Defintion of Nauti:
1) Short for nautical: relating to, or characteristic of sailors, boating or navigation on a body of water.
2) Naughty: badly behaved; ie bad squirrel
We had a nauti squirrel stowaway on our boat. He made himself a cozy nest between the deck of the boat and one of the pontoons.
Apparently tree living isn’t all it’s cracked up to be so he decided to relocate to enjoy a waterview.
I did a double take when I first discovered him scurrying along the cover of the bimini top.
He made a mad dash for safety to the rafters of the dock when I spied him.
We didn’t discover his cozy nest, aka cuddy cabin, until the boat wouldn’t start.
He happily chewed his way through the wiring harness to sharpen and file his teeth.
He doesn’t look nearly as cute when you discover his appetite and dental regime cost $600.
Normally it’s Muskrat Susie or Muskrat Sam we have to worry about chewing our boat. . .
Rather than a nauti squirrel.
Our lake level is down 5 feet and our county has moved into the severe drought category in North Carolina.
The up side to low lake levels is it’s easy to tow your boat to your neighbor’s ramp to take it out of the water for repair.
Mr. Nauti Squirrel was caught and sentenced to life. . .in the trees.
And released to the woods a mile away from our pontoon.
Wishing you Smooth Sailing and a Squirrel-free Weekend!
Thank you for your visit!
OMG, my husband would be devastated if that happened to our boat! I guess Mr squirrel is not afraid of water. I’m glad he has been sentenced to life in the trees a mile away. I pray he doesn’t find his way back!
Oh my goodness Mary, what terrible damage was done to the wires on your boat by one little squirrel!! Aye yi yi!!!! I hope he stays in the woods where you left him and that he finds more appropriate things to chew on.
Happy weekend and I sure hope that you get some rain!
Oh no!
But you were so kind to relocate it where it needs to stay! Seriously I watch squirrels sharpen their teeth by chewing (tapping sound actually) on my neighbors eves on their house.
I hope you get rain, it’s been a more than strange summer and I’m ready for a long fall!
Yes those over grown rats are quite destructive. For some reason they would rather chew on our cornice boards than the trees and especially just after we fixed chewed spots and painted. 😩
A mile away isn’t nearly far enough! He’ll be back! I know from experience.
Good Grief!! You know, Yellowstone campgrounds have had two cases of the plague, which is transmitted to humans via fleas from squirrels. You better spray the heck out of the entire boat!!! Ugh! I would have drowned the little rodent…just overgrown rats in my book.
We have similar problems with chipmunks!! Very destructive little creatures.. Let me just say, they are not an endangered spieces!! 😡😡😡🐹🐹🐹👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
Hey! I recognize that cage! It was home to my tomato eating raccoon for a short time! Glad Mr. Squirrel was apprehended and released. Sorry about the boat damage.
Wonderful post; great photos and writing!
Filthy tricksy! Squirrels used to chew the telephone wires near my dad’s house – they can be annoying. Our boat has been in the shop since a fuel problem put an end to our July 4th weekend. Finally got it back and looking forward to taking it out today, but it is raining :(.
Oh, so many mean comments about an animal that doesn’t know any better. Would anyone drown a dog for chewing on it’s families things? I don’t think I’ll frequent these entries anymore. This one made me terribly sad. :'(
I have heard they will travel up to 20 miles to get back to home turf. I heard this when we did something similar…ours had a funky white tail. We had taken him about 5 miles away to a nice wooded area….3 days later guess who came back? They are tree rats and can cost lots of $$$ in destruction. We had to put metal over a spot in our home where one squirrel came in and had her babies in my walls. This is not pleasant when one dies and the smell is horrible. Needless to say we have two have a heart traps and got rid of our problems years ago. Good luck Mary!
Perfect. Finlay’s nemesis is a squirrel who mocks him on our garden wall. Daily. Poor little guy….. I really hope y’all get rain soon….so sorry about the severe drought distinction and the naughti squirrel.
There is an estate sale in Troutman…go to estate solutions of the Catawba Valley….it appears to have lots of old garden tools that nauti squirrel
Oh Mary, I know that squirrel must have made you and your hubby steaming mad, but you gave me a wonderful chuckle this morning with your photos and tales of the nauti rodent and your muskrat conversation! Mr. Nauti Squirrel must have thought he was on summer vacation on a gorgeous lake. I hope you don’t find his stash of nuts tucked away inside the boat! Wishing for lots of cooling rain for you very soon. Linda
Thanks Mary! Entertaining story of a life in the country…made me smile…but ever so sorry to see the destruction to your beautiful boat. Hope your Nauti goes Native too.
A wonderful story and pictures! I enjoyed it so much! Wishing you some refreshing rain very soon! Fall is on its way!
I LOVE squirrels and chipmunks! In fact,a chipmunk is sitting right outside the screen door now. ❤️
And where were Chloe and Gracie when all this mayhem was going on? Are they on squirrel patrol now? Those pesky wascals!
We have a rather large community of squirrels who reside in our wooded space as well as our immediate yard. In recent years they have choses to destroy the outdoor cushions. For years they never seemed to notice the cushions, but now they appear to think the stuffing is the best of nesting materials. Second set of cushions now in tatters and white stuffing blowing in the wind from high above. I think I might just leave a huge bucket of the stuffing out with the hope they will take it and be satisfied. What do you think the chances of that are? ‘-)
Glad the nauti squirrel was given a second chance. Hope he stays up in the trees!
I won’t even “get into” about squirrels…our outdoor umbrellas, plants, cushions, etc. Our water level is “weigh down” as well…time to do some more shoreline rock!! Fingers crossed for moisture!! franki
I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help to chuckle while reading this post…these nauti squirrels can be ‘cagey’…I’m sorry to have to agree with the ones that say, s/he will return…they must have a built in radar system, just like dogs and cats that get left behind do…
Sorry about your drought…I wish I could send you some of our lovely rain, but we’re finally beginning to recover from a drought ourselves…and I live in what is supposedly…a rainforest!
Those squirrels are cute but trouble. We have had wires in our car chewed. 2x it costed us $800.00 and $500.00 to fix the cars electrical system. We used awful stinky spray to keep them away. In our home now we have been lucky.( knock on wood)
Don’t you just love those cute squirrels……we have an abundance of them. They dig up everything we plant in the ground and in garden containers. Why??? They also chew green pinecones while sitting in the tree and then drop on ground to hit you on the head. LOL I don’t understand why they do all of this because they eat more bird seed than the birds…..run the birds away from feeders. Sorry to hear you are in a drought….we have not had much rain this summer either.
Squirrels are just so destructive. I used to so enjoy feeding the birds, but between the squirrels and raccoons, I have given up. It’s bad enough they eat the seed but they like to totally destroy any type of birdfeeder…I have never found anything to keep them away. They have also chewed thru my pirch screen any managed to get into the metal can with a tight lid on it to get to the seed stored inside. I hope your squirrel finds something else to keep him occupied other than your boat!
Hi Mary , So sorry about your boat and drought . i don’t know which is worse ! My squirrels are young and bad . Last fall they chewed the Roof on my beloved Gazebo , holes every where . It is 27 years old and was in perfect shape till they got at it , I would see them up there and throw candles and my flip flops at them . I’ve heard to sprinkle hot chilli powder around , they don’t like that . Hope you get rain soon , us Gardeners don’t like things Brown and Crunchy . We’ve been getting little bits of rain , finally , up here out side of Boston , and my grass is starting to Green-Up already . So Hang in There , Fall is coming ! Luv
~Mary~
I had to giggle at your cute story, but sorry it had a $600 cost to it !! That was probably his most expensive meal, plus a table on the lake view side , can’t blame him for fine dining !
Hope it doesn’t happen again!
Paula
IN
Yikes, you need critter insurance Mary! I remember reading about the muskrat menace, and as a boat owner I can relate to the fact that boats have enough problems and expense without critters! And SQUIRRELS! Don’t get me started, they reek havoc all over my yard and jump in my pots just to dig up dirt and make a mess! Insane little creatures! I hope Nauti Squirrel was relocated far enough away so he can’t find his way back to his former residence! I hope your boat is repaired quickly and you will back on the lake soon, and maybe some rainy days in the meantime ;)
Jenna
I do not feel sorry for squirrels in any way!!! If they mind their own business that’s fine but when they damage then it is war!
They ate holes in my wooden columns on my front porch!
Sorry for your damage which in my opinion was significant! Sorry for the drought too.
We’ve had rain maybe it’s heading your way.
We had nauti squirrels in our attic and the cause chaos…between the A/C guy’s bill of having to fix the wiring, the roofer to seal up every teeny crevice in the facia, and the Critter Control people…the total bill was close to $2,000….so I can feel your pain…!!!…Nauti squirrels!!!!…sorry you had to go thru this too!
I’m sorry for your squirrel trouble. They can be very destructive and quickly. I walk the line between feeding them (peanuts, but they eat the bird seed that falls to the ground also) so they will come into our yard and entertain our cats, and hoping they stay away so they won’t do any damage. We also have a chipmunk who has nested under our patio and we are worried about him now. They are cute at the start, but can be big trouble quickly. Good luck with the boat. I hope you get rain soon.
Oh boy that little bugger! I had a chipmunk or squirrel eat a cable for a sensor under my car once that had to be replaced. These critters can be destructive! I guess he liked the fresh water readily available! That was nice of you to relocate him. The squirrels are eating our steps for the deck. We can’t figure out what the deal is with that. We are going to have to have them rebuilt because of it. Who knew these furry critters could cost us so much!