The tree rats have gotta go

Last weekend, the husband and I were at the lake house. We rounded up some supplies on a Walmart run and did a bit of yard work, but the main reason for going was to wrap the lone oak in the backyard with white Christmas lights in advance of the holiday season. I had already purchased 1200 lights, thinking that would be sufficient. It seems I'm becoming a bad guesser as I age. So 2100 lights later, we had wrapped the entire trunk up to where four main limbs branched off it. Then we wrapped about three feet up each of the limbs with more cool white mini lights. That evening, we turned them on and I was really happy with the results because the lighted tree reflects off both the lake water and our pool. 

I know what you're probably thinking. That sounds like a whole lotta lights. And it was a bit of a Clark Griswold decorating job, as in roll out the water hoses in case the tree catches fire. Maybe take out a loan to pay the electric bill for the month of December. But I really loved how it looked... truly the most wonderful time of the year when we celebrate the birth of our saviour with friends and family. 

So this weekend, a friend and I went up to the lake house because she hadn't seen it yet. When we walked out on the back porch and I glanced at the tree, it was readily apparent that the local squirrels, aka tree rats, had been busy harvesting acorns off the oak all week. Sure enough, there was a big eighteen inch gap in the lights where they had been scurrying up the tree, thus shifting about fifteen rows of lights down on top of each other.

When we wrapped the tree last weekend, we contemplated using staples or tacks to hold the light strings in place. But we wrapped it pretty tight, never imagining what would happen to the strands when the tree rats ran up and down the trunk. My friend and I made a trip to the local hardware store for Christmas light securing options and found something that will work. Now the husband and I will just have to haul out the ladder to undo the mess made by the squirrels. Maybe put out a live trap. Electrify the whole tree. Leave a big bowl of antifreeze for the furry little trespassers to quench their thirst. I'm just kidding about those last two options, of course. Mostly. Unless Chip and Dale make any more messes or do any more damage. Then I'm declaring war on their bushy little tails.