THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411290093
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Among other annoyances, a rowdy squirrel chewed a hole in the ceiling next to the playroom light fixture in Jeff and Carol Snyder's attic, shinnied down the electrical cord, leapt on the pool table and had a high time running in and out of the pool table pockets.
``I saw his little head just pop out of the pool table,'' Carol Snyder said.
That was one of many adventures the squirrel has had in the Snyders' Three Oaks home. However, it was the only time anyone had caught a glimpse of the pesky visitor that came to spend a November night in their attic and never left.
Most of the time the family just heard him at night and then saw evidence of his presence in the morning. There was evidence such as insulation and plaster sprinkled on the pool table and holes chewed in the rug that looked as though the squirrel was trying to tunnel under the playroom doors.
There was evidence like gnawed TV and cable wires, which means the Snyder kids, Chelsea, Brandon and Jeff Jr., can't play Nintendo anymore, and the shredded ball gown in Snyder's closet, which the squirrel reached by breaking through the ceiling around her closet light fixture.
The kids named the squirrel Rocky and his antics have been the talk of the neighborhood and the children's school. In the beginning the situation wasn't so intriguing. It was scary instead because the Snyders didn't know what had taken up in the attic.
At first they thought it was a mouse, but the noise was too loud. Sometimes it sounds like a jump rope flip-flopping as it chewed the electrical wires, Snyder said.
``I said, `This is bigger than a mouse. I think it's a rat!' The kids were upset and scared.''
When she opened the attic door to go up and look around, a pile of insulation, tossed around by the unwelcome guest, fell down all around her. ``I said, forget it.''
That's when Snyder called Critter Control. The employee who came to check out the damage told them they had a squirrel for a guest. ``We were relieved,'' Snyder said. Two humane squirrel traps have been in the attic for a week but no success so far.
``I'm starting to think he's here because they're building a new neighborhood (nearby) and he doesn't have any other place to go,'' Snyder said.
``I'd like for him to stay here,'' she added, ``but stay outside.''
LEE KHUU HAS BEEN CARING for a corn plant in her home for 11 years and for seven of those years, the plant survived but did little more.
A type of dracaena, the corn plant is one of those hardy house plants that grow in low light in almost any room. So Lee Khuu had no expectations for her plant when she and husband Henry moved four years ago to a new house in Cypress Point.
But the corn plant took off in its new location in a west window. Now almost 7 feet tall, it lives up to its name - as high as an elephant's eye - with foliage like the vegetable, only darker green.
Although Lee Khuu has always fed liquid fertilizer to the plant once a week, it's only been since the move that the plant really began to grow. ``It's been growing and growing in the sun,'' Lee said.
Even more remarkable, the corn plant suddenly began to bloom recently. Henry Khuu was sitting at the kitchen counter having breakfast when he looked across the room
``I'm eating and think, `That's something light pink on the plant,' '' Henry Khuu said, ``and then I said, `Oh, it is a flower.' ''
The little flowers on a thick, green stem grow from the center of the top of the plant. Pinkish-white, sweet-smelling and cone-like, the flowers grow from points where tiny new leaves meet the stem.
Lee Khuu has since learned that to bloom, a corn plant has to be very old and be growing under exactly the right conditions. In the Odessey Book of House Plants, author Libby Rich calls a blooming corn plant a ``surprise'' and a ``novelty.''
P.S. THE HISTORIC HOUSES are planning all sorts of free holiday events this weekend: A Christmas Open House will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Lynnhaven House. There will be a re-enactment of a wedding along with music and dancing. Gingerbread and other goodies will be for sale. A Yule Log Celebration will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Adam Thoroughgood House. This event will feature music, refreshments and the traditional yule log lighting. A Plantation Christmas will be celebrated from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Francis Land House. Refreshments, tours and music by the Armed Forces School of Music Brass Ensemble will be part of the fun. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARY REID BARROW
Chelsea, 4, Jeff, 9, and Brandon, 7, Snyder show off a pool table
that is a play area for a mischievous squirrel. RIGHT: Lee and Henry
Khuu's corn plant has flourished in their Cypress Point home.
by CNB