Prowler?

The other evening while getting ready for bed, we heard a really loud noise. It was coming from the outside wall near where Jay was reading in the living room and it sounded like the siding was being ripped off of our house or like someone had taken a hacksaw to it. It lasted for quite a while, too, so we were all pretty freaked out by it.

The first think we did is get the kids upstairs. I grabbed the metal baseball bat, Jay found a flashlight and we tip-toed outside to take a peak. We thought someone must be playing a prank on us but because it was so dark, we couldn't see anything.

Jay went and got his car, drove it up on the lawn and shined the headlights on the side of the house to see if we could see anything more. We discovered that our window-well cover had been ripped apart. It is hard to imagine how anyone could just physically break it to pieces. The plastic is so thick and it was screwed into the metal part of the window-well, too. We couldn't figure out why someone would be messing around with us since we were visibly home - all the lights were still on in the house.

We decided to call the cops to be safe. We reported that we suspected a prowler in our yard and waited for 15 minutes (good thing we weren't being murdered). In the mean time, we tried to calm the kids down a bit. When the officer finally showed up, Jay went out with her and showed her the damage. She and Jay inspected the whole yard with her (much more adequate) flashlight and while looking around, decided to shine the light down the hill. When they did that, guess what they saw? Yep, you guessed it. A couple of deer!

Jay ran in to check with me to see if, by chance, the deer enjoy eating the bush near the window. Sure enough, they do. A deer must have been munching on the bush while standing on the cover and fell through. It made such a loud racket that we suspect it must have been having a hard time getting out of the window well. No blood, though, so the poor thing will survive.

We were pretty embarrassed that we called the police but felt relieved that it wasn't any real problem. Our neighborhood has always been quiet and safe and we were glad that it continues to be.

Looking at the damage the next day, we were surprised that the deer didn't end up kicking out the window too.