Squirrelgate

Use this forum to ask questions and discuss about health issues and your fitness to work...

Moderators: inspector, Dragonrider, jay, thecaretaker

User avatar
twiglets
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 840
Joined: 13th Jan 2012 at 6:56pm
12
Jul 2022 27 12:16

Squirrelgate

So, I forgot to check all the windows last night but did notice one open upstairs when I went home- too tired to be bothered to shut as I had already alarmed the building.
Electricians in this morning discover a squirrel running around a classroom and they try to isolate shutting doors.
I eventually found it, then the fun began as I don't have a net on site (well writing this I now remember there is one in the pond area).
So trying to keep it cornered I started the chase and eventually got in under a clear box. I find a large book to slide under but lifted it too far and it escaped. As I hadn't shut the door properly it escapes into the corridor and into the server cupboard.
Managed to get it from behind the server and back into the classroom and two of us chase it round and round. I eventually managed to get it cornered again and with large fireproof gloves grab hold of it. It certainly put up a fight and still managed to bite me through the glove as I put it out the open window.
Cleaned the cuts and looks like I shouldn't need to do any more unless it becomes infected.
I can now add Squirrel Catcher to my never ending list of badges- I would have been good in the scouts with 10 foot long sleeves with badges on.

So what is the strangest animal you have had to encounter in your establishment and have you had a comedy of helping it like I did today [Big grin.png]
User avatar
Keyolder
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 5398
Joined: 24th Jan 2009 at 12:28am
15
Job Status: Retired Site Manager
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 27 12:58

Re: Squirrelgate

Not really strange but mostly pigeons. Summertime when every CO opens the skylight windows as wide as they could possibly go, the pigeons would then fly in unable to negotiate an exit. I warned everyone about not opening the skylights too wide as birds will fly in, but what do I know I’m only the one that gets the panicked messages and a mixture of screams and laughter from the kids plus the scared Alfred Hitchcock look from the CO.
I’ve tried all manner of things to encourage them to leave and found if you leave them alone, they often fly out, but not always… [Disappointment.png]
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it... [Crazy.png]
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
User avatar
Handyman
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 935
Joined: 1st Apr 2017 at 3:59pm
6
Job Status: Caretaker
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 27 15:32

Re: Squirrelgate

Never anything particularly exotic, usually a pigeon, robin or sparrow. The other week I heard a lot of noise coming from one of the classrooms as I was locking up and found a magpie desperately throwing itself against a window trying to get out while another magpie (its mate or parent maybe?) was equally madly attacking the window from the outside trying to get in (or help the other one escape). It took a bit of effort to chase it towards an open door to get it free. A few days later before school started I had to shoo one out of the same classroom as it calmly sat on the back of the teacher's chair preening itself. Oddly on both occasions the magpies must have got into the building through somewhere else, not sure what was drawing them towards this particular classroom.

At my old school I occasionally helped foxes that got stuck in the main waste bins when they went foraging (the cleaners were told to keep the lid shut but frequently didn't). Another time I was emptying an outside bin and as I took the lid off a squirrel came flying out, landed on my chest, looked at me for a few seconds and then sped off towards the trees. Would probably have been a bit comical for anyone watching, but I was taken completely by surprise and remember thinking about how big the squirrels teeth looked that close to my neck.
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Douglas Adams [Like.png]

"If at first you don't succeed then skydiving isn't for you." Steven Wright [Thumb_up.png]

"It may look like I'm doing nothing but in my head I'm quite busy" [Big grin.png]
User avatar
thecaretaker
Forum Administrator
Forum Administrator
Posts: 7609
Joined: 15th Jun 2001 at 1:00pm
22
Job Status: Retired Site Manager
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 27 17:12

Re: Squirrelgate

Gulls (I won't say Seagulls cos they are not). They used to fly between my school and the council tip. They knew the times the kids were out as even in the holidays they would congregate in their 100s on the roof at morning and lunch break times. I used to look up and say not today boys!. They'd get their own back by using my car in the car park as target practice. I got 4 decoy "birds of prey" and had them fixed to the roof with little effect.


Vicious little beggars would swoop down and grab the kids sandwiches.

Vérité Sans Peur
(Truth Without Fear)
User avatar
Stiggy
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 568
Joined: 12th Jun 2018 at 11:00pm
5
Job Status: Site Manager
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 27 21:21

Re: Squirrelgate

We had a small leak from a waterpipe that had the carpet and skirting board below constantly damp, one day I noticed a black lump producing from the skirting board, I bent down to see what it was and was astonished to see that it was a newt, no clue where it had come from as there is no pond on site.
User avatar
Rockstar
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 993
Joined: 17th Apr 2013 at 10:19am
10
Jul 2022 28 08:29

Re: Squirrelgate

The weirdest one here came via a shout from one of the cleaners. She said "There is a bird flying about in the hall... A small bird." I couldnt find anything and gave up. The following day this "bird" was spotted again, flying down a long corridor. I went for a look, and found a pipistrelle bat sat on top of a door closer! Myself and and Early Years CO managed to catch it with a fishing net and a book, then released it outside. It flew away and has never turned up again. [Success.png]
You see, Rock and Roll isn't a career or hobby - it's a life force. It's something very essential. - The Edge.
User avatar
Dragonrider
Forum Administrator
Forum Administrator
Posts: 2415
Joined: 15th Jun 2001 at 1:00pm
22
Job Status: Retired Site Manager
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 28 10:13

Re: Squirrelgate

Like Rockstar, bats!

We had a period where one would find its way into the top floor classroom corridor and terrify the girls and the teachers! I was able to grab it out of the air and took it up to the roof and released it. The next day, it was back, but this time, having seen the rows of razor-sharp teeth, I grabbed it wearing gloves! Then a week later, it was back again. Then it got tired of scaring everyone and I never saw it again.
After 28 years in one school, moving on to a new start and new lifestyle, Headmistress free! Double Stroke survivor.
User avatar
Keyolder
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 5398
Joined: 24th Jan 2009 at 12:28am
15
Job Status: Retired Site Manager
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 28 11:12

Re: Squirrelgate

Dragonrider wrote: 28th Jul 2022 at 10:13am Like Rockstar, bats!

We had a period where one would find its way into the top floor classroom corridor and terrify the girls and the teachers! I was able to grab it out of the air and took it up to the roof and released it.
This action alone must qualify you in being the real Batman [Like.png] [Big grin.png]
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it... [Crazy.png]
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
User avatar
tykeman
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 358
Joined: 29th Sep 2010 at 10:30am
13
Job Status: Retired Site Manager
Gender: Male
Jul 2022 28 11:50

Re: Squirrelgate

Year 13 leavers day, 9 years ago, some leavers thought it would be fun to let 6 chickens free in the library just to wind up the librarian for years of petty rules. She was not amused, but we all had a good chuckle [Big grin.png] She handed her notice in shortly after and retired.
Get out there and do it to them, before they do it to you
User avatar
Nail
Registered Member
Registered Member
Posts: 1259
Joined: 18th Oct 2016 at 10:40am
7
Jul 2022 28 13:35

Re: Squirrelgate

Stiggy wrote: 27th Jul 2022 at 9:21pm We had a small leak from a waterpipe that had the carpet and skirting board below constantly damp, one day I noticed a black lump producing from the skirting board, I bent down to see what it was and was astonished to see that it was a newt, no clue where it had come from as there is no pond on site.
I found a dead but perfectly preserved newt under a radiator in a previous school staff room. I had it on a shelf to be set in resin but a cleaner threw it away! [Loud.png]
Post Reply