My uncle told me to always check for owls before starting a job

I thought he was just being weird, but last week in a big farmhouse near Boise, I pulled out my camera for the initial look. Sure enough, there was a full grown barn owl staring back at me from about three feet up the flue. The homeowner had no idea it was there. I mean, I would have just sent my brush down and scared it half to death. Ended up calling a wildlife guy and we got it out safe, but it added like two hours to the job. Anyone else have a 'weird tip' that actually saved your bacon?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_cameron10d ago

Your uncle was onto something.

holly_henderson8610d ago

Wait, you were three feet up the chimney and saw an owl? How did you even get your head in there to see it? That's wild. I would have just assumed it was clear and sent a brush down too. Your uncle's tip sounds crazy but I guess it makes sense if you work on old buildings a lot. That owl is lucky you listened.

anthonymurray10d ago

Honestly the chimney was so narrow I had to turn my head sideways like a weird owl myself. My uncle's rule is basically if you can fit your head in, something else already lives there. Last year I found a whole family of raccoons in a flue that size. That owl probably thought I was the world's worst Santa coming down the wrong way.