A Squirrel Fell Down our House Chimney

Num7

Num7

Administrator
Staff
Messages
12,457
It happened while we were away on vacation last week. Came back home, everything's normal.

Go to the basement to start the wood furnace, so I open the door. I hear a little noise, then notice something looking at me in the dark. I jumped! LOL

A pretty huge grey squirrel was in there, what the hell!!

1000012513.jpg

I have no idea how long he stayed in there. It clearly fell down the chimney, then made its way into the furnace and couldn't get back out of it.

Must have been quite a fall, this is in the basement and we have a 2 stories house.

It scratched around and destroyed some of the nylon insulation around the furnace door, on the inside.

So, we made a few phone calls, and ended up burrowing a small animal cage, to get it. Fixed it with a wood board so that it fits on the furnace's door opening.

20240210_120312.jpg

30 minutes later, it got out and we caught it.

20240210_123901.jpg

Even for a grey squirrel, it was pretty big. It was extremely ferocious while in the cage. It was growling like a small dog. I put the cage inside a bag, and it calmed it down.

1000012532.jpg

We dropped it at the local graveyard, where there's always a ton of squirrels. 🐿️ As soon as I opened the cage it went running, didn't look hurt or anything.

We're going to install a metal screen on our chimney cap, so that it doesn't happen again.

Anyone else experienced something like this? I heard a couple of stories about birds. But I never thought a squirrel would so that!
 
Wind7

Wind7

Moderator
Staff
Messages
8,568
Num7 said:
It happened while we were away on vacation last week. Came back home, everything's normal.

Go to the basement to start the wood furnace, so I open the door. I hear a little noise, then notice something looking at me in the dark. I jumped! LOL

A pretty huge grey squirrel was in there, what the hell!!

View attachment 17846

I have no idea how long he stayed in there. It clearly fell down the chimney, then made its way into the furnace and couldn't get back out of it.

Must have been quite a fall, this is in the basement and we have a 2 stories house.

It scratched around and destroyed some of the nylon insulation around the furnace door, on the inside.

So, we made a few phone calls, and ended up burrowing a small animal cage, to get it. Fixed it with a wood board so that it fits on the furnace's door opening.

View attachment 17847

30 minutes later, it got out and we caught it.

View attachment 17848

Even for a grey squirrel, it was pretty big. It was extremely ferocious while in the cage. It was growling like a small dog. I put the cage inside a bag, and it calmed it down.

View attachment 17849

We dropped it at the local graveyard, where there's always a ton of squirrels. 🐿️ As soon as I opened the cage it went running, didn't look hurt or anything.

We're going to install a metal screen on our chimney cap, so that it doesn't happen again.

Anyone else experienced something like this? I heard a couple of stories about birds. But I never thought a squirrel would so that!
Click to expand...

Yes, I went through kind of the same thing....Three times!

1. I went to turn on my heat for the winter months back in 2005 and it wouldn't ignite.
My furnace has an electronic mechanism that opens a flue automatically before it can ignite
however...There was a (very) dead squirrel blocking it from happening!

So, I had to remove all the chimney tubing to get the poor little thing out.
everything worked afterwards, thankfully.

2. 2009. Somehow a squirrel got into the basement of the house and it nearly destroyed all of my new windows! :mad:
The seals of at least 2 windows had been chewed through at the bottom!
I think It got in through an open garage window and basement door
I purposefully left open so as to air out the basement.
(It's a walk-in, unfinished basement with no access to the upper level of the house
and has very little for regular air flow so, I air it out every season).

I used the same type of trap you used only armed with peanut butter.

3. 2019 They made a home in my attic over the master bedroom and I had to call
a professional to remove this one at the cost of $1,700.00 !!

He caught the problem right off and then permanently sealed the out side holes
it had made in my home! This was after he sanitized where it made it's nest and removed the scent
so others wouldn't come around.

So....Yeah....I've had my fill of these little Hairy Houdinis !

I live very near a wildlife refuge so, I never know what's going to be in my yard at any given time
and these sorts of things can happen quite regularly! Unfortunately.
 

M

MODAT7

Active Member
Messages
560
At my last house, 2 squirrels and a crow. It was only 1 story, but the chimney top didn't have any screening around it. After the 3rd time, I crawled up on the roof and fixed that. Squirrels have been known to fall down open wall cavities and die and really stink up houses. I also didn't want them chewing holes through my studs or walls.

When one squirrel was hiding in the outer wall and started chewing, I pinned it down with a broom I had in the attic. It was one of the most vicious things I had ever heard. When I pulled the broom back, I was almost half expecting it to be knawed into a fine point "Loony Tunes" style.

I found the crow almost by accident. It had been up in the attic a few days at least. It was just sitting in the insulation. I came from behind and grabbed it. I was expecting a fight, but it just gave me a nasty look instead. I crawled down (carefully), went outside, tossed it up in the air, and it glided over to the neighbor's yard. I went back in to do what ever I was going to do in the attic (probably some wiring).

I really don't know what posesses an animal to go down a long dark vertical shaft with no hope of getting out.
 
BlastTyrant

BlastTyrant

Senior Member
Messages
2,601
Wind7 said:
Yes, I went through kind of the same thing....Three times!

1. I went to turn on my heat for the winter months back in 2005 and it wouldn't ignite.
My furnace has an electronic mechanism that opens a flue automatically before it can ignite
however...There was a (very) dead squirrel blocking it from happening!

So, I had to remove all the chimney tubing to get the poor little thing out.
everything worked afterwards, thankfully.

2. 2009. Somehow a squirrel got into the basement of the house and it nearly destroyed all of my new windows! :mad:
The seals of at least 2 windows had been chewed through at the bottom!
I think It got in through an open garage window and basement door
I purposefully left open so as to air out the basement.
(It's a walk-in, unfinished basement with no access to the upper level of the house
and has very little for regular air flow so, I air it out every season).

I used the same type of trap you used only armed with peanut butter.

3. 2019 They made a home in my attic over the master bedroom and I had to call
a professional to remove this one at the cost of $1,700.00 !!

He caught the problem right off and then permanently sealed the out side holes
it had made in my home! This was after he sanitized where it made it's nest and removed the scent
so others wouldn't come around.

So....Yeah....I've had my fill of these little Hairy Houdinis !

I live very near a wildlife refuge so, I never know what's going to be in my yard at any given time
and these sorts of things can happen quite regularly! Unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Might want to change your title to "Squirrel whisperer" Or Squirrel Master
 
PaulaJedi

PaulaJedi

Survivor
Zenith
Messages
8,859
Cute. How did I miss this? We caught a mouse. LOL I took him to the woods. We think the cats brought him in because during cooler months, we leave the front door cracked open for them, and Penny has been seen bringing us moles.

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