Mel1959
12-14-2016, 09:07 PM
A little background info. My neighbor has recently had a problem with rats. I spoke to him about all the necessary precautions to take to be sure no squirrels were harmed. Over the last couple of weeks he said things had gotten better, he hasn't seen or caught any rats.
Fast forward to this afternoon. The squirrels were out feeding, as well as several Osprey, and a squirrel was alarming in the neighbors yard. I was in my backyard and heard a noise that sounded like chewing on metal like a rain gutter coming from the neighbors backyard. They weren't home, but I went over and isolated the noise to the downspout of his rain gutter. This rain gutter doesn't terminate at the bottom of the house. It's connected to a large underground piece of 5 inch pvc that drains into the canal via a small 2 inch piece of pvc that goes through the sea wall. I went home and got a ladder and screw driver and unscrewed his downspout from his rain gutter so I could lift it out of the buried pvc pipe. Sure enough there was what I think was a squirrel inside at the curve of the pipe. The pvc pipe is buried about 12 inches down underground before it makes its bend. I alerted my husband and when he attempted to remove it it went down the underground pvc. He was the one that started questioning if it really was a squirrel, or if it could be a rat. I only got a brief look when I removed the downspout, but I don't think it had a pointy nose like a rat. It was sitting on its hind end sorta scrunched into a ball, but it did look at me.
So my question is....what is the likelihood that a squirrel could have misstepped while running in the rain gutter and fallen down the downspout? I was thinking it could have been a young one that was spooked by the Ospreys. I should also mention that there was a screw in the middle of the downspout about 4 ft from the ground that went all the way through the downspout and secured it to the aluminum screen enclosure. This would mean that whatever it was it had to be small enough to get past that screw and down to the bottom of the pipe. I don't think I will ever know for sure which is why I'm asking.
I left the downspout off and we draped a towel down in the pipe so the squirrel (or rat) could climb up it and out. I assume either would attempt to make a getaway as night fell.
Anyone else have anything like this happen? It was definitely a first for me!
Fast forward to this afternoon. The squirrels were out feeding, as well as several Osprey, and a squirrel was alarming in the neighbors yard. I was in my backyard and heard a noise that sounded like chewing on metal like a rain gutter coming from the neighbors backyard. They weren't home, but I went over and isolated the noise to the downspout of his rain gutter. This rain gutter doesn't terminate at the bottom of the house. It's connected to a large underground piece of 5 inch pvc that drains into the canal via a small 2 inch piece of pvc that goes through the sea wall. I went home and got a ladder and screw driver and unscrewed his downspout from his rain gutter so I could lift it out of the buried pvc pipe. Sure enough there was what I think was a squirrel inside at the curve of the pipe. The pvc pipe is buried about 12 inches down underground before it makes its bend. I alerted my husband and when he attempted to remove it it went down the underground pvc. He was the one that started questioning if it really was a squirrel, or if it could be a rat. I only got a brief look when I removed the downspout, but I don't think it had a pointy nose like a rat. It was sitting on its hind end sorta scrunched into a ball, but it did look at me.
So my question is....what is the likelihood that a squirrel could have misstepped while running in the rain gutter and fallen down the downspout? I was thinking it could have been a young one that was spooked by the Ospreys. I should also mention that there was a screw in the middle of the downspout about 4 ft from the ground that went all the way through the downspout and secured it to the aluminum screen enclosure. This would mean that whatever it was it had to be small enough to get past that screw and down to the bottom of the pipe. I don't think I will ever know for sure which is why I'm asking.
I left the downspout off and we draped a towel down in the pipe so the squirrel (or rat) could climb up it and out. I assume either would attempt to make a getaway as night fell.
Anyone else have anything like this happen? It was definitely a first for me!