The wife and I had an interesting few minutes this afternoon. We came home from work and heard all this scratching from inside the stove pipe by the damper, a bird had gotten down inside the pipe and was stuck on top of the damper, so I open the damper and wiggle it back and forth a few times and shazzam there's a sparrow looking at us through the glass. Well I go get a couple of my fishing nets and we try to catch him through the crack in the door, no workee, loose bird in house. Finally catch it and put it outside, congratulate ourselves on a job well done, look at the stove and there's another one in there, here we go again. caught the second one after about 10 min. chasing it around and let it go, maybe removing the screen on the cap wasn't such a good idea after all. Oh yeah, I thought the pipe was clean too, there's a pretty nice little pile of ash on the baffle now.
Bird in stove
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that will be a good way to clean out the chimney. attach small brushes to the wings of a bird and put him to work.
Maybe you found the new "quick and dirty" method of getting your flue cleaned each season.
builderbob
builderbob
In my area they think Builders clothe was made for this, but it's usually a problem in the Fall. What do you have inside that would attract birds at the hottest time of year?
fbelec said:
lol... I can see the headlines now "Man arested and charged with cruelty to animals...seems he was using unsuspecting birds to clean his flue pipe..."
I dont know how long they were in there, and I thought the flue was pretty clean, but they probably knocked down a pile of ash about 3 in. diameter by 1 in. deep.
BeGreen said:Too small to roast. Try to figure out how to snag some good sized pigeons for a better meal.
You can't live in Washington and be a quail egg and pigeon breast eater. You'd need a flock and a few more to eat enough to go out and cut wood. I think you are being nice. If you could stuff a turkey down the flue, you'd be happy, but they only look up to see where the rain is coming from and drown. My aunt used to call them the stupidest animal on the planet. Grandfather raised them commercially. Thank God, before I could walk the farm was gone. But I have seen the turkey drives.
OOOOOPppPPPs, was I in never never land?????????
welp, gotta run, gonna go buy me some parakeets and little bitty brushes and some super glue. Oh and a net so I can get them back into their cage when their done workin'.
I heard this but could be just a myth
LONG LONG TIME ago in Europe the used to drop Geese down chimney to clean.
Our record is pulling 17 sparrows out of a pellets stove flue and combustion blower.
Most older pellet pipe do not have a screen or Band to keep birds out.
They are getting better. Duravent has a better band. And I talked ICC to put a Band on their new pellet pipe.
BTW I cant get the New ICC Pellet pipe because of a pissing match between Duravent and my Distributor that sells both brands.
LONG LONG TIME ago in Europe the used to drop Geese down chimney to clean.
Our record is pulling 17 sparrows out of a pellets stove flue and combustion blower.
Most older pellet pipe do not have a screen or Band to keep birds out.
They are getting better. Duravent has a better band. And I talked ICC to put a Band on their new pellet pipe.
BTW I cant get the New ICC Pellet pipe because of a pissing match between Duravent and my Distributor that sells both brands.
well i guess there goes the building code. now we'll all be putting in 24 inch chimneys for those turkeys.
We got up this morning and guess what, another stupid bird in the stove, the screen is now back in the cap.
Don't complain - we used to have a summer place when I was a kid, and one winter we had a DUCK come down the chimney. Before it expired, it TRASHED the place, knocked over and broke all the knick-knacks in the windows, and "white-washed" every peice of furniture, the rugs, the mantle, windowsills and any other flat surface it could find. You would not believe just how much chit one duck could hold... 
After that we blocked the top of the chimney as part of the fall closing ritual, and left BIG note on the fireplace to remind us to unblock it after the first subsequent spring opening after we smoked ourselves out with the first fire :red:
In the current house we have had a couple times when we have had BATS get into the living room - not sure just where they are living, but it can be a real challenge to catch one when you have a 24' ceiling in the living room, and it starts doing laps around the living room and the kitchen / dining area, etc... Fortunately it's been a couple of years since the last one.
Gooserider
After that we blocked the top of the chimney as part of the fall closing ritual, and left BIG note on the fireplace to remind us to unblock it after the first subsequent spring opening after we smoked ourselves out with the first fire :red:
In the current house we have had a couple times when we have had BATS get into the living room - not sure just where they are living, but it can be a real challenge to catch one when you have a 24' ceiling in the living room, and it starts doing laps around the living room and the kitchen / dining area, etc... Fortunately it's been a couple of years since the last one.
Gooserider
Hmm. I lead such a boring life. An occasional decapitated vole on the doorstep is about as exciting as it gets here. Though we were being dive-bombed by the hummingbirds yesterday as we were siding the house.
BeGreen said:
No critters on the doorstep, sort of wish there were, as they'd be less of a nusiance to dispose of than the seemingly endless stream of dead mice and an occasional mole that I fish out of the swimming pool filter. :long: The frogs aren't a big deal, they are usually alive, but the dead rodents are a pain, plus they mess up the pool chemistry...
Gooserider
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