John McPherson Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Owls have no sense of smell, and are about the only animal to regularly prey on skunks. He probably perched on the chimney, and was quite perturbed when half his dinner fell down that 'hollow log'. My wife was upset by finding half of a (probably feral) housecat under the owl's favorite power pole at our farm. She loved getting the pellets for show and tell with kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Once a cow (luckily alive) got into my smithy. It was just chewing on the horn of my anvil, and leaving piles of you know what on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olfart Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 My shop is open on 2 sides, so any critter with the inclination wanders through. I'm still trying to figure out which one stole my 1/2 pound block of beeswax that I left in a Ziplock bag near the anvil. Probably a raccoon or 'possum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 What really makes you mad is when you see the cows snacking on your coal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Not particularly weird, but I had the local diamond python wandering in looking for a snack, tame as a pet pushed it outside. I get swallows nesting inside every year and have a family of geckos living among the steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aessinus Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 My shop is a open three sided lean-to, so when the horse is out to mow, she wanders through & knocks things about, including tumping the anvil over occasionally. The pig wanders through in search of petting or goodies anytime we're working. The armadillo has a burrow in the back corner & I always check for rattlers when I move anything at ground level. A surprise will make me knock the anvil over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Had to eject a hummingbird that got in and couldn't figure out that the skylights didn't lead to the sky. Got a large number of black widow spiders around the place---you don't put you hands where you can't see and check your gloves *first*. Had a few non poisonous snakes pass by. The neighbor's dog likes to kill rattlers so have seen many in my shop up north. Last year I had 3 in my shop down south. Allows one to compare the sound a rasptlesnake makes with the one a rattlesnake makes. Pretty good! (The sound a surprised smith makes is left as an exercise for the student...) Also down south we have a clan of Harris Hawks living around the place and you can often hear them or see then on the power pole outside the shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS3900 Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 I have had a bunch of snakes, and had a shop goat for a while that I brought to the farm in the trunk of a Impala, but the best we have had was a grey african parrot that must of escaped someones house locally. We ended up having to call a bird rescue to come get it and find the owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.morse Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 considering the fact that my shop was also my full-time taxidermy studio for near 30 years, I have had all manner of weird animals come through my door......most of which were deceased at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 I have had snakes, donkeys, lizards, and wild dogs. not much compared to a diamond python. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 I have the odd mouse drowned in the slack tub. And wasps and hornets trying to nest. And the occasional little bird flying in through the door and trying to get out through the window pane. Some years ago the cellphone woke me up at 2 AM in Vienna. The security chap wanted to know how to let the owl out that had gone down through the chimmney in the summer house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcav Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 The barn cat keeps most of the smaller critters away. Tons of dirt daubers on everything possible, leather apron, under saws and grinders inside tool bag etcs. Lots of yellow jackets, kill one nest and find two more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytuyuty Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Not a really "weird" animal, but I keep finding dead mice floating in my slack tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Harry. There was a thread on mice in slack tubs, (earlier this year), with several suggestions for helping the critters get out of the tub. Or barring them from entering the tub in the first place. Google ifi slack tub mice and it should come up. Regards, SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackdawg Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Had a little keel snake (only mildly poisonous and fairly timid) wander through my work area this morning. Saw him coming, so I rattle a bucket, he just stopped still waited for 10 or 15 seconds then kept coming, did it a couple of times, realised he was determined he was coming my way, so just let him wander through and out the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubalcain2 Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 you mean you didn't cut his head of? that snake wouldn't have been so lucky in my shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackdawg Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 2 hours ago, Tubalcain2 said: you mean you didn't cut his head of? that snake wouldn't have been so lucky in my shop. no the little ones like this fella keep the mice down, the bigger carpet snakes keep the shed possum free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I live in a country where it is a crime to kill any reptile or amphibian. We only have one venomous snake species and that kills about one person each century. I suppose the law might be different if we had rattlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Nope, rattlesnakes are protected in my state. They have disappeared from the western half of the state. We now have a Rattlesnake Mountain that has no rattlesnakes on it. Either way I wouldn't kill one. Easy enough to walk around. Now, if it was something like a Black Mamba, known to aggressively hunt people, then my environmentally conscious approach would be out the window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Lou shall I start posting rattlers to you? Last year I had 3 and my landlords had over a dozen at our respective houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 On 24/11/2016 at 1:50 PM, Jackdawg said: no the little ones like this fella keep the mice down, the bigger carpet snakes keep the shed possum free. Yeah, those little keelback snakes are common here too, especially near water. They don't worry anyone and as you say, they're hell on mice. Those big carpet snakes like to live up in the rafters where they can get bats and rats. I see one frequently in my forge shed. Got called into town to remove one from under the bed a few nights ago. The lady was terrified but they are non-venomous. I was a bit slow though (lost my edge!) and it latched onto my hand before I had a good grip. They have fine backward sloping teeth and leave a mark like a hacksaw. Drew a bit of claret and stung fro a while but otherwise OK. My fault anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptree Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 I get the ground hogs, and dirt daubers as well as trapped birds. The scariest was a white tail buck, neck fat in full rut who was half way in the shop door. I turned around from the power hammer and he was about 6' away. He backed out quick when I waved the hot end of the bar in his face. talk about closing the door quick after! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 On 11/24/2016 at 3:14 AM, gote said: I live in a country where it is a crime to kill any reptile or amphibian. We only have one venomous snake species and that kills about one person each century. I suppose the law might be different if we had rattlers. Can't kill reptiles eh? Politicians are a protected carrion species here too. About the only poisonous critters we have to think about at all are the rare spider that get imported in produce or fruit. Every couple years someone gets bitten or is it stung? by a brown recluse. The dangerous critters here are BIG, moose and bear though you'd be amazed how invisible either can be. I've had a black bear walk to within touching distance of me without me noticing it. didn't see it or hear it till it was touching close, that's when I smelled it. I would've smelled any bear farther away if they didn't have the habit of approaching from down wind. You CAN get into trouble with what we call either "meat bees" or "yellow jackets." They make a number of different types of nest, paper, mud, or ground. It's easy to walk right into a nest of yellow jackets and get swarmed, REALLY bad if you're allergic. Rainy days are the worst, rain makes them aggressive. Being swarmed by yellow jackets around here usually means being hit 3-4 times and they can only hit you once and they leave their stinger. losing their stinger puts them in a Bee category in my limited education. While being swarmed means only a few stings they dump a lot of venom so it's . . . unpleasant. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 8 hours ago, Frosty said: It's easy to walk right into a nest of yellow jackets and get swarmed I was once metal detecting an old home site, and on the side of the house was a BIG yellow jacket nest, probably the biggest I've seen in person and the biggest I ever want to see! I was metal detecting and was focused on that, when I then brushed against it and before realized it I got stung on the face about 3 times. The next morning I woke up and my eye was swollen shut. Ahhh, good times, good times. Not really. Really haven't had any animals in my shop that I know of. Had a stray cat several times, armadillo, and numerous wasp nests. My shop has only been set up for about 6 months, so cant wait to see what other "guests" I have! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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