Relative Something

I’ve got a lot to learn about mouse-proofing. Yesterday, I discovered that the fresh air intake for our fireplace, outside on the rock structure of our chimney, was again plugged by a nest. I assume it was a mouse’s nest.

The interesting thing about this is that I had cleaned it out last fall, and then put up a screen to barricade access. Or so I thought. I think what I did was make it even more secure for the little critters.

The actual opening to the tube that runs to the fireplace is protected by a wire mesh that is cemented in place. From what I can see, it appears intact. That screen is about 8 inches back in the structure, about the depth of the stones that form the face of the chimney. That creates a wonderful crater for a nest.

When we bought the place, there was a bunch of insulation, and a lot of chewed acorns stored in there. I cleaned it out and improvised a screened cover to block the entrance to the cave. As I was hauling in some firewood yesterday, I thought I noticed some debris accumulated inside my outer screen. I grabbed a light and discovered it was filled. There were some pieces of insulation in there, but mostly, it appeared to be animal hair. In fact, it looked exactly like the deer hair that was strewn in the area around the carcass the coyotes took down in our woods last fall.

Did some critter really haul this from way down the hill in the woods? I don’t know. I also don’t know if the nest-builder was able to sneak around the edge of my barrier, or if there is an internal route that I can’t see, along the blocks on the inside of the stone facade.

I may resort to constructing some form of tube from the inner screen to the edge of the rocks, and then filling the surrounding space with expanding foam. That way the critter will have something to chew on in order to open up another entrance to build his next nest.

At least the fire was looking real good yesterday, with the return of a full dose of fresh air available at the intake again. Since the screen wasn’t keeping the nest-builder out, I didn’t put it back. For the immediate time being, I plan to watch for signs of activity in there, and just clean it out as fast as they try to fill it up.

I’ll know now, to check it right away if I notice the fire seems to be burning slower than usual. Before, I thought it was probably just the wood. Now I know better.