Marmots... Argh!!

Cute little guy isn't he? Not really. We have these little creatures living all around us. In fact, we have a home of them just beyond our backyard. We see them all the time, but not like this. Last week I took Ashley to get her haircut, several miles away from home. Chase and I sat and watched this little marmot (approx 3-5 lbs.) climb up underneath our car, poking his head out above the tires every few minutes. I thought for sure he would take off after starting the car. Didn't think much of it until we kept finding things tipped over in the garage. Boxes were shredded to pieces and the tape on our drywall was being ripped in every corner. I knew then that the marmot came home with us and was living in our garage for a couple of days. On Friday, the kids and I set out to clean the garage. We pulled out cars, bikes, strollers, etc. We pulled everything from the shelves (you wouldn't believe what they leave behind... gross.) As Breck went to remove the lawn mower the marmot ran, scaring the kids in the process. We had it cornered, we just needed to get it out. With the help of some nice construction workers next door, we got it out. But that wasn't the end. It then ran up under Vaughn's car. We pulled out the lawn chairs and lined them up at the front of the garage where the kids sat and guarded the garage for the next hour or so while I put the garage back together. Their job was to make sure the marmot didn't come back. Once the garage was put back together we closed the garage. Now it was time to get the marmot out of Vaughn's car. We opened the hood and sprayed it down with a hose, then we took a sprinkler and placed it under the car. Nothing! Either he's still in there or he snuck out without us seeing. Vaughn and I later went out for dinner and drove a good distance. It should be safe to park the car in the garage now, right? Little did we know, he was still in the car. We woke the next morning to find that he left paw prints all over our garage, messing things up once again. These creatures are very good at hiding, but as we searched and got closer it began barking at us. Once we knew it was no longer in our car we pulled both cars out and parked them a block away. It was time to tear the garage apart once again. That is the photo you see above. We got it out and hope to never see it again, at least in our garage or car.