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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 8:24 am
No one was in my bedroom but me yesterday. The vent is seated in the slot very firmly and hard to pull up and out. No, my Ophie could not have gotten it out. No vacuuming yesterday, and no way could that vent be moved accidentally. I wish I knew if anyone around here has lost a pet snake. I'm not too afraid as I've watched so darn many snake handlers on tv over the years that I know a boa or a python will not chase if I run into it. It's just that the surprise element wouldn't be too fun. Bottom line is that I don't see how anything could have gotten in the crawl space...this is a very well built house with no entrances except the foundation vents; but it sure looked like something came up through that vent.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 8:46 am
CHeck the screws or fasteners on the backside of the cover. They may be getting old and stripped. Age can make things fall (as I am finding out, cruely).
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 8:53 am
I got my hotel in London through orbitz last year no problem. Have booked tons of flights on Orbitz, no problems. I did have one problem with a palm springs hotel reservation I did with Orbitz. The palms springs hotel said they had no reservation in my name, and it took forever to straighten out, turns out that for some reason the hotel had my first name as the last name, and my last name as the first name. In the end I never went to palm springs but that was Jet Blue's fault.
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Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 9:23 am
Wouldn't Ophie being acting differently if some critter had snuck inside? How about asking a neighbor to come over and take a look around?
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 10:49 am
That's very true Rosie, a cat would smell another animal and be acting strangely. I don't know about a snake though, do they have much scent? OG have you checked no one else came into your room? They might not have much reason to but you know, maybe they found one of your socks in their sock drawer and put it back in yours, sometimes people do things we wouldn't expect! Or do you live alone? If so I'd have someone check for me. I always try to think of an innocent rational reason for things but if your vents are anything like mine the only reason one would be dislodged like that is if something pushed it from underneath. Also is there a humane society or somewhere like that you could ask where a snake would go if it did get in the house? They might even do a search with you. ETA: one last thing, you don't have a contract with a pest exterminator or anything like that do you? Someone who might have cleaned the vents or something and forced air up through them?
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 10:57 am
I was wondering about air being forced through too.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 11:21 am
and as much as you think ophie might not have gotten it out. i have seen videos of cats doing things you would NEVER have expected them to do. plus just this weekend we had our patio door open about 3 inches, and my tonkinese got between the screen door and the patio door, and then got herself stuck there. <shaking head> weird cat.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 12:13 pm
Escapee, as I said the foundation vent holes have a heavy gauge screen over them and they are also covered for the winter with very hard to remove plastic covers...and everything is still in place. Rosie, I too would think Ophie would act spooked like she was when the raccoons got into the living room into the cat food last summer. She's cool as a cucumber. Kitt, My DD and DH live here with me, but neither one went into my bedroom yesterday. There is no way that vent could accidentally be kicked out of position as it is wedged into its hole very tightly and is a problem to get out even when trying. Landi, Ophie with her teeny tiny Siamese footsies could never pry up that heavy metal vent. There was about 30 years accumulation of dust and lint at the bottom of the vent opening which had not been disturbed. I would think that an animal would have had to have messed it up in order to get purchase to push out the vent. That is the only thing that is keeping me from completely wigging out. I had a new furnace put in a week ago today. They never went into my bedroom. A tech is coming back today to tend to a few minor details. I'll query him about this anomaly. Perhaps like Kitt and Wargod suggest, it might be a 'forced air' phenomenon. But that sucker is heavy and was moved sideways to the opening like a critter had shoved it aside and come on in. Shudder!
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Cheri4angels
Member
11-15-2006
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 12:41 pm
Does Ophie have a tag hanging from her collar? Not sure how strong your cat is but my small dog used to get his rabies tag stuck in the vent slots and would pull it out. Adrenaline can give them more strength than you realize.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 1:21 pm
No tags, Cheri, she is micro-chipped.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 1:34 pm
At least the furnace guy will be able to see whether he thinks anything they've done could have caused it. A new furnace and something odd with the vents does sound like they could be connected. If not, I'd say ring someone who knows about snakes, and get someone to go round the house with you and look in areas they might hide. Otherwise you won't be able to stop thinking about it.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 1:39 pm
OG, you're braver than I am. I would have already moved out and no way would I have even attempted to sleep last night.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 2:08 pm
NT: I am the same way. I will not be venturing into the reptile house, I gaurantee it.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 2:11 pm
OG, I think it was one of the figments running amok. I will try to rein them back in, but sometimes they just have minds of their own.
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 2:26 pm
Oh, I love the reptile house! It's not knowing what might be lurking in my house that would scare me. I tried to kill a giant waterbug outside my bedroom door one night but it got away, so I spent the night on the couch. However, when we had the tiny (and I do mean tiny - they could clean the peanut butter right off the trap and not trip it) mouse family move in, I wasn't as freaked as I am with bugs and snakes. An exterminator and the sticky traps took care of both problems.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 2:35 pm
I love the reptile house! OG, that is very strange, but if it was a critter it wouldn't necessarily be a snake, right? Air pressure can do amazing things, but this is definitely a puzzle..
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 3:22 pm
NT: It's bad. I can't look at them on TV or in a book or anything. I won't even be comfortable near the reptile house knowing that they are in there. DD has a toy snake, made out of wood, and while I am not freaked out by fake snakes, every time I see it on the floor, I am AWARE of it, if that makes any sense at all.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 3:28 pm
The technician was at a total loss. He said no way could the furnace force that vent out of the floor. I guess as long as Ophie isn't freaked out and the debris at the bottom of the vent hole wasn't disturbed that I'm just going to have to let it go...but, still, something moved that vent onto the carpet.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 3:32 pm
Earthquake?
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 3:38 pm
LOL, Escapee. My DH said maybe there was an earthquake in that corner of the house. No, there haven't been any earthquakes.
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Twinkie
Member
09-24-2002
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 3:44 pm
Its a poltergeist.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 4:06 pm
Oh, Twinkie, I would have been disappointed had no one come up with that. I'm just hoping that if it was an animal that it didn't get frightened, go back into the ductwork and die of the heat. So far there is no bad odor coming through the vents.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 5:51 pm
I knew someone would come up with that one, lol, Twinkie! I guess what really worries me the most is that if a snake got in here that it might harm Ophelia.
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Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 6:04 pm
Check under your bed, check any cupboards, then trust the kitty! Whatever came in, if anything did, probably wouldn't harm you, just might be a nuisance. Please let us know if you ever find out what it was!
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 6:37 pm
Last night I removed everything from under my bed and checked it out real good. I know one thing, I sure wish I was reading about this under someone else's byline.
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