So what have you found in your stove, chimney, fireplace, etc?

[Jaugust124]

Just wondering what strange objects have been found in people's stoves that didn't belong. The reason I ask is because the other day I opened the door to the insert and found a small dead bird. Thought maybe I could use it for kindling, but I quickly realized that it probably wasn't seasoned well enough to work.

It must have been alive in there for a little while at least as there was some bird 'tuff that needed to be cleaned up. Kind of feel bad I didn't find it before it died.

 

[begreen]

Soot.

 

[burleymike]

While I was pulling up on my liner trying to get it into the top of the insert two yellow jackets walked out of the chimney and down my hands. I also found a spike in the ashes once. The wood we get was in an area that was logged 80 years ago so I suppose it was hammered into a small tree at that time. Glad I did not hit it with my saw.

 

[fishingpol]

My brother had a live flying squirrel in his stove last fall since he does not have a chimney cap. They look different than a gray squirrel. His wife said it looked like a chinchilla. They sure are strange looking if you haven't seen one.

 

[Battenkiller]

Jimmy Hoffa.

 

[BrotherBart]

Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego

 

[elmoleaf]

Dead crispy mouse in bottom of T-cleanout, found when cleaning chimney this summer.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego

And the God that can not fail.

 

[yanksforever]

Put a cap on with a screen and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[Troutchaser]

My chimney cap has a huge wasp nest in it. They've been working up there the entire summer. Not sure how I'm going to start the cleaning without getting stung. I'm going to Raid it, but who knows what lies beneath?????

 

[zzr7ky]

Got a panic call a few years ago from the single school teacher across the road "There are big yellow eyes in the fire place looking at me!" She was grading student papers sitting in front of the closed glass panels in front of the fire place. She was pretty shook up.

Turned out to be a decent sized Owl !! There's a cap on the chmney now.

ATB,
Mike

 

[Gator eye]

I got a face full of a sparrow once when I went to light the wood stove in my barn. It put up a good fight against my old barn cat. Made for a interesting couple of minutes.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Before we got this clean burning stove, it seems that every summer the yellow jackets really seemed to like our chimney and we battled them every fall. Now we don't seem to have that problem.

 

[weatherguy]

Got a panic call a few years ago from the single school teacher across the road “There are big yellow eyes in the fire place looking at me!” She was grading student papers sitting in front of the closed glass panels in front of the fire place. She was pretty shook up.

Turned out to be a decent sized Owl !! There’s a cap on the chmney now.

ATB,
Mike

Is there more to this story Mike? ;-)

 

[firefighterjake]

Darn it . . . I never get any critters in my stove . . . would love to wake up to find some baked partridge in my woodstove.

Not quite related . . . but local sweep told me while doing a sweep of a flue used for an oil boiler he found a gas line going through the chimney . . . said he immediately called the gas company and had them remove the gas line which they installed through the chimney due to its convenience in routing the line to an upstairs gas fireplace . . . sweep said the gas line was quite corroded due to the corrosive gases in the chimney.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Whoa Jake. That is scary!

 

[krex1010]

I had a really pissed of flying squirrel in the stove at my cabin, and when I Moved into my house last year I was cleaning out the flue on my oil burner and found a couple of squirrel pelts in there

 

[98dingo]

Darn it . . . I never get any critters in my stove . . . would love to wake up to find some baked partridge in my woodstove.

Not quite related . . . but local sweep told me while doing a sweep of a flue used for an oil boiler he found a gas line going through the chimney . . . said he immediately called the gas company and had them remove the gas line which they installed through the chimney due to its convenience in routing the line to an upstairs gas fireplace . . . sweep said the gas line was quite corroded due to the corrosive gases in the chimney.

I have come across that before. I wonder what people think when they do stuff like that? I have also come across bats, squirrels, chimney swifts/other birds, wood in very dangerous places like supporting a bottom tile.

 

[Ratherbfishin]

I had a live barn swallow in my stove this summer...we thought the AC that is in the window next to the stove was making strange noises until we heard the same noise when the AC was off. I saw this little dude staring out the stove glass with despair. I came up with plan "A" and plan "B". Plan "A" worked and I opened up a window in the kitchen which is a straight shot and it flew right out. Happy ending for both of us.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Nope, but I'm still holding out for a jolly old elf. I have a list as long as my arm, and I've been extra good this year.

 

[scojen]

I found a huge wolf spider in my stove this summer. Don't ask me how it got in there but when I opened the door it reared up on me. It was so big it's eyes reflected light from the room and glowed yellow!

 

[Hurricane]

My chimney cap has a huge wasp nest in it. They've been working up there the entire summer. Not sure how I'm going to start the cleaning without getting stung. I'm going to Raid it, but who knows what lies beneath?????

I would make a small fire rather than spray raid.

I found a dried bird in the bottom of my oil burner flue, never found anything in my insert chimney. I have had a cap on it since I moved into the house. Now I also have a cap on the other one too.

 

[fbelec]

Darn it . . . I never get any critters in my stove . . . would love to wake up to find some baked partridge in my woodstove.

Not quite related . . . but local sweep told me while doing a sweep of a flue used for an oil boiler he found a gas line going through the chimney . . . said he immediately called the gas company and had them remove the gas line which they installed through the chimney due to its convenience in routing the line to an upstairs gas fireplace . . . sweep said the gas line was quite corroded due to the corrosive gases in the chimney.

can you picture the headlines. large flame thrower spotted in a residential area

 

[firefighterjake]

Darn it . . . I never get any critters in my stove . . . would love to wake up to find some baked partridge in my woodstove.

Not quite related . . . but local sweep told me while doing a sweep of a flue used for an oil boiler he found a gas line going through the chimney . . . said he immediately called the gas company and had them remove the gas line which they installed through the chimney due to its convenience in routing the line to an upstairs gas fireplace . . . sweep said the gas line was quite corroded due to the corrosive gases in the chimney.

can you picture the headlines. large flame thrower spotted in a residential area

Actually I was picturing the headlines screaming "Gas explosion blows apart chimney" . . . sweep/co-worker said the guy who ended up removing the offending gas line was pretty shaken up when he saw how corroded the gas line was . . . and realized how fortunate he was that this was found sooner rather than later.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Squirrel skeleton when I was installing the stove.. I have pictures somewhere...