Creepies in our house!

In the spirit of Halloween, I've got to share some creepies we have had in our house lately.
The first we discovered in the wall while we were ripping down the wood paneling in the basement:

Can you tell what they are? MOUSE SKELETONS!!! EEeekkkk!!! I guess I'm quite glad they are dead, but they still creep me out. Pretty amazing how well preserved (untouched) they are. We think the grey fluff around them is the fur. Pretty gross, huh? Here are a few more photos for your viewing pleasure:

On to the second creepie that invaded our basement - this one a bit more alive:

Yup, that's a raccoon hanging out above our basement window. We're pretty sure he came down the chimney as evidenced by the sooty footprints coming out of the fireplace. Good think our fierce freaked out kitty, Gizmo, was there to alert us to the intruder's presence. Here our friend Steve and I are preparing to scoot him out of the house (I'm behind a barricade we built to prevent the raccoon from trying to escape upstairs).

 

Don't worry, we didn't hit him with the rackets. They were just protection in case he tried to bite us. With just a bit of prodding with the end of a broom, our bushy-tailed friend high-tailed it on out of there. Thankfully, we have since installed chimney caps on our chimney flutes, so we will never again have to worry about animal invasions!

Happy Halloween!