Update on the chimney resident.

So, it's still there. We heard scratching tonight around 7pm, so we're figuring it's gotta be a nocturnal something-or-other. Eric shined his flashlight up there, and we actually got a good look at its face. I can't really tell what it is. Opposum, raccoon, maybe... a nose that's rounder than a rat's. And kind of cute. So we stuck a straw broom into the flue leading down to the box with a few squares of cheese. And waited...

It took about 30 minutes, but we heard the tell-tale signs of movement. And suddenly we saw its furry little gray head poking down... it went halfway down the broom (I took note of its size: much smaller than Eric made it out to be, no surprise there, about 4" body with a bushy 4" tail), IGNORED THE CHEESE and went back up into the chimney!

Unfortunately, Eric's convinced that there's more than one. He thinks that the one we saw earlier was white/brown, but the one we saw climbing down the broom was gray. I'm hoping it's just the trick of the lights that made it look white/brown.