first bird of the season.....

[ScotO]

Had to be rescued from the stove this morning. I stayed home from work today (under the weather), and wife dragged me out of bed this morning to the scratching sounds of a bird in the stovepipe.....

Turns out a starling thought it'd be a good spot for a nest.......but he was wrong. Normally, I'd close the stove down for the season, but with more cold weather on tap the next several days, I'll b building more fires, and cant close it yet. So for a temporary fix, I put the brush up the pipe (right to the cap), closed the clean-out up, and put a note in the firebox that says "TAKE BRUSH OUT!!"

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Skin him out now Scott.

 

[ScotO]

Skin him out now Scott.

Actually Sav, that damm bird skinned ME! I skinned my forearm on the airwash baffle on the woodstove when I tried to keep him in the stove! I had my welding gloves on (so he didn't pecker my hands up), he ended up getting out and flying a few laps around the kitchen before banging himself off of the one rear window.....

Gently cupped him, took him outside and set him free. I ended up with some minor injuries...

 

[bag of hammers]

MMMmmmmm - starling - good eatin'...

There's probably some superstition around finding a black bird in the stove? Hope it means seven years good luck....

All I get are bats. Unfortunately I usually don't find them until the start of the burning season, when it's too late (for them). Being a weekend burner, they can spend days in the stove (or longer) with nobody around to hear them. 1 or 2 found alive in my old stove (and one of those must have been hiding up on the baffle, 'cause I didn't realize he was there until it was too late - poor little bugger ). As much as I hate the mice etc, I don't mind the bats (they clean up a lot of insects), and really really hate seeing anything suffer like that...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Scotty, is that under Workers Compensation?

 

[ScotO]

B of H, I feel the same way. I hate to see an animal suffer senselessly. BUT, if this had been a pheasant, quail or grouse, well he'd have gotten plucked and put in the crockpot!!

 

[ScotO]

Scotty, is that under Workers Compensation?

Yeah, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE!!
We both had a good laugh, though.....Now, had my mother been over here (deathly afraid of birds for some unknown reason), there may have been a heart attack involved once that bird got loose in the kitchen!!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You should have been with me one time when I went to a friend's house. A fox squirrel got loose! Talk about wild trying to catch that bugger!

 

[jeff_t]

At least you've been able to let the fire go out. My stove hasn't gone cold since the fall, except when we were out of town.

We had a cardinal attacking the living room window for two days a couple of weeks ago. He even flew around the back of the house and slammed into the sliding glass door a couple of times. It was entertaining for a while, then it got old, but I couldn't chase him away for more than a few minutes.

 

[ScotO]

At least you've been able to let the fire go out. My stove hasn't gone cold since the fall, except when we were out of town.

We had a cardinal attacking the living room window for two days a couple of weeks ago. He even flew around the back of the house and slammed into the sliding glass door a couple of times. It was entertaining for a while, then it got old, but I couldn't chase him away for more than a few minutes.

It's funny how, once they get started, the habit kicks in and they keep coming back again and again and AGAIN!!

At least with a cardinal, they are a beautiful bird to watch (nice songbird too). But watching one repeatedly trying to commit suicide by slamming in to a glass door over and over again, well that's not so nice!

 

[bag of hammers]

I should add, I don't really really like the bats a whole lot when a couple of them that were hiding up in the peak of the vaulted ceiling (unnoticed) decide to start cruising around the place as soon as the light go out. Me on a chair or step ladder with a cardboard box trying to trap them against a wall, and carry them outside (when they finally decide to park for a minute) with my wife freaking out a bit (not sure if it's the bat flying around or the likely prospect of me killing myself). But we still have a no-bat-kill policy. They just want back out again.

 

[ScotO]

I should add, I don't really really like the bats a whole lot when a couple of them that were hiding up in the peak of the vaulted ceiling (unnoticed) decide to start cruising around the place as soon as the light go out. Me on a chair or step ladder with a cardboard box trying to trap them against a wall, and carry them outside (when they finally decide to park for a minute) with my wife freaking out a bit (not sure if it's the bat flying around or the likely prospect of me killing myself). But we still have a no-bat-kill policy. They just want back out again.

I get them in my gable vents on the north side of the house every summer. Usually just one or two of them, as they cannot get through the Kevlar screen on the inside of the vent. They do like to crap all over the deck in that area, but they also do a great job of taking care of the mosquitoes. I like bats. Just not in the house.....

 

[bag of hammers]

they also do a great job of taking care of the mosquitoes. I like bats. Just not in the house.....

Yes they really hammer the mosquitoes. Although this year we may not see mosquitoes until July if the weather keeps up. I don't know how they get in the house during the summer (any that come down the chimney are trapped) but I suspect they just follow the swarm of mosquitoes that follow me in the door at night. Doesn't happen often but at least once a year.

 

[katwillny]

I am not a fan of birds in the stove or the pipe. they make a mess flapping their wings around. Plus it scares my wife and kids. This summer i am determined to put a better cap on the stack. Little buggers.

 

[jeff_t]

It's funny how, once they get started, the habit kicks in and they keep coming back again and again and AGAIN!!

At least with a cardinal, they are a beautiful bird to watch (nice songbird too). But watching one repeatedly trying to commit suicide by slamming in to a glass door over and over again, well that's not so nice!

He was attacking his reflection in the window. We have dark colored curtains on it, and after I opened them he just moved over to the edge of the window and kept at it. I think he flew into the back window to get that damn bird from behind

After the second one in the stove last spring, I made a screen out of 1/2" hardware cloth. So far so good, hasn't clogged up yet.

 

[Shari]

If you get bats in the house use something like a tennis racket to knock them down and then bag or box them & take them outside. It doesn't kill them, just stuns them for a moment or two - kind of like any bird who flies into a window. Well, I suppose if you do a Superman/Wonder Women swing you could permanently end their flying days..........

 

[arngnick]

Same thing happened to me last night as I was cleaning my secondary chamber scared the s*** out if me when he flew out

 

[rideau]

I like seeing bats flying around outside at night. And am quite concerned about their seeming imminent demise in NA. So I try to preserve their habitat...leave big old hollow trees standing, for one. NOT a big fan of the swooping around the house bit.

Cardinals are notorious for their fascination with windows and mirror. We had one that attacked the side view mirror on our car for months.

 

[dyerkutn]

I am not a fan of birds in the stove or the pipe. they make a mess flapping their wings around. Plus it scares my wife and kids. This summer i am determined to put a better cap on the stack. Little buggers.

I often got birds coming down my stovepipe and landing in my stove--the first time I had not idea what it was. It was wild getting them out and trying to chase them around the house Anyway, I had a wire type cap put on top of the pipe where it opens on the roof--problem solved.

 

[lopiliberty]

No birds here I just have a problem with wasps wanting to make there home in my stove

 

[webby3650]

MMMmmmmm - starling - good eatin'...

I've never eaten Starling, but I have eaten some crow! No seriously, I have, it's really good! Try it.

 

[bag of hammers]

I've never eaten Starling, but I have eaten some crow! No seriously, I have, it's really good! Try it.

Crow? No kidding?

As an aside - my wife would cringe every time I complained about how I wanted to shoot all the noisy crows out in the trees in the early mornings - that is, until she witnessed a couple of those crows tear apart a baby grackle on the neighbor's lawn last summer. She cried for 2 hours. Even a bombardment of what seemed like a thousand other birds (the noise was wild) didn't stop them. I had no idea how voracious crows are until I saw that.

 

[webby3650]

That's why I decided to give it a try. The noise was unbearable. We actually have crow season in Indiana.

 

[rideau]

Crows are very bright. They have a guard crow, and talk with each other, pass messages around. Have quite a large vocabulary. If you keep one as a pet, and slit it's tongue, it can talk like a parrot. Read a pretty amazing book about crows many years ago. Loaned it to a friend and never saw it again. Have often wished I still had the book.

My Dad used to shoot clay pigeons, both over LISound, and off our property here. The crows totally ignored him both places, as they quickly learned he wasn't shooting at them.

Their cousin the Raven my dog cannot abide. One croak from the resident Raven and he is tearing off after it. Chases it all through the woods, Raven croaking and dog frantic. I sometimes wonder if it's a game for the raven.

 

[Jags]

1/4" hardware mesh wrapped around the cap will keep the birds from trying to make it a nesting zone. Did this several years ago because I got tired of having a bird stare at me from the other side of the glass in my stove.