Problem: Squirrel in Fireplace Insert!

I'll buy that the mouse is thinking 'What happened---' But 'What time is it? ------' No Way !

I dunno-----he could have been wondering if it was lunch time!

Harold

Well, apparently, they _are_ in the habit of running up clocks.

R, Tom Q.

Sounds like a well trained, useful pet to me! In our former house, a starling entered through the chimney/gas furnace draft damper. After much effort, I gave up on capturing the intruder and went out for the evening, leaving the house cat in charge. When we returned, all we found were one bird foot and a few feathers on the floor in front of the TV. In the current house, after installing a HE furnace, the chimney serves only the water heater. one day I heard a fluttering noise in the vent from the water heater. After several heat cycles I determined that the bird was moving back and forth between the vent pipe and the clean-out. with much stretching and one arm in the clean-out, the other in the flue hole, I was able to extract the young starling. Although I should have wrung its neck, I figured that after four days (min.) in the chimney, it deserved a second chance! Gerry :-)} London, Canada

We had pigeons in our back yard for a while.

One evening we came home, and there was a large circle of pigeon feathers in the grass. And nothing else. We thought maybe it was a cat that did it, but there was no real evidence of a struggle.

A few days later we realized what had happened, my wife looked out in the front yard to see a *large* red-tail hawk sitting in the tree.

I suspect the pigeon never knew what hit it.

Jim

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I wish I had a video of the red squirrel riding a six inch patch of bark removed from the side of a beech tree by the slug from my .30-.30 Winchester. The squirrel survived the ride but he didn't come back to swear at me any more that day. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Who needs a roller coaster, says Gerry! :-)

Harold

I don't know what the diameters of these things are nor how big your arms are, but your story gave me visions of the fire dept having to come and extract you. :o)

I agree. You did the right thing. Sue

A buddy of mine's hobby is racing pigeons. His coop is in his back yard, beneath a large cottonwood tree. We counted 5 red tails sitting in the tree one afternoon, during a lull in the rabbit population. All with rather expectant looks and much peering at the coop. They are not dumb birds....

We actually once watched a red tail in hot pursuit of one of his rollers as the roller headed for the coop. The entry way to the coop is way too small for the hawk..and he was so intent on his stoop (dive) that he flew headlong into the side of the coop, breaking his neck. Made a hell of a thump. Like watching an old WW2 picture of a dive bomber hitting the water...feathers everywhere.

Fortunately we didn't have to explain to Animal Control why there was a dead hawk in his trash can..as Dave Is the local Animal Control officer

Gunner, who once upon a time raised raptors.

"As my father told me long ago, the objective is not to convince someone with your arguments but to provide the arguments with which he later convinces himself." David Friedman

Those things are huge. It's hard to realize when you see them in the sky, there's nothing for comparison. But when your wife comes in and says "there's a dog sitting in the tree in the front yard" then that puts it in perspective!

Jim

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When I was living in Alaska I was walking on the beach one day and saw a dog playing in the surf. Went close to take a look a discovered it was a bald eagle. Now *those* are huge birds. Sue

I saw a pair of Golden Eagles sitting on a ridgeline overlooking a valley. From 75 yards away, they still looked big. I could understand then, why they were used to hunt wolves by falconers. They sure made the ravens that were "in attendance" look tiny.

Cheers Trevor Jones

The flue opening is 7" dia. while the clean out is 4 x 8" and about

18" below the flue. They are about 16 " from the inside face of the concrete wall through to the interior of the chimney. It took a while to encourage to get the little beggar to move around enough for me to get a hold on one wing. Not the most dignified position. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

In the late 60s -1971ish..I was involved in a raptor breeding program. The folks who raise raptors for hunting are often credited for saving many species of raptors during the worst DDT years. The eggs were paper thin and in the wild, they often were broken, while in captivity they were handled much better.

It was a complete thrill to have a kestrel or red tail, or other type of hawk on your glove, and think back the thousands of years that others have done the same. When your bird comes back (they often didnt..hence the increase in wild birds over the years), and flairs before landing on your glove..its like standing at the end of a runway and watchine a 747 coming in to land. Beautiful birds. I much rather a raptor than a parrot etc.

Gunner

" ..The world has gone crazy. Guess I'm showing my age... I think it dates from when we started looking at virtues as funny. It's embarrassing to speak of honor, integrity, bravery, patriotism, 'doing the right thing', charity, fairness. You have Seinfeld making cowardice an acceptable choice; our politicians changing positions of honor with every poll; we laugh at servicemen and patriotic fervor; we accept corruption in our police and bias in our judges; we kill our children, and wonder why they have no respect for Life. We deny children their childhood and innocence- and then we denigrate being a Man, as opposed to a 'person'. We *assume* that anyone with a weapon will use it against his fellowman- if only he has the chance. Nah; in our agitation to keep the State out of the church business, we've destroyed our value system and replaced it with *nothing*. Turns my stomach- " Chas , rec.knives

One can actually hold a full grown red-tail on an outstreatched arm?

I think I would be totally unable to avoid flinching (hell, avoid diving under the porch!) in a situation like that.

Jim

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Yup. They are actually lighter than they look, what with hollow bones etc. A big one is not something you want to hold are arms length for too long though....

They do have a piercing gaze that can be a bit interesting to meet, if you are insecure , though they can be cuddly and nuzzle you. However..they are not like puppies or kittens... while happy to see you..they are still one tracked carnivores. As I recall, they didnt have much of a sense of humor either. Unlike crows who delight in messing with you and being messed with.

Gunner

" ..The world has gone crazy. Guess I'm showing my age... I think it dates from when we started looking at virtues as funny. It's embarrassing to speak of honor, integrity, bravery, patriotism, 'doing the right thing', charity, fairness. You have Seinfeld making cowardice an acceptable choice; our politicians changing positions of honor with every poll; we laugh at servicemen and patriotic fervor; we accept corruption in our police and bias in our judges; we kill our children, and wonder why they have no respect for Life. We deny children their childhood and innocence- and then we denigrate being a Man, as opposed to a 'person'. We *assume* that anyone with a weapon will use it against his fellowman- if only he has the chance. Nah; in our agitation to keep the State out of the church business, we've destroyed our value system and replaced it with *nothing*. Turns my stomach- " Chas , rec.knives

Today must be 'large bird day.' On the way back from work, we drove around the croton reservoir. There was one red tail hawk sitting by the roadside, and two turkey vultures.

I think maybe it's too cold for them to fly, they just seemed to be hanging out.

Jim

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Don't think for one moment that doesn't extend to other birds. Believe it or not, Susan and I had a wonderful little canary that trained us to tease it. It would eagerly initiate finger tag and other fun games. Smartest bird I ever met, that canary was. Certainly smarter than we were. (Not that that would be all that difficult!)

Harold

A city wide blackout at Sat, 24 Jan 2004 20:42:04 GMT did not prevent Gunner from posting to rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Friend tells of a working peregrine she knew, who had two spaniels for "beaters". (Actually, the hawker had the spaniels, and sent them in to flush game for the peregrine.) Anyway, one day, things on the ground are slow, and the peregrine is getting a wee tad "testy" - so hard to get competent help, you know - and spies a spaniel slacking off "over there". And swoops down on the spaniel and begins pummeling it. Only it wasn't one of the hunting dogs, but a woman's pet, and she is trying to protect her spaniel from this "wild bird" as the hawker and my friend race over to intervene. For starters, he's wearing the heavy gloves .. In the melee she takes a "wicked" slash to the back of her hand, and afterwards he is apologetic and offers to pay for medical treatment, and she waves him off "Oh no, this will be worth it at any number of faculty wives meetings!"

I've head crows described as a cross between California surf bums and regular teenage delinquents. :-)

tschus