Loud animal in the crawl space

[wacki]

At my parents house right now. In the family room it sounds like somebody is moving furniture. The animal is either very large or very strong and scraping the crap out of the crawl space/underside of the family room floor. We hear lots of squeaking. I assume the squeaks are babies. The scraping sounds like somebody is dragging a cabinet across a wood floor. It's really loud.

Obviously the animal has to go. The animal is making enough noise to convince me there is no way in hell I'm going down there without a LARGE weapon. The crawl space is small enough to make swinging a machete difficult at best. The smallest gun I have is a sniper rifle and I'm not going to blow a hole in the side of my parents house. Plan of action? Nonlethal removal is best of course. It will be difficult as it's at the complete opposite end of any known openings in the crawlspace.

Obviously I need to find out what it is first but I don't want to crawl in that tiny tunnel and get my face knawed off by some rabid... whatever it is.

This is going to be fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[TStoneMBD]

id say get a hold of some sort of glass/plastic seethrough fixture the size of the crawlspace door. open the door really fast and hold the fixture to it so that the animal cannot attack you.

[fsuplayer]

looking forward to some updates. crazy rabid animals are cool.

[BusterStacks]

Sweet, this sounds exciting!

[PokerGodess]

Call the non-emergency number for your local police department.

Have them call animal control.

Look like a pu$$y, Dont risk the rabies.

[eric5148]

Do you have a blowgun? Cold Steel makes good ones.

[Stuey]

Soak some food in antifreeze throw it under the house. Wait till it stinks go have a look.

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
id say get a hold of some sort of glass/plastic seethrough fixture the size of the crawlspace door. open the door really fast and hold the fixture to it so that the animal cannot attack you.

[/ QUOTE ]

i like this plan

[Zeno]

12-gauge pump action. BB shot. Shoot first, ask questions later.

-Zeno

[Clarkmeister]

Poison.

[Stuey]

Pretty clear some animal is giving birth under the house. It could be a neighbors cat/dog or you got a skunk or worse. Kill it if it was tame don't tell the locals nuf said.

[That guy]

get a shovel and a flashlight, turn on Rage Against the Machine real loud and get in there and fight.

[PokerGodess]

[ QUOTE ]
Poison.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you don't want to call animal control then this is your best option

[NLSoldier]

[ QUOTE ]
Sweet, this sounds exciting!

[/ QUOTE ]

[Clarkmeister]

Yup. Animals are dumb. Some nice food all laced up is a simple and quick end to this.

[TStoneMBD]

lol this made me laugh for some reason

[theBruiser500]

[ QUOTE ]
Yup. Animals are dumb. Some nice food all laced up is a simple and quick end to this.

[/ QUOTE ]

animals are smart not dumb

[theBruiser500]

light a fire, smoke them out. give report when done

[fsuplayer]

probably not a good idea considering its underneath his HOUSE.

[peachy]

if it sounds that big i wouldnt mess with it...i dunno where u live but here that means bobcat or something. Just about anything cornered though is gonna get pretty nasty...id call animal control and save urself scratches and rabies

[peachy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
id say get a hold of some sort of glass/plastic seethrough fixture the size of the crawlspace door. open the door really fast and hold the fixture to it so that the animal cannot attack you.

[/ QUOTE ]

i like this plan

[/ QUOTE ]

not me....that animal attacks it hard enough to one side its cockin it sideways and gettin past...and if its a bobcat or something like it with babies this is sure to happen

[PoBoy321]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yup. Animals are dumb. Some nice food all laced up is a simple and quick end to this.

[/ QUOTE ] animals are smart not dumb

[/ QUOTE ]

While you are certiainly one of the top 3 poker players on this board, you suck in OOT.

[DBowling]

Are you dead?

[rmarotti]

Please die.

[jakethebake]

However, you do this please:

1. Make sure you are drunk when you attempt it.
2. Videotape it in a digital format for OOT's web viewing.

[J_V]

Do you think it's a Wolverine, bobcat, or alligator?

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
At my parents house right now. In the family room it sounds like somebody is moving furniture. The animal is either very large or very strong and scraping the crap out of the crawl space/underside of the family room floor. We hear lots of squeaking. I assume the squeaks are babies. The scraping sounds like somebody is dragging a cabinet across a wood floor. It's really loud.

Obviously the animal has to go. The animal is making enough noise to convince me there is no way in hell I'm going down there without a LARGE weapon. The crawl space is small enough to make swinging a machete difficult at best. The smallest gun I have is a sniper rifle and I'm not going to blow a hole in the side of my parents house. Plan of action? Nonlethal removal is best of course. It will be difficult as it's at the complete opposite end of any known openings in the crawlspace.

Obviously I need to find out what it is first but I don't want to crawl in that tiny tunnel and get my face knawed off by some rabid... whatever it is.

This is going to be fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Animal removal service. Get a pro in there.

Maybe gas it with Raid or something? I don't know. Getting a pro in there would be the best plan, for sure.

Edit: after reading thread, my vote is poison (if not bringing in the pros).

[chaas4747]

[ QUOTE ]
probably not a good idea considering its underneath his HOUSE.

[/ QUOTE ]

I laughed out load at this.

[DavidC]

Get 250 5-year olds and send them in there. If they fail, reinforce them with 500 more.

[etgryphon]

[ QUOTE ]
However, you do this please:

1. Make sure you are drunk when you attempt it.
2. Videotape it in a digital format for OOT's web viewing.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second this...Not helpful, but funny as crap.

-Gryph

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
Yup. Animals are dumb. Some nice food all laced up is a simple and quick end to this.

[/ QUOTE ] animals are smart not dumb

[/ QUOTE ]

While you are certiainly one of the top 3 poker players on this board, you suck in OOT.

[/ QUOTE ]

WHAT??????? TOP 3 "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL"

[Shajen]

Wacki, we need some results.


Update? /images/graemlins/ooo.gif

[ClassicBob]

[ QUOTE ]
Get 250 5-year olds and send them in there. If they fail, reinforce them with 500 more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Clearly the top response, followed closely by RATM &amp; a shovel.

[wacki]

J_V

[ QUOTE ]

Do you think it's a Wolverine, bobcat, or alligator?


[/ QUOTE ]


I have no clue. I'm in Indiana and so I doubt it's any of those but people raise all kind of crazy pets around here. Pet alligators have been found loose in my area before. Heck a 100lb soccer playing lady friend of mine even had one in highschool. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't of believed it. Still, the odds of that happening are very low. Coyotes are likely but I haven't seen one of those around in a long time. Also, I don't know what a coyote would be doing to be making the scraping noises.

The family room is being remodeled right now so the floor is bare. This could easily have a magnifying effect. But the noise is loud enough that I'm still having trouble picturing what it could be. There is no way in hell it's a house cat. I've seen some big opossums around here but I would be very very impressed if it was an opossum. Could it be a large raccoon?!? I'm very puzzled and very curious. Sometimes it sounds like somebody is dragging around a dead body down there. Other times it sounds like it's scraping the bottom of the wood floor. The noise intensity of the scraping is about as loud as it would be if you put a rope through two (maybe three) cinder blocks and dragged them. The dog was going nuts last.

Wow... just googled. According to this:
http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/CWBO_Reptile_Mammal_Checklist_0305.pdf

Bobcats exist in Indiana. It looks like they're protected. So if it is a bobcat, I can't kill it.

I've been down there before and seen a bunch of small animal carcasses but we thought those were from muskrats or neighbors cats. I don't know if those carcasses are linked to this animal.

Shajen,

[ QUOTE ]

Wacki, we need some results.


Update?


[/ QUOTE ]


Ok, I'm back in Bloomington right now. I talked to my dad who was sleeping last night during the ruckus. The clear Plexiglass idea is a good one but our crawl space is very large and consists of many rooms so it's not going to be practical to use that technique.

I've got a very tough Lost Creek caving suit I'm going to put on that will be very difficult to chew through. We are going to flood the crawl space with halogen construction lights . I have caving lamps I'm going to wear as well. For deterrence we are going to use bamboo sticks (which grows in the backyard) and some machetes.

For a lethal weapon I'm going to use my LTC Kukri
http://www.coldsteel.com/35ltc.html

I also have an ASSEGAI spear but that might be overkill. Then again, considering my normally tame brother was talking about how there was no way he was going down there without a gun, it might not be overkill.

I won't be able to get back to my parents till next weekend. I will let you guys know when I'm going into the crawl space.

[samjjones]

Wacki, just give animal control a call. They'll send somebody over, find out what it is, and remove it in a non-lethal manner.

[Cornell Fiji]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yup. Animals are dumb. Some nice food all laced up is a simple and quick end to this.

[/ QUOTE ] animals are smart not dumb

[/ QUOTE ]

While you are certiainly one of the top 3 poker players on this board, you suck in OOT.

[/ QUOTE ]

WHAT??????? TOP 3 "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL"

[/ QUOTE ]


1. Mason
2. Bruiser500
3. TommyAngelo
4. David
5. TSC...

Thats the official ranking right?


to the OP... Don't go down there. Call animal control.

If you do kill the animal however then pictures are mandatory.

-Steve

[purnell]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yup. Animals are dumb. Some nice food all laced up is a simple and quick end to this.

[/ QUOTE ]

animals are smart not dumb

[/ QUOTE ]

anymls r dummr then me.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
At my parents house right now. In the family room it sounds like somebody is moving furniture. The animal is either very large or very strong and scraping the crap out of the crawl space/underside of the family room floor. We hear lots of squeaking. I assume the squeaks are babies. The scraping sounds like somebody is dragging a cabinet across a wood floor. It's really loud.

Obviously the animal has to go. The animal is making enough noise to convince me there is no way in hell I'm going down there without a LARGE weapon. The crawl space is small enough to make swinging a machete difficult at best. The smallest gun I have is a sniper rifle and I'm not going to blow a hole in the side of my parents house. Plan of action? Nonlethal removal is best of course. It will be difficult as it's at the complete opposite end of any known openings in the crawlspace.

Obviously I need to find out what it is first but I don't want to crawl in that tiny tunnel and get my face knawed off by some rabid... whatever it is.

This is going to be fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't know if I'm too late on this by now, but please bring a video camera with you. I've got to see this.

[sublime]

While you are certiainly one of the top 3 poker players on this board

you are a horrible judge of talent

[sublime]

WHAT??????? TOP 3 "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL"

that was my response. on a daily basis i talk to 3 better players on the phone. not taking shots at bruiser either.

[kenberman]

we NEED to know how this turned out

[wacki]

Just got off the phone with pops. He said we're not going to bother animal control unless we absolutely have to. Next weekend I'm going in!!!!

Don't worry Patrick del Poker Grande. I've got a camera.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
Just got off the phone with pops. He said we're not going to bother animal control unless we absolutely have to. Next weekend I'm going in!!!!

Don't worry Patrick del Poker Grande. I've got a camera.

[/ QUOTE ]
Good. Once you find out what it is, though, and before you kill it, be sure to give us enough time to have a "Wacki vs. ___" thread a la the animal fight threads.

[Filip]

Remember (in best Arnold voice) that:

"If it bleeds, we can kill it!"

[kenberman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Just got off the phone with pops. He said we're not going to bother animal control unless we absolutely have to. Next weekend I'm going in!!!!

Don't worry Patrick del Poker Grande. I've got a camera.

[/ QUOTE ]
Good. Once you find out what it is, though, and before you kill it, be sure to give us enough time to have a "Wacki vs. ___" thread a la the animal fight threads.

[/ QUOTE ]

also, so we can have prop bets

[J_V]

UPDATE!!

[bump]

bizzump

[wacki]

Read my last two posts. I'm going in this weekend.

Trust me, I will let you guys know when I'm going in.

Actually J_V you inspired me to call my mom. She said it's been quiet. The guy remodeling the house found a hole in the foundation and when he looked in, there was a bunch of bones. I asked her how big the hole was and she didn't know. She didn't see it, only the guy working on our house did.

Now that makes me think of two possibilities:

1) Something carnivorous is in my parents crawl space and eating other animals that was simply really upset that rainy night.

2) There was a family of some kind of animal that got attacked and eaten alive that night.

Your guess is as good as mine.

[jakethebake]

Just hope there's nothing dead between the walls. That really sucks.

[Ray Zee]

the bones make me think its a fox denning up. just stick a light on a cord in there and leave it on and they will leave. or a radio on works as well with the light. nothing is likely to attack you even though it may seem scary. go in and look around if you want and the animal will just sit there and look back as you jump up and hit your head.
also most likely it is much smaller than you imagine. like maybe even a packrat. but the bones if more than four or five inches long would make me think a fox den.

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
the animal will just sit there and look back as you jump up and hit your head.

[/ QUOTE ]

heh.. this is hilarious

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
also most likely it is much smaller than you imagine. like maybe even a packrat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya, this is what I'm wondering. I wouldn't be surprised if the floor was magnifying the noise like a drum. But it was really loud so if it's a packrat my parents uncarpeted floor is acting like one hell of a drum. To be honest I might be able to see an opossum or raccoon but a packrat is very very very very difficult for me to believe.

As for defending myself I agree I think I won't get attacked but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget to take a good sized knife/stick with me. I don't want rabies!

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
As for defending myself I agree I think I won't get attacked but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget to take a good sized knife with me. I don't want rabies!

[/ QUOTE ]

You're better off with something to keep it away from you. If it's close enough to stab, it's probably close enough to bite.

[Miggo]

I suggest that you call the 5 year old that lives next to your parents house and tell him to get over here and get that ball of his out from under the house before you call the police on him. That way you'll find out, and your dad won't be mad for pestering (pun intended) animal control, and you keep your check/raising clicking finger safe. Does this sound +EV?

[wacki]

True, I edited my post a little too late. I don't want to kill it so I will take a broomstick with me which will probably be more than enough for even an angry fox.

However there were sounds that seemed like babies so I won't take any chances. As for the distance of his bite vs. my knife, well I've got a very large knife. To be more specific it's a kukri and it's big enough and sharp enough for me to chop down small (6" dia) pine trees with in only a couple of minutes. I think that's more than adequate.

Still, like Zee said, I'm not going to need it. The light and a stick is what's important.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

NO NO NO! Weapons!

I'm also a fan of getting the neighbor kid to run in there. Where's the "5-year-old vs. Random Small Game animal" thread?

[MMMMMM]

http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&amp;Store_Code=NWS001&amp;Categor y_Code=NWSACCR

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
NO NO NO! Weapons!

I'm also a fan of getting the neighbor kid to run in there. Where's the "5-year-old vs. Random Small Game animal" thread?

[/ QUOTE ]

How sure are we that it's not a random 5 year-old neighbor kid making the noise to begin with?

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
NO NO NO! Weapons!

I'm also a fan of getting the neighbor kid to run in there. Where's the "5-year-old vs. Random Small Game animal" thread?

[/ QUOTE ]

How sure are we that it's not a random 5 year-old neighbor kid making the noise to begin with?

[/ QUOTE ]
I count the neighborhood kids as random game animal, so we've got that covered.

[The Stranger]

http://telemaniac.free.fr/hipfamily.jpg

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

Very nice.

[Stuey]

[ QUOTE ]
However there were sounds that seemed like babies so I won't take any chances.

[/ QUOTE ]

Solved.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y19/Stuey2plus2/dogthing.jpg

[scotty34]

WHAT THE [censored] IS THAT???

[MrX]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
However there were sounds that seemed like babies so I won't take any chances.

[/ QUOTE ]

Solved.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y19/Stuey2plus2/dogthing.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]


this disturbs me

[wacki]

All quiet on the western front. My brother who's been home all week thinks it's dead. Still, *singing* I'm goin on a squeegee hunt... wanna catch a big one.

[wacki]

Just got out of the crawl space. No animal found. However, there was lots of poop and decaying animal matter. It really stunk down there, I was gagging the whole time. I found out what the noise was. There were 8' long wood boards and sheets of insulation. There were claw marks on all of them. The marks were too sharp for a dog and seemed a tad too big to be a house cat. Plus I doubt a house cat can do that kind of damage to wood. The boards obviously acted like a sound board as they were propped up on a rock. This must of been how it ended up being so loud.

[pshreck]

That picture is really impressive photoshopping.

Jesus.

[daryn]

isn't it possible that it's some kind of sculpture? it has to be a photoshop job?

[pshreck]

[ QUOTE ]
isn't it possible that it's some kind of sculpture? it has to be a photoshop job?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its possible. I think maybe a painting, but yeah I guess it could be a wax sculpture.

[DBowling]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
isn't it possible that it's some kind of sculpture? it has to be a photoshop job?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its possible. I think maybe a painting, but yeah I guess it could be a wax sculpture.

[/ QUOTE ]

it looks like its on display somewhere. probably a prehistoric museum.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
There were 8' long wood boards and sheets of insulation.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just for clarification the boards were plywood sheets. I know it was bad word choice the first time around.