We have a wood stove. It's brand new in a new house. Some how a critter got in it. I hear it trying to claw it's way out. It sounded like it was first in the pipe and now is in the stove box. My husband is not home and yes I am freaking out. It sounds like maybe it is a squirrel but cant be positive. I just hear claws. I assume it got into the stove pipe or in through the fresh air intake. Now to figure out what to do about it. I'm assuming we call a professional.
Help some critter got into our woodstove
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My husband just got home. He's not opening the door either. We are going to see if we can get someone out here who knows what they are doing. I don't look forward to the mess that will be in the woodstove.
Whatever animal that got in there had been creeping around in your house just beforehand. His brothers are watching from the shadows. Get a flat head shovel ready and open the door. Probably a little mouse.
Reading back, this stove is installed. It’s just a bird. Let him out.
Reading back, this stove is installed. It’s just a bird. Let him out.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I’ve dealt with this before. Don’t open the door, you can’t even imagine how much damage a soot-soaked squirrel can do in your house.
Feed a rope down the chimney into the stove. Put a weight on the end of the rope, if it helps. Then wrap the stove in a blanket, so it stays dark and quiet inside. Tomorrow, when the squirrel sees light coming down the chimney, he’ll find his way up the rope and out, without any harm to squirrel or your living room.
Feed a rope down the chimney into the stove. Put a weight on the end of the rope, if it helps. Then wrap the stove in a blanket, so it stays dark and quiet inside. Tomorrow, when the squirrel sees light coming down the chimney, he’ll find his way up the rope and out, without any harm to squirrel or your living room.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
... oh, and if you think he got in thru the outside air intake, he may get back out that way. But wrapping the stove in a blanket is key. He needs to go towards the light, and that means making his environment dark.
ratsrepus
Minister of Fire
ajayabb
Burning Hunk
I'm eating popcorn waiting to hear how this turns out
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Not kidding! Go back to early 2012, and you'll see a story of the squirrel I had in one of my Jotul Firelight 12's. Damn thing destroyed the inside of that stove, more than $450 in damage, which turned in to $650 with the "might as well do this while I'm in there" stuff. That same repair would cost over $850 today, given Jotul's updated pricing on those items.
In my case, I was able to confirm it was a squirrel, and not a bird. Once I knew what I was dealing with, I called my chimney guy, and he gave me the rope idea. When that didn't work the first day, someone here clued me in on the blanket, and the squirrel was out at first light the next day.
I was having bad dreams about having to open those doors, letting a soot-covered squirrel out to go running around the house. Thankfully, it never came to that.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
Open the door and let the poor critter out of there! What a nightmare for the little guy. Open the front door he will find the way out of the house I bet.
He'll find a nice warm spot in the house to sleep and when he gets hungry he'll do some food shopping in the pantry. As crazy as ashfuls recommendation sounded at first read,it makes the most sense.
beatlefan
Feeling the Heat
Ashful
Minister of Fire
He’s a wild animal. A day or two without food isn’t going to kill him, but it might remind him to stay out of chimneys, in the future.
I had bats in my chimney for two years. They were living in the furnace flue between the steel liner and the original clay liner. Sometimes one would go down the steel liner and come out of the furnace damper in the basement. I would keep the basement door open and let them come upstairs where they would fly out of the open front door. They finally left on their own sometime last year. If it’s a bird just let it out. We’ve had them a few times at my father’s house. They weren’t soot covered, they flew around the room a bit until they found the open door. I never had a squirrel inside.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
How the heck can something get in. Outside air intake has a screen over it as does the flue cap. Unless animals can chew through metal there is no way any should be able to get in.
I hate to admit it but I took out at least 9 (maybe 11, I forget) chipmunks in my attic last year with rat traps. I felt bad but they were in my attic! I got 1/4" "chicken wire" or garden fencing and cut it to length and sealed up a spot where they were getting in under my facia. Before I installed that I got Great Stuff made for pest control and sprayed that insulation up there.
In any case I agree with Ashful as it seems like a clean, cheap, and easy way to get it out. If that doesn't work maybe you can get a tarp or blanket and affix it to your stove then slowly open the door so it jumps out and then you can kind of use it like a sack and take the whole damn mess outside.
My guess is this latter method will turn into a scene reminiscent of the bat scene from Tommy Boy. Good luck and keep us posted please.
In any case I agree with Ashful as it seems like a clean, cheap, and easy way to get it out. If that doesn't work maybe you can get a tarp or blanket and affix it to your stove then slowly open the door so it jumps out and then you can kind of use it like a sack and take the whole damn mess outside.
My guess is this latter method will turn into a scene reminiscent of the bat scene from Tommy Boy. Good luck and keep us posted please.
KodiakII
Minister of Fire
Probably a Starling (bird), covered in soot...DO NOT LET IT OUT! You wouldn't believe the mess that it will make!
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
Please let me go.
I'm not gonna bite you, I promise...
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I was picturing the squirrel scene from Christmas vacation
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