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- [00:01]
A
Audio for sleep by hatch. Hi, I'm Amanda. Welcome to the Nightly from Hatch, where your late night thoughts go to rest. Hello, I'm Amanda Montel, taking over the nightly for the week. I am an author and podcaster. I've written books including Cultish, Word Slut and the Age of Magical Overthinking. And I'm the host of two podcasts, Magical Overthinkers and Sounds like a Cult. I am a professional yapper, so I love nothing more than a late night cozy chat, some pillow talk. If you want to come on the show to talk about anything that's on your mind, email us or or send us a voice memo to thenightlyach co. But first, I kind of want to share something very cozy that happened to me the other day. I live in a neighborhood in the hills in Southern California and there are some outdoor neighborhood cats that come around regularly to my front yard and it's lovely to see them through the window and to stop outside and say hello. There's a regular outdoor cat named Jimmy who's so, so sweet, who we always pet and, you know, spend some time with. It's lovely to know the neighbors. But the other day a cat wandered in to our front yard who absolutely stopped me in my tracks. I had never seen an outdoor cat like this. It was a Bengal cat. If those who are familiar know what a Bengal cat is, then you know that this, this is, I mean, it basically felt like a celebrity sighting. It was like this designer cat who looks like a cheetah, like a Pixar character just wandered into my yard collarless. I gasped. My sister in law is staying with me and my husband right now. I was like, oh my God, Karis, get up. Immediately run outside. And we greeted this Bengal cat, no collar. This might be tmi. But I could tell this cat was an unfixed male. And I was like, is this a stray? He was so gorgeous. He was literally like movie star gorgeous and so sweet. Such a cuddler. I'm a cat lover and a dog lover and we were, you know, like nuzzling with this cat. I brought out like a little catnip toy. And then later the our male lady told us that a few years ago someone lost Bengal cat and she thinks that this might be that Bengal, that lost Bengal cat's progeny looking for a home. So our, my neighbors and I were talking about it. I named the cat Keith. My next door neighbor Colleen named him Maple. And so we're deciding who among the neighbors might want to keep this cat. Don't worry, we will, you know, check if he has a chip and all that. But, yeah, this is just some very exciting neighborhood gossip, I guess you could say. Very gentle gossip. We're just all so enchanted by. By. Yeah. Maple. Maple, Keith. The Bengal. The stray Bengal. Very rare, Very rare. So just wanted to share that all with you as, you know, a sense of hope, like majesty and whimsy can wander into your yard at any moment. I think we're ready to jump into our call. Chris, welcome to the show. Where are you calling from and what's on your mind tonight?
- [04:06]
B
Hello, I'm calling from Evanston, Illinois. And what's on my mind tonight is. So we live in this old house with an unfinished attic. And we actually have an office up there that my wife and I work out of sometimes. But there's some unfinished kind of spaces, like in the corners that we hear some rustling around at night. And it usually happens when we don't have our, like, sound machines or fans on at night. And we hear some. Some critters up there. They are making dinner or playing cards. I'm not sure what they're doing up there, but it's. It's something that I think about quite often because I feel like the responsible thing to do is maybe get them out of my house. But they only really make noise when it's late, and it's extremely quiet is when we hear them. And I kind of think that maybe they. They like the warmth. So I'm, you know, kind of at a. At a weird place of. I don't know exactly what to do about that, but I always think about it right before I go to sleep because it's. I know it's upcoming in my. In my evening.
- [05:38]
A
I relate to that cognitive dissonance. My husband and I lived in this, like, 120-year-old house, which for Southern California is basically like an ancient pyramid. A few years ago, and there was a resident raccoon who would always, yeah, scramble around our roof and our attic. And sometimes it was disruptively noisy. But once we saw him, or a couple times we saw him with. With our. With the naked eye. And he was so chubby and cute. Like, we. We could not bring ourselves to. To have any negative feelings about him. We were like, you know, yeah, he's not paying rent, but he deserves to be here. Is that kind of how you feel?
- [06:25]
B
Yeah, I think so. I think. I'm not sure if we're gonna see this. See these critters with the naked eye or not. I don't know. If I can really pinpoint where they're coming in and out of. But I do think that that's how I would feel if I, if I met them. I would probably have even more empathy than I already do of just like, eh, our house is your house.
- [06:51]
A
That's so sweet. Wait, so what kind of critters do you think they are? Because like a raccoon, I mean some people have like weird feelings about raccoons because they have human hands. But like what, what type of animal do you, do you think and, or Hope might be scrambling around up there?
- [07:08]
B
Well, for the record, I prefer human hands on animals because that's extra adorable. And seeing them hold things like a, I don't know, like a fidget spinner or something would be really great. Yeah, I think probably raccoon. Maybe some squirrels. We have a lot of squirrels in our trees. We, our neighborhood is shrouded in these giant trees. I'm not sure what kind, but there's one right outside our house, like near where I think they might be entering. So it wouldn't surprise me. Yeah, I'm not sure what, I'm not sure what's up there. When I called to get a quote on Professional Removal Service, I was. The way that they talked about like coming in and taking these guys out. Like, I don't, I don't know if they, if there's violence or not. I hope not. But when they were talking about like their routine, I was even more turned off by the whole thing. Not just the cost, but just like the, the. Yeah, like the logistics of it. Like we come in, we set a trap, we come back out another week later, we check the trap. If it's a male, there's not going to be any additional males because they, whatever. There's a whole, there's a whole like understanding of what type of animal. And there's also tmi. Like there's, I think the males maybe eat their young. So there's.
- [08:47]
A
Oh my goodness.
- [08:48]
B
Certain.
- [08:49]
A
I don't think I've heard of that arrangement.
- [08:52]
B
Yeah, I think it's because they. Oh, I wish I had the details now, but there is some sort of logistics of like, if we know it's a male, then we know there's not going to be additional males coming in because they fight. And we know if it's a female, then the young, if they've had children will definitely be there, things like that. So I, Yeah, I'm sort of turned off by the whole idea. But then again, when it, you know, when we hear the sound again. I may kind of flip again. It just depends on my mood maybe.
- [09:35]
A
Uh huh. Oh wow. Okay. So these animals, fate is.
- [09:41]
B
Yeah.
- [09:41]
A
It really lies in your metaphorical hands, the metaphor being your brain. So I have so many questions and, and thoughts. First I, I couldn't help but think of this, I guess, sort of fun, creepy fact that I, I learned not long ago. You know how like there, I mean, we've all heard of like mothers who eat their young. It's like a, it's become like an expression, you know, like, oh, she's like a mother who eats her young or whatever. But I, I learned that there are actually some species of insects, like spiders and worms who actually eat their mother. Like baby spiders who, who eat their mother after they're born. And I, I watched a YouTube video of this once. It's really brutal, but it, yeah, it, it like helps the next generation become like stronger. And it's, it feels like the ultimate maternal sacrifice. I don't know, that's just like a macabre thought that came to mind when you're talking about fathers eating their young. Which like no one ever talks about that, which feels suspicious to me, but. Okay. My, my question though is, was there, was there never a part of you that thought that these sounds in your attic might be a ghost?
- [11:01]
B
Oh, well, we have already called the Ghostbusters and they've given us the green light to continue live. And so the, the, Yeah, I was curious if they meant that the ghosts. There are no ghosts or if the ghosts up there are cool and they have human hands and if, you know, we could maybe, maybe meet them sometime and, and hang out. I, I don't really think too much. I like the segue of the ghost beliefs though. I don't, I feel like I don't talk about this enough in my life. I.
- [11:42]
A
It's time.
- [11:42]
B
I don't know if I fully. Yeah, if I, I think I believe in ghosts, but I, I don't know like what they. I mean, we do have an office up in our attic, so maybe they're getting some. Sending some last minute emails.
- [11:58]
A
Yeah, productive, productive workhorse ghosts. I too, I have to admit, and with, with devastation and disappointment that I, that I don't honestly believe in ghosts, but I do believe in the human mind's penchant for creating ghosts and that's effectively the same thing. And so. Yeah. Do I earnestly believe that like spirits of the dead are haunting the living or spaces? I mean, not really, not in like the horror movie sense, but I Do believe in sort of more abstract and cerebral hauntings, and that's good enough for me. I mean, yeah, I think we, like, you know, it's like the whole paradoia thing. Is that how you pronounce it? Where we, like, see the man in the moon. Like, we just. We see human forms in things that aren't necessarily human. It's like, our instinct. And so I think we're, like, wired to. To believe in ghosts in a way. So I like. I like ghost stories and ghosty, like, hauntings. I love. I love ghost tours. Have you ever been on a ghost tour?
- [13:17]
B
No, I haven't. We've been to New Orleans and. And, you know, considered the ghost tour there. I've heard that's a good one. But haven't. Haven't pulled the trigger, have you?
- [13:29]
A
I have, yeah. Actually, my. My mom is from New Orleans, and her whole side of the family lives there, or used to, and I've spent a lot of time there. And the French Quarter ghost tour is so fascinating. I mean, it's cool because it comes with, like, historical facts and you get to, like, learn real lore. And some of it is very disturbing, as you can imagine. But the ghost element, or, like, that. That spooky mystery element or like, the remnants of history, that sure could be conceived of as, like, the supernatural thing. That. That just, like, makes it more fun. I mean, even just me asking if the critters in your attic or might be a ghost is just like. It's a way to create more, like, spooky whimsy in life. I think. I like ghosts.
- [14:20]
B
Yeah. Although I don't know if I'd rather be haunted because that's. That has a negative connotation, I think, like a scary. You're right vibe to it. Whereas if they're just little critters, like, you know, playing house, that feels, I think, more tolerable. Like, I'll let them do their thing as long as they're not coming down the stairs. And the ghosts, I feel like, just don't even need the stairs. They're just going right through the walls.
- [14:48]
A
That's a really, really good point. I guess the English language lacks a sort of version of the word haunting or to haunt. That has more positive connotations. We're gonna have to coin that because, like, I would love to have, like, a Casper the friendly ghost type relationship without being. Yeah, haunted. You know, we're missing that word. That's a shame.
- [15:16]
B
Yeah. Like a pleasant presence.
- [15:19]
A
A pleasant presence. Oh, my gosh. And I love the Rhyme of that. Thank you for coining that, Chris.
- [15:25]
B
Of course.
- [15:26]
A
Is there. What other types of wildlife are, like, common in your neighborhood? In Illinois, you said, Right.
- [15:34]
B
Yeah. Well, there's deer, and I really don't think that that's what's up there. There's. There's a. Yeah. Active bird life. I'm not a birder per se, so I don't know what kinds are in our area, but, yeah, there's. There's. It's a fairly rural area. Like, there's a. There's a wooded area or a forest preserve that's not too far, a few blocks away. And, you know, we see our fair share of wildlife, but I've kind of settled on maybe raccoon or squirrel, but. But maybe I'll have to dig in a little bit deeper and. And see what the options are.
- [16:20]
A
Yeah, you could be surprised by some species that you've never even heard of. Wouldn't that be delightful?
- [16:27]
B
Yeah, like a ghost goblin squirrel. Flying flying squirrel.
- [16:35]
A
God willing. I will say that I. Yeah, I. I unfortunately have encountered possums in my yard in Southern California. And I know that there are people who are, like, super pro possum and, like possum. Possum defenders to the death, but I struggle to find possums cute. And recently we found a possum in our backyard that looked 100% dead. And my husband and I were like, oh, no. Like, you know, it's not fun to see a possum dead or alive. But we were like, oh, God, like, what are we gonna do with this guy? We're just like, oh, let's. Let's just, like, process this for a second, then figured out, turned away, then looked back and realized it was just playing dead to, like, you know, as a survival instinct, because we had come out into the backyard, and then it just, like, rolled over and walked away. And that was so eerie.
- [17:38]
B
The classic possum move. I didn't even consider that I was so smart. It got you.
- [17:44]
A
It really. It completely pulled the wool over my eyes. It is very good at that. I was like, oh, my God, give this possum an Oscar. Like, that was incredibly convincing. Yeah, well, Chris, I. I really. I hope for a long, pleasant, pleasantly present, symbiotic relationship between you and your critters in the attic. And I want to extend to those listening that if any of them. If any of you want to come on the show in the future and talk about anything that's on your mind, you can email us or send us a voice memo. To thenightlyach Co And Chris, have a most wonderful evening. Thank you for calling in.
- [18:29]
B
Thank you.
- [22:16]
A
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