Something is in the furnace flue. Bird, squirrel, chipmunk? Been there three days. We're goin' in. Wish us luck.
Update: It's a squirrel. And the little tree-rat crawls back into the chimney. He's left souvenirs inside about 6 feet of angled-upward exhaust duct: grit and droppings.
We can't shoot anything energetic up the duct, so drop that idea right now. Air rifle? .177, hand-pumped, is all we have -- and that needs to be a clean hit.
UPDATE: We had some good looks at him, the rotten little rodent, but not hits. (Tam has more on Facebook). So...after talking to the pros of Butler M-K, I have made and installed a hardware-cloth (1/4" square galvanized steel mesh) "squirrel screen" as close to the chimney end as I could, held in with sheet-metal screws. They'll have a look at the situation in the morning.
And just think, back when the weather was nice and the days were long, I could've installed a nice squirrel excluder over the top of the chimney!
This ought to be a GREAT blogpost.
ReplyDeletePlan ahead. Leave a trail of nuts from the fireplace to the open front door.
ReplyDeleteAnd perhaps it's best not to have the cats as an audience to the proceedings. :)
Hold ma beer and watch this ...
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteOoo boy. Can't wait to hear the report on this one.
ReplyDeleteleaf blower.
ReplyDeleteRat trap with a string tied to it? (In case it only grabs a leg.) Or if you want something more humane, a live-catch trap?
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/K16fG1sDagU
ReplyDeleteIs the goal to get it dead inside the flue (bad idea, ask my parents how they know), or to encourage departure?
ReplyDeleteA few pounds of dry ice and close off the bottom end will encourage shuffling off this mortal coil; a good shot from a CO2 extinguisher shouldn't kill but should encourage leaving...
I look forward to the followup.
TRY NOT TO PUT HANDS WHERE YOU CANT SEE THEM BUT IT COULD SEE YOU AND TAKE DEFENSIVE ACTION AGAINST YOU REQUIRING A SUDDEN VISIT TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM
ReplyDeleteAGREE WITH SHERMLOCK AS TO SEQUESTERING THE FELINE DEPARTMENT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD
BEFORE COMMENCING OPERATIONS
IS THERE A SMALL ANTI RODENT FRAGMENTATION GRENADE?
Anything that shoots a pellet might damage the flue too.
ReplyDeleteGopher grenade at the bottom of the flue. It is potassium nitrate, sugar and sulfur. The hydrogen sulfide should drive it out. Most garden stores carry them.
ReplyDelete1) Make sure the bugger isn't in there, and then
ReplyDelete2) put wolf urine around where it's been coming in.
Only problem is collecting the wolf urine. Suggest large amounts of water.
Roberta,
ReplyDeletePossible to use a very lightly loaded .22LR (thinking Super Aguila here...) ~500fps at the muzzle....silent from a rifle.
Just a consideration.
--Jim
We want him to leave and not return! I think he crawls down the flue shortly after the furnace has stopped, to get warm, and then retreats to the chimney when it is actually running.
ReplyDeleteI like the "rat trap on a string" idea, combined with a squirrel excluder. I don't want the creature to suffer overmuch -- but we have no shortage of squirrels.
High volume, high pressure air.
ReplyDeleteThink squirrel cannon.
BGM
Actually, I with thinking hairspray followed by tossing in a match and slapping a coffee can in the duct, but I decided the back pressure would do the water heater no good.
ReplyDeletefirecrackers. Detach from the bundle and use them one at a time. Won't dmage flue or chimney, nor skwirrel
ReplyDeleteScare him gone for good, it will.
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ReplyDeleteI have an old stone fireplace at each end of the house, and living out in the timber, over the years I’ve have had an assortment of varmints in them.
ReplyDeleteA 8X8 glass pan with about 1/2 inch of Bo-Peep ammonia a little updraft, and they can’t get out fast enough.
("I with thinking?" I lithp when I type now? Make that "I *was* thinking..." But not about what I was typing.)
ReplyDeleteNo fireplace at Roseholme Cottage and but a single flue.
just went thru this with Archie and his Raccoon.
ReplyDelete9mm Flobert? Now you have an excuse to buy another oddball at the fun show.
ReplyDeleteCould be worse, my parents had to fish a (still alive) female mallard out of the chimney pipe when I was 5 or 6.....they never did figure out how she got in there!
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good: no scrabbling since the second pellet.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Tam got him, I think he decided the neighborhood was too rough.