Flying squirrels.

They're nocturnal. Never even knew they were present in this area.

Definitely that time the Secret Service showed up to my childhood home.

This happened when I had already moved out to go to college. I grew up in Iowa, home to the Iowa caucus. Part of living in Iowa is every four years you get bombarded by political messages, polls, people wanting you to donate and attend rallies, etc. I know this occurs to some degree everywhere, but it's a different beast in Iowa.

The 2008 Iowa Caucus season was in full swing. Ads were everywhere. Phone calls were numerous. One day my 13 year old youngest brother, with poor impulse control and developing mental health issues, happened to pick up the phone.

It's the Hillary Clinton campaign. They give the spiel, asking for a vote, maybe conducting a poll. He humors them and listens, frustrated though he is with politics. Finally, at the end, they say something like, "oh, and she's having a rally tonight. Will you be able to attend?"

He replies, "yes, and I'll bring my gun." And then hangs up the phone.

And that is how my poor mother, the nicest woman you ever meet, mother of 6 children, with 4 still living at home, ended having to answer the door to two Secret Service agents standing on her stoop.

My youngest brother didn't face any criminal consequences for that day. It probably helped that he had no criminal record then, was just a kid, and there were no firearms in the house. He got the sternest talking to of his life, and I'm sure there's still a record of him somewhere in the Secret Service archives.

I suppose it was an early sign of things to come. His life didn't get easier after that. He struggled through the rest of his schooling, never made a serious attempt at college. Was diagnosed with bipolar and used a lot of substances to self medicate. Stole a lot from friends and family, lived on the street for awhile. Served several years in prison for a completely pointless robbery of a liquor store. Drifted from job to job and never really got any traction in life. OD'd at 27, just another victim of the opioid crisis.

Miss you little brother, despite everything you did. Hope you're in a better place. At least you never had to see the world as it is now.

When I was 14 I got a cat. The first day, he disappeared somewhere inside of the house and I couldn't find him. I figured he was just hiding in a cozy spot. The next morning, I woke up to a dead bat at the foot of my bed. I can only guess that he had found his way into the attic crawl space and brought a fresh kill for me to enjoy.

Florida scarlet snake. Disconcerting to find a danger-colored snake in your house at midnight, even if it's harmless. Very surprised I found it before the dog or six cats did.

A weta.

Their scientific name means 'terrible cricket' for the same reason dinosaur means 'terrible lizard': they're big. Unlike the ones wikipedia shows you, mine was only palm-sized. They're basically harmless, so I scooped him up and deposited him outside.

Left my apartment window open once when going out, came back that night to find a pigeon just sort of wandering around. It clearly had no idea how to get back outside.

Took me a bit to corner it and catch it but I did manage to get it back out the window.

Found a frog in the toilet once.

A Python Snake. In England.

Turned out to be a neighbour's pet.

I miss the little lizards down in Florida. Sure, you'd find a tail in your closet sometime. But they're cute.

At my house it's cats.

We officially adopted two, and three more have since shown up on the porch and been invited to live with us.

What's the most peculiar unexpected visitor (or "pest") that wound up in your home?

Mother in law.

A young bird! It flew into my face a couple times the poor thing, but I managed to set it free in the end! Now I'm more wary of having my windows open too wide...

Stinkbugs…they came invading from another hemisphere recently. Leave a window open and enjoy them everywhere by the 100s inside.

Somebody's pet ferret once showed up on my parents' back porch in when I was in college. No way to track, and signs resulted in nothing. They gave it to my sister's then-GF.

Cute little bugger, like a cat but friendlier. Kinda stinky though.

I briefly subletted a room in a party house...

A drunk dude passed out on the toilet I discovered while trying to go and get a shower.

Cave crickets, mostly. They like sneaking in through the ventilation ducts.