flipped on the switch for the cooler's water pump. I heard a noise that sounded like something was inside the cooler vents. Then it sounded a bit like a cat running on the roof. I tried not to freak out about it and when I woke the next day, I asked B if there was a way that something could get into the vents from outside. He told me no.

After that I just kept feeling there was something inside the vents. I half expected to look up at a vent and see something looking back at me. I kept bringing it up but B would respond (or not respond) that there was nothing there.

Shortly after we arrived home one evening B mentioned that it sounded like one of the cats was trying to puke up a hairball. One of the cats was on the bed and the other I did not see. I got concerned because it (the sound) was going on for awhile so, I followed the sound to make sure she was not choking. The sound led me to the kitchen. There was no cat in the kitchen.

The sound stopped for a bit and then started again. It was coming from behind the kitchen wall. I yelled out to B that the sound was coming from behind the wall and it sounded like there was something behind the wall. Of course B responded back that there was nothing behind the wall. I think about this time he was a bit tired of me talking about something being in the house. Okay, I admit at times my imagination may get away from me but I just KNEW there was something there. The sound stopped and I didn't hear it again.

That night when B was asleep and I was working on my school work, I heard a noise come from the kitchen. I thought that one of the cats may be on the counter or getting herself into something she should not be into. So I went to investigate (and see if I could catch her doing something she shouldn't). I snuck into the kitchen to see if I could catch her but when I flipped on the light. . . there was no cat in the kitchen. There wasn't a cat even anywhere near the kitchen.

I then heard a rustling sound come from under the rolling kitchen cart. I peaked under the cart and saw a pink nose that quickly moved backward. Oh boy! It was definitely not the cat under there. I was thinking maybe a mouse, a rat, a hamster, a guinea pig....

I got the broom and moved it toward the cart. What ever was under that cart GROWLED! Okay, something was definitely in the kitchen! I yelled this out to B and woke that man up! It wasn't until I moved the broom again and it growled that he believed me. What could be under that cart? What lives in the desert that would make that noise? All sorts of ideas where going thru our heads. B tried to look under the cart and said from what he could see, it looked kind of like a ferret. So we were thinking maybe a neighbors' pet had gotten loose.

Then we saw it. It's head peaked out from behind the rolling cart, and so did its tail. B saw it first and said it looked like a Ringtail Cat. But what was a Ringtail Cat doing in our house? I have lived in the desert my entire life and have found all kinds of creatures in my house, but this one, this one was for the record books. I have never even seen a Ringtail Cat in the wild.

I had a plan. I opened the back door and started to move the cart away from the wall hoping that the creature would run out the back door. That was the plan. Of course when dealing with animals nothing ever goes according to plan. The Ringtail ran out from behind the cart, ran around B and went straight under the stove. B pulled out the stove but the Ringtail was no where to be found. There were no holes behind or under the stove. We did not know where it went.

B found someone in the phone book that was willing to come out (at 1am in the morning) to help. That awesome someone would be Marc. Once Marc arrived he and B went to work looking inside, around, and under the stove/oven. They still could not find it. After looking for awhile, B found an opening under the cabinets that just maybe something could fit thru. They pulled apart the baseboards around the cabinets and removed the bottom of one cabinet. JACKPOT! Although there was no Ringtail under the cabinet, we had evidence that it had been there. It appeared that we were going to have to set a trap and wait.

Marc explained to us how to set and disarm the trap. He set a couple of traps and then we said good-bye. I closed the door behind him and turned around to see the Ringtail sniffing the food in the trap. B ran back outside to see if he could catch Marc before he left and let him know that we probably would not have to wait long. B and I stood there watching as the Ringtail came right out from under the cabinet, looked right at us and went straight into the trap. It sure must have been hungry.

I guess we can officially say we have had our first over-night houseguest in our new home. It may have caused a lot of commotion but at least it was cute.