Posted on 07/16/2012 3:28:23 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A sign outside the historic Lamar House in Oxford tells visitors where to enter, but a bunch squirrels are finding their own way in.
"I think if you look at the damage, it wasn't just one squirrel. It was several out here kind of going to town," said Mary-Kathryn Herrington with the Oxford Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
Normally, the critters snack on seeds, nuts, and bark. For several years, Herrington says they've been chomping away at the wood of the historic house trying to get inside. Now the animals are ripping through the screening in the attic.
"I think we are having to try to be a little more aggressive since this is a building that has been restored and has so much historical significance," Herrington said.
L.Q.C. Lamar served the country as Secretary of the Interior, a senator, and on the Supreme Court. He built the home in Oxford during the late 1800s, and it was almost demolished until the local heritage foundation saved it in 2008.
"[It is] filled with wonderful exhibits that detail his life and the Civil War and the American south and are really a treasure for Oxford and for visitors to come take advantage of," Herrington said.
Herrington said money is in the budget for repairs, and they plan to work with contractors to install tougher wire to keep the critters out of the attic and hopefully in an old tree that stands right next to the building.
The Lamar House is on the National Register of Historical Places.
Squirrels are simply rats with better PR
Tale two 12 yo boys with pellet guns and give them a bounty per squirrel tail and problem solved in two weeks. Maybe less. Make a competition out of it and cut that time waaaay down.
Maybe just some Ole Miss frat bros in a drunken stupor!
The Lamar places in Texas are named after Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar.
That’s Hedy.
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