Wednesday 19th of July 2017 – Chimney Crow
I was finishing putting the shopping away in the morning when I heard some loud scuffling noises from the chimney (it’s in between kitchen and living room). I thought maybe the cat was stuck in there so I ran to living room and just caught a glimpse of a black wing which then disappeared. A crow had just fallen down the chimney… Great.
I did a bit of research, apparently they can’t fly vertically and can’t get out of chimneys. So I started another remote bird rescue thread on Facebook. Here it is.
Me – A crow (I briefly saw its wing) fell down the chimney just now. From what I gathered it won’t be able to get out as they can’t fly vertically. RSPCB/RSPCA apparently won’t do much. I am not knocking down the wall to get it out. This is a hiding place the cat likes to go into sometimes, she may get it out she may not, but I wanted a better outcome if can help it. I can’t think of a way of getting it out. My hands wouldn’t reach it all the way down (I thought about throwing a towel on top of it).
Any ‘out of the box’ ideas please?
—
Me – Tried banging on the other side of the wall (kitchen) but it just scuttled around a bit. Don’t think crows can jump 80 cm high anyway. ·19 July at 10:14.
—
Micky –https://facebook.com/kellysrescues ·19 July at 10:16·
—
Giovanni – Asked to a friend of mine, he said to put a brush on top of a chimney rod and push it up, the crow apparently will sit on top of the brush and go up. Doesn’t sound a very practical solution but it might help · 19 July at 10:17 ·
Me – I don’t get it. The crow is on the floor, can’t get a rod up/down anyway ·19 July at 10:18·
Giovanni – I thought was somewhere in between the chimney, sorry my bad ·19 July at 10:19·
Giovanni – Crap I’ve seen the picture a bit better now, it’s sealed, poor thing .19 July at 10:20.
Giovanni – did you tried already to call a chimney sweep they usually know how to unseal it (there should be a removable plate, unless it has completely sealed) ·19 July at 10:23·
Me – there’s an opening at the top there, but it’s kinda narrow. I’m going to put some food on the ledge, maybe it can jump up… · ·19 July at 10:23·
Giovanni – that’s a good idea, that might help to catch it
—
Val – A broom? Prod it a bit and it might go on top of the brush bit? ·19 July at 10:39·
Me – it won’t fit downwards, the angle of the gap makes it impossible
Val -Oh … let me think
—
Me – I could just throw the cat in there. But that would be evil.·19 July at 10:41·
Val –·19 July at 10:41·
Val – Mmmm… u need smthg flexible/bendy to put inside it but u also need it to have something like a scoop so u can prod around and hope it sits on it
Me -how, it won’t let me grab it with it, and to be honest I’m a bit freaked by birds, on that level anyway.
—
Kay Dild – I don’t get how the cat can fit up but the bird can’t fit down? ·19 July at 11:13·
Kay Dild – I reckon the bird could get high enough to be at the gap, to get it down this side. ·19 July at 11:14.
—
Snow-Matter –·19 July at 11:21·
—
Dale – You want to get it out because they fkin stink when they start to rot.
Me – I know…
—
Hannah – What about hanging a towel down for it to climb up to a point you can reach it?
Me – oh, that’s a good one . 19 July at 12:29 .
Me – ok, towel is in place, I threw some nuts and dried fruit in, hoping it’ll catch along the towel and bring crowy out.
Me – to be honest, there’s no way in hell I’m catching a crow, it’ll have to climb out by itself. 19 July at 12:39 .
Hannah – Crow’s are pretty smart if you leave it be, it will figure it out, call me a hippy but I would tell the crow then leave it to it. . 19 July at 12:44 .
Me – yeah, them clever. Will have a word. ·19 July at 12:44·
—
Chris – Do crows float in water? ·19 July at 14:04·
G Snow-Matter –—
David – Tie something shiny to a string and tease it out ·19 July at 14:13·
Me – lol, it’s not a magpie (ok, they are related but…)
—
Me – Put towel on one side, a long bit of wood on the other. It has two climbing out options. It hasn’t taken either so far… Maybe it’s injured·19 July at 14:15·
—
Kay Dild – Is it moving or quiet. Probs having a breather now before the great escape . 19 July at 14:18 .
Me – yeah, it’s been quiet for a while now… I chucked some food in there too. Not sure how to do water
—
Micky – Hows it going ? ·19 July at 14:26·
Me – all very quiet right now. Staying away from living room to give it peace and quiet. ·19 July at 14:31·
—
Chris – Netting on the end of two sticks – try and ensnare it and pull it
Me – mmm, getting anything in there involves blind manoeuvring upwards first then down (had to do that with the wood), then super awkward to move the arm in there. But could be an option if it dies. Don’t think it’s feasible while it’s alive. ·19 July at 14:35·
—
Steve – Block up the fireplace, stick a hose down the chimney & fill it with water. The bird will float up to the top & escape. · ·19 July at 14:54·
Me – sure, I’ll go out and buy a hose long enough and some wings so I can get on top of the house·19 July at 14:57·
G Snow-Matter -Be careful not to fall in as well, or you’ll be stuck with the crow ·19 July at 15:02·
Steve – I think the crow’s having a bad enough day as it is…
—
Hannah – Why not use a mirror on a stick and torch to see where it is? if possible
Me – you’re full of ideas! I might do that but with phone instead, see if I can film it, let’s see. ·19 July at 15:03·
Me – now I can’t tell if it’s gone or hiding under the towel/behind the plank
Me – oh, I’ve done 5 surveys now, seems to be gone? how?
—
David – What u need is fart spray I just read online apparently crows can’t stand the smell!! . 19 July at 15:05 .
Giovanni – That will count as animal abuse I guess·19 July at 15:09·
Giovanni if it works
Me -where the hell do I get that from?
David – Please don’t the smell might never leave ·19 July at 15:19·
David – You will have to buy some strong weed to neutralise the fart spray
—
Me – Guys! It looks like it’s gone! Thanks to Hannah’s suggestion I did a few survey videos, at first I was kinda scared, but then really got into it, and there seems to be nothing there. How the heck did it get out? Did it climb back up? I heard a scuffle at lunchtime, maybe that was it. Impressive if climbed up the chimney though! https://photos.app.goo.gl/4IGmAnl9aE0AITCH2 . 19 July at 16:06 .
Hannah – I watch a lot of animal rescue videos. ·19 July at 16:02·
Micky – Hannah has a very creative brain. ·19 July at 16:20·
Steve – Now you’ve just got to help that enormous butterfly escape. ·19 July at 16:31·
R Plunger – Like like like
—
Me – My forearms are a bit itchy from the filming (rubbing against the brick work caused it, I hope) ·19 July at 15:43·
Me – ‘When Crows Climb’, updated version of Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’
—
Micky – Thank goodness. You’ll be blessed by all the crows now. Somewhere a crow is posting on Twitter retelling it’s lucky escape ·19 July at 16:22·
Me – yeah, you don’t want to piss a crow off, because they remember!
—
David – They will fly at you with a crow bar ·19 July at 17:11·
—
PS – Soaking wet cloth? X ·19 July at 17:26·
—
J – … and everyone lived happily ever after. Yay! ·July at 18:43·
—
Steve – I wonder if, during its ordeal, the crow was posting regular updates to Twitcher…
—
Fay – I have only just seen this but wow, what a roller coaster of an adventure! ·19 July at 19:09·
Me – Crowpopera
—
Jo D – Wow! Just realised I was holding my breath reading all the comments! Just been thinking for 5 mins…. “oh God! Does the crow get out?” Better than t’ telly that
—
Cor C – OMG – quite a day for both you & the crow. I’m so glad it got away!·19 July at 22:25·
—
Ade – This is a worry of mine, only there’d be no wall to trap it. At any moment a crow could come screaming down my chimney. They like to sit up on the stack and caw right down it so it sounds like they’re already on the way. Bastards. (Clever ones, granted.) Glad yours escaped!
Steve – If you can hear the crows on your chimney, don’t worry Ade, you’re fine. When the noise stops it means they’re plotting their descent & deciding which one will strike first. *That’s* when you should start worrying…!
—
Me – This reminded me of the many bird incidents that happened over the years and I had a trip down memory lane. We managed to rescue most birds brought in (three of them). One of them I had to mercy kill. Some of you were there to help me through it, it was epic! At first I thought it was a mouse, but it was a bird that I never managed to identify.
Val – I remember this so well! I really felt for you!
Previous bird encounters that I wrote about (there were a couple of others I didn’t record)
. 02 June 2015 – Birdgate (the same link as above)
. 10 Feb 2014 – A juvenile blackbird in our bathroom