Advice on a trapped critter?

[anait]

No, I don't know what sort of critter. :) In the basement, coming from behind the built-into-the-wall doors to the electrical control panel, I heard a very loud scratching/scrabbling commotion. We have had mice before, and they've NEVER made that loud a sound. So I'm thinking, rat? Skunk? Bats??

But it didn't really make sense - access to the house has not improved, doors and windows are all closed, basement windows have five foot snowdrifts piled against them, it's minus 25 or something... Then I thought, ah, maybe another bird has flown down the furnace chimney, and gotten itself trapped... We've had at least three birds in the house in the last couple of years; and when we had a wood furnace removed about ten years ago, mr anait wouldn't even tell me the number of dead birds they found inside...

So - I'm going with bird. The sound stopped after about 20 minutes, I'm guessing it knocked itself out trying to escape. Do I fish it out? Leave it for mr anait? Is there anything else it could be? Do I want to know if there's anything else it could be?? :saywhat: :eek: I'm so chicken about stuff like this... :p

[chop456]

Polar bear. Leave it alone.

[cameraman]

Leave it for mr anait?

There's your answer:D

[Cam]

Polar bear. Leave it alone.

I've been to Winnipegtucky in the dead of winter. Even polar bears avoid the place like the plague... :D

[emjaya]

I've been to Winnipegtucky in the dead of winter. Even polar bears avoid the place like the plague... :D


I'm not surprised. minus 25....:eek:

[anait]

I'm not surprised. minus 25....:eek:

And this has been a warmer week... :D

I took some new pictures of Mt Kilimansnowdrift in our backyard...it overtook one corner of our deck Sunday night.

Back to the critter adventure - we didn't hear a sound all night, and the cats are much more relaxed. So I will go with Option A - leave it for mr anait. Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't start to smell... :yuck:

[Sean O'Gorman]

If it turns out its a pig, see the bacon thread.

[Sean Malone]

I hope it doesn't start to smell... :yuck:

Just went through that. Not fun. :yuck:

[dando]

How do you peeps live up there?!? -25 is a warm week?!!! Y'all are insane. :eek: :p

-Kevin

[oddlycalm]

Probably best to leave it alone and wait for Mr. anait. Let him be manly and all then update us.

If I had time I'd post about the family of skunks that got into our crawl space a few years back....:(

oc

[OW]

Anait
How'd it go...

I suggest getting a Jack

http://user.mc.net/~spina/images/Family/keagy1.JPG

http://user.mc.net/~spina/images/Family/keagy2.JPG

Actually one of Dem critters got into the basement and my Jack went nuts till I took the filter out of the furnace .... he went in and it was done....

:thumbup:

[Andrew Longman]

Was there a resolution?

I'd be concerned about rabies if you try to get it out. Protect yourself well.

I'd be concerned about stink if you leave it there. Mice are not much of a problem for that but anything bigger can be.

If it is in the wall it is almost impossible it came down your chimney. Somebody likely worked there way in to find warmth/water. Can't be too big if it fits in a 2x4 or 2x6 stud wall.

[Dirk Diggler]

Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't start to smell... :yuck:

Can't be any worse than the squirrel that died in my car's vent system one time. I couldn't figure out the putrid smell associated with the defroster was until I went around a corner quickly and I could hear the body roll from one side of the dash to the other.:saywhat:

[Sean O'Gorman]

Lead a trail of meat into a box. When the critter enters the box, beat it with a pole.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/871/john20c20reilly9pm7.jpg

[anait]

I'm still waiting for mr anait to get home. His plane from Calgary has been delayed three hours. :irked:

Actually, critters can/could get in behind the wall from elsewhere. The finished 95% of this wall is in the family room; one end of the wall was left open, and is accessible from the unfinished parts of the basement. The bottom four feet of the wall was built out from the concrete about 12"; the top half steps back to a regular-depth wall. Behind is hollow, no insulation in the bottom section - we can see behind from the unfinished end, and it's a 16' wall. The electrical panel is in its own little boxed-off spot, but open to the rafters.

We have had mice before; one summer we installed two basement windows, but didn't get all the cracks filled in. Once the cracks were fixed, no more mice - which the cats would always bring to show us, of course.

Our previous bird experience is as follows.

Incident #1 - 6:30am, Sunday morning, I hear one of the cats hunting by our bedroom dresser. If you've ever had a cat, you know the sound I mean. I'm thinking, oh, lovely, wonderful, another mouse, I am NOT getting out of bed to watch this... I hear the cat nab its prey, and trot down the hallway to the kitchen. At 7am, I gingerly walk into the kitchen, expecting to see the carcass by the back door. Instead, I see blood smeared all over a 3x3 section of our white tiled floor - but no dead mouse.

Incident #2 - I was sitting at my drafting table in the living room, about to enjoy a quiet, sunny fall afternoon. Just as I put pencil to paper, I see both cats leaping into the air in the kitchen (relatively open plan house, and quite small). I figure they're after a housefly or a moth or something. I look up to see a bird flying around. The cats nabbed it out of the air. One cat picked it up in her teeth, and looked up at me as if to say, What do you want me to do with this? I helpfully opened the back door, hoping she'd take the hint. Nope, she trotted down the hall to our bedroom, and deposited the bird on the carpet. I put a tea towel over it, and after getting it to let go of the carpet, carried it outside close to our cedar trees. At this point I'm thinking, that Sunday morning catch wasn't a mouse, it was a bird...

Incident #3 - Another Sunday morning, our son comes into our room to tell us there's a dead bird on the kitchen floor.

Five more hours. Just five more hours... :thumbup:

[Sean Malone]

I'm still waiting for mr anait to get home. His plane from Calgary has been delayed three hours. :irked:

Actually, critters can/could get in behind the wall from elsewhere. The finished 95% of this wall is in the family room; one end of the wall was left open, and is accessible from the unfinished parts of the basement. The bottom four feet of the wall was built out from the concrete about 12"; the top half steps back to a regular-depth wall. Behind is hollow, no insulation in the bottom section - we can see behind from the unfinished end, and it's a 16' wall. The electrical panel is in its own little boxed-off spot, but open to the rafters.

We have had mice before; one summer we installed two basement windows, but didn't get all the cracks filled in. Once the cracks were fixed, no more mice - which the cats would always bring to show us, of course.

Our previous bird experience is as follows.

Incident #1 - 6:30am, Sunday morning, I hear one of the cats hunting by our bedroom dresser. If you've ever had a cat, you know the sound I mean. I'm thinking, oh, lovely, wonderful, another mouse, I am NOT getting out of bed to watch this... I hear the cat nab its prey, and trot down the hallway to the kitchen. At 7am, I gingerly walk into the kitchen, expecting to see the carcass by the back door. Instead, I see blood smeared all over a 3x3 section of our white tiled floor - but no dead mouse.

Incident #2 - I was sitting at my drafting table in the living room, about to enjoy a quiet, sunny fall afternoon. Just as I put pencil to paper, I see both cats leaping into the air in the kitchen (relatively open plan house, and quite small). I figure they're after a housefly or a moth or something. I look up to see a bird flying around. The cats nabbed it out of the air. One cat picked it up in her teeth, and looked up at me as if to say, What do you want me to do with this? I helpfully opened the back door, hoping she'd take the hint. Nope, she trotted down the hall to our bedroom, and deposited the bird on the carpet. I put a tea towel over it, and after getting it to let go of the carpet, carried it outside close to our cedar trees. At this point I'm thinking, that Sunday morning catch wasn't a mouse, it was a bird...

Incident #3 - Another Sunday morning, our son comes into our room to tell us there's a dead bird on the kitchen floor.

Five more hours. Just five more hours... :thumbup:

I bet he can't wait! ;) :D

[Mr. Toad]

Snow worms.;)

[cart7]

Lead a trail of meat into a box. When the critter enters the box, beat it with a pole.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/871/john20c20reilly9pm7.jpg

But save the meat.. See the chili thread.

[EDwardo]

Just thinking out loud so to speak. Have you ever heard of noodling for catfish, an interesting variation of catfish fishing a few Arkansans enjoy? They wade along a river bank and stick an arm into underwater holes containing catfish. The object is to grab a big one and haul it out.

In your case we might call it Cannuckian wall critter noodling. Stick your arm in and try to grab the critter.

Only a suggestion you understand.

:D

[Accipiter]

Could you define "bird?"

I'm a birdwatcher, so I'm curious.

[JT265]

Polar bear. Leave it alone.

Huh? Polar bears can't take Winterpeg weather! Likely either a snowsnake or a jackalope.

You're welcome. :D

[Cam]

I've been to Winnipegtucky in the dead of winter. Even polar bears avoid the place like the plague... :D


Huh? Polar bears can't take Winterpeg weather! Likely either a snowsnake or a jackalope.

You're welcome. :D

:gomer:

[JT265]

:gomer:

I prolly deserved that. But I was trying to edjookate Chop, and you know how hard THAT is. :p

[Cam]

I prolly deserved that. But I was trying to edjookate Chop, and you know how hard THAT is. :p

Yeah but that usually depends on if the marital unit is around... ;)

[chop456]

And people wonder why I dislike foreigners. :p

[anait]

Update time.

Mr anait couldn't find anything. :irked: So here are a few possibilities:

It got eaten by the cats.
It crawled/flopped away to an unreachable nook and passed on.
It left by whatever crack it entered (that reads rude)
It was never there in the first place...meaning I, all four junior'anaits, and the two cats suffered a mass auditory hallucination. :saywhat: :cool:

[dando]

Update time.

Mr anait couldn't find anything. :irked: So here are a few possibilities:

It got eaten by the cats.
It crawled/flopped away to an unreachable nook and passed on.
It left by whatever crack it entered (that reads rude)
It was never there in the first place...meaning me, all four junior'anaits, and the two cats suffered a mass auditory hallucination. :saywhat: :cool:

I was beginning to think whatever it was ate y'all. ;) And yes, cats are prone to hallucinations...especially when under the influence of cat nip.

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

...the two cats suffered a mass auditory hallucination. :saywhat: :cool:

Not likely. I used to have birds fly down my chimney and into my woodstove. They'd just sit in there silently but I could always tell because the cats would just sit and stare at the stove.

Good thing too because when I'd open the door they'd come flapping out throwing ash all over the place. That also happened to be the only way to get them out but was much worse when you weren't expecting it. :eek:

After 3-4 birds I finally got organized enough to put a cover on the chimney :gomer:

[anait]

Not likely. I used to have birds fly down my chimney and into my woodstove. They'd just sit in there silently but I could always tell because the cats would just sit and stare at the stove.

Good thing too because when I'd open the door they'd come flapping out throwing ash all over the place. That also happened to be the only way to get them out but was much worse when you weren't expecting it. :eek:

After 3-4 birds I finally got organized enough to put a cover on the chimney :gomer:

Mr anait figured with the wood furnace removed (it had been hooked up with the gas furnace) and its chimney blocked off at the wall, the problem would be solved. He did not expect birds to fly down the gas furnace chimney. Maybe this will convince him to check the other chimney's cap...