My son is in his first home. Vent hood ducting runs horizontally about 15 feet to a trap doored vent on side of house. Birds have gained access and are now rasing a family. (He swears he has observed the birds lefting the closure with their beaks.) Ducting in wall and inaccessible. I know a wire screen will prevent recurrence once they are out. Any suggestions on how to get them out would be appreciated. TIA
A small snake (a real one)
LB
Roy,
Obviously you don't want to kill the birds in their nest - that creates an even worse problem. Likewise you don't want to drive off the parents until the baby birds can also leave the nest. People make these mistakes with squirrels in the attic and then they wind up with dead & decomposing adult squirrels and/or babies in the attic.
I'd wait until the family of birds are all old enough to exit on their own and then I'd drive them off by venting something slightly noxious through the vent. A very slight wiff of tear gas or pepper spray might work. Even steam from boiling water on the stove might make it uncomfortable enough to make them leave. The possibilities are endless, but just don't kill them in the ductwork.
I'd replace the vent door with one which prevents entry. Or remove the old one and rig a screen on the inside of the vent assembly. In either case, I'd fish out the nest while the vent door is removed. I'd follow that with a very long blast of compressed air from the range hood side to attempt to blow out as much debris as possible.
Good luck, Gideon
In article , snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net says... :) My son is in his first home. Vent hood ducting runs horizontally :) about 15 feet to a trap doored vent on side of house. Birds have :) gained access and are now rasing a family. (He swears he has observed :) the birds lefting the closure with their beaks.) Ducting in wall and :) inaccessible. I know a wire screen will prevent recurrence once they :) are out. Any suggestions on how to get them out would be appreciated. :) TIA :) Gloves and a straightened clothes hanger, hopefully the nest is close to the entrance. After removal secure a vent "cage" to cover up the trap door on the side of the house.
The birds are just trying to do the best they can - children can be SO difficult.
In a few weeks, the babies will be off to do what your son is now doing - making a new home and getting on with their life. I'm sure they'll be grateful, in their own way, for the patience your family extended.
After they're gone, you can dig out the nest. You need no screen the opening until late next winter.
We got the same problem a few years ago. The birds were able to open the outlet shutter doors to enter the vent. We allowed the bird family to stayed there until one day one tranvered about 10 feet upwind, struck the kitchen vent fan, and falled to the cooking pot (we left the grease filter off that time).
Convenient, eh?
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