Breaking lockdown

Topper

Amo Amas Amant Admin
Staff member
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Messages
23,991
Reaction score
4,014
Points
113
Age
69
My Satellite Setup
Has gone to a good home elsewhere
My Location
Blackburn, Lancashire
As many no doubt know, my area is in another lockdown, discussions as to why this is needed to happen need not take place, the government website's attempt at being politically correct are not very subtle. On Friday night, we thought we heard some scratchings from the sealed chimney breast, a mouse a rat, who knows just ignore it. Saturday afternoon we heard definitive rustling and gnawing. Fearing the worst scenario and not wanting future decomposition aromas to fill the house I decided to investigate by drilling a three inch diameter hole in the plasterboard. I then placed a glass sweet jar over the whole and locked it in place. Before I had left the room, the jar began filling up with bits of moss and twigs and so I waited. I soon saw a black beak depositing the rubbish in the jar. From the size of the beak it was obviously a largish bird. So I then had to drill three more holes as the brickwork inside was significantly stepped up. Obviously I could no longer use the sweet jar to catch the bird, so used a strong cardboard box placed against the wall, put some seed kernels in their and waited. The bird eventually dropped onto the box and having flattened one side of the lid I was able to slide the lid down to stop any retreat. My wife apart from being terrified that it was a rat was reluctant to come and open the door that I could not as my hands were busy stopping the beautiful bird from attempting to force it's way through the hand hole cutouts. This gave me time to look in detail at it's head and neck. I placed my flat hand over the hand grip to keep it in the box and it promptly ran to the LHS and began pecking my fingers. By this time my wife opened the back door and I made my way outside the bird was panicking and as I adjusted my grip, it grabbed my index finger an gave me a sharp nip as it tried to swallow my finger. The shock made me lose my grip on the box and the bird flew away before my wife managed to photograph the event. From the largish size, colouring of the feathers on the head and neck and size and black colour of the beak and th fanned tail when flying away, I would say it was a brown necked raven, but am unsure as it does not appear to be a resident of the UK. So sorry no photograph of the bird, only of the holes made to extract it. Fancy the bird attempting to sneak into my residence under full lockdown
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20200801-WA0002.jpg
    IMG-20200801-WA0002.jpg
    107.3 KB · Views: 24
Last edited:

pgh13

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
1,688
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Age
72
My Satellite Setup
XTrend ET8000, Dr HD 15, PC/twinhan combination. 80cm dish. GBPVR with 2 DTTV cards +hauppauge Media MVP +Raspberry Pi running XBMC
My Location
Midlands UK
As many no doubt know, my area is in another lockdown, discussions as to why this is needed to happen need not take place, the government website's attempt at being politically correct are not very subtle. On Friday night, we though we heard some scratchings from the sealed chimney breast, a mouse a rat, who knows just ignore it. Saturday afternoon we heard definitive rustling and gnawing. Fearing the worst scenario and not wanting future decomposition aromas to fill the house I decided to investigate by drilling a three inch diameter hole in the plasterboard. I then placed a glass sweet jar over the whole and locked it in place. Before I had left the room, the jar began filling up with bits of moss and twigs and so I waited. I soon saw a black beak depositing the rubbish in the jar. From the size of the beak it was obviously a largish bird. So I then had to drill three more holes as the brickwork inside was significantly stepped up. Obviously I could no longer use the sweet jar to catch the bird, so used a strong cardboard box placed against the wall, put some seed kernels in their and waited. The bird eventually dropped onto the box and having flattened one side of the lid I was able to slide the lid down to stop any retreat. My wife apart from being terrified that it was a rat was reluctant to come and open the door that I could not as my hands were busy stopping the beautiful bird from attempting to force it's way through the hand hole cutouts. This gave me time to look in detail at it's head and neck. I placed my flat hand over the hand grip to keep it in the box and it promptly ran to the LHS and began pecking my fingers. By this time my wife opened the back door and I made my way outside the bird was panicking and as I adjusted my grip, it grabbed my index finger an gave me a sharp nip as it tried to swallow my finger. The shock made me lose my grip on the box and the bird flew away before my wife managed to photograph the event. From the largish size, colouring of the feathers on the head and neck and size and black colour of the beak and th fanned tail when flying away, I would say it was a brown necked raven, but am unsure as it does not appear to be a resident of the UK. So sorry no photograph of the bird, only of the holes made to extract it. Fancy the bird attempting to sneak into my residence under full lockdown
Fascinating. Great that you managed to save him, and full marks for artistic interpretation that you drilled the holes in a pattern to look like Mickey Mouse
 

PaulR

Dazed and Confused Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Messages
18,023
Reaction score
4,046
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
-----------See sig-----------
My Location
Wirral, NW UK and Vaucluse, France.
Amazing story. I guess that the chimney in question hasn't been capped?
 

satelliteman

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 7, 2007
Messages
12,039
Reaction score
387
Points
83
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
Northants, Midlands UK & Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Well done Neil. :-applause
Just a bit of patching up to do then.
 

Topper

Amo Amas Amant Admin
Staff member
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Messages
23,991
Reaction score
4,014
Points
113
Age
69
My Satellite Setup
Has gone to a good home elsewhere
My Location
Blackburn, Lancashire
Amazing story. I guess that the chimney in question hasn't been capped?
That is the strange thing Paul, when we moved in 33 years ago there was a red vented ceramic cap, but that is no longer there., now it is on my radar I can keep my eyes peeled however, there must have been at least a dozen people up on ours and next door's roof over the years.
 
Top