The day a squirrel decided to help with my mortar mix

I was setting up for a small garden wall job in a quiet suburb last Thursday, with my mixer going and a fresh batch of mortar ready. I turned my back for maybe 30 seconds to grab a trowel, and when I looked back, a fat grey squirrel was perched on the edge of the mixer tub, frantically digging and burying what I can only assume was a very important acorn right in the middle of my mix. I yelled, it jumped, and I was left staring at this perfect little hole and a single acorn now sealed in the wall's foundation. I just mixed it right over and kept going. Has anyone else had wildlife try to join the crew on a job?

3 comments

3 Comments

white.sandra12d ago

My buddy was roofing a cabin upstate and left his lunchbox open for two minutes. A raccoon came right down the ladder, grabbed his whole sandwich, and just sat on the ridge cap eating it like he was on a break. We had to wait for him to finish before he waddled off. Makes your squirrel look like a good helper, honestly. What did you end up naming your new assistant?

adam_nguyen73d ago

My cousin had a raccoon that would come up to his back door and ring a bell he had hanging there. It trained him to bring out snacks every evening. The thing got so bold it started bringing its whole family, like six of them lined up waiting for dinner. He had to take the bell down and they still scratched at the screen door for a week. At least your buddy's thief had the decency to eat and leave.

karen_nelson4012d ago

Raccoons are the worst for that kind of thing, they have zero shame. Had a similar mess at a rest stop where one got into my rig's cab through a window I cracked. It wasn't even about food, it just rummaged through my logbook and maps like it was checking my route. Took forever to shoo it out and it left little muddy prints everywhere. Your buddy's lucky it only took the sandwich and didn't decide to move in.