squirrel enters thru chimney while family on vacation. causes 15K damage trying to exit.

[Demovictory9]

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When the Dreeses returned home on Jan. 1, they found their house in total shambles: Wood chippings, chimney soot and waste from a small animal all over; scratched floors; chewed-up baseboards, window and door frames; and a damaged couch.


"When I opened the door, I saw a ton of wood chips on the ground, so I initially thought someone had broken in and had broken through the door," Dustin Drees told NBC News on Wednesday.

"We initially thought we had been robbed, but then we started looking around. The TV was still there. A gift card that was left out was still there. Nothing was taken. Maybe someone had broken in and our stuff wasn't interesting to them?"

Of the 13 windows in the house, frames around 10 of them were severely damaged, "like someone took a chisel to them," said Dustin Drees, 30.

They soon figured the likely culprit was a squirrel which left its tiny paw prints all over the house. The Dreeses believe the rodent got in through the chimney and then panicked when it couldn't find a way out.

The tiny suspect eventually came out of hiding, jumping out of the couch and trying to escape through the chimney. A pest control service captured the squirrel and took it away.

https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/41537765/squirrel-trashes-home-of-family-on-vacation-insurance-wont-cover-damages

[Cartoonist]

1. What an adventure to tell his grandkids

[Iterate]

2. Meth?

[Runningdawg]

3. Maybe 15 years ago my best friends dad bought a brand new $$$$ truck

He parked it in the garage and they went on vacation for 2 weeks. They got home, it LOOKED fine, but wouldn't start, didn't even make a sound when he turned the key. He opened the hood and anything not metal was GONE. It was like one of those insurance commercials "see that, covered it" wayyy ahead of its time.

[PCIntern]

5. I had lo switch Verizon Fios because

squirrels continuously ate through the cables for the tv on the utility poles. We once lost tv during the frigging Super Bowl.

[UniteFightBack]

7. I think they sell stuff you can wrap around that for this very reason. nt

[Runningdawg]

8. Yes they do now!

[chowder66]

4. I'm disappointed in Mercury. They should cover this. It isn't like they have an infestation problem.

It was a one-off disastrous event. Would they cover it if a moose jumped through the window?
Maybe they should appeal saying the squirrel was just a tiny moose.

[UniteFightBack]

6. Comprehensive insurance doesn't cover this? Unbelievable. nt

[csziggy]

10. It could be considered a maintenance issue

If the family knew there was no screen on the chimney to keep animals out or had not maintained a screen, the insurance company has an out since most require the homeowner to keep their house in good repair.

When my parents bought the house they stayed in to the end, there was no screen on the chimney. After a few incidents with birds and bats getting into the house, they had one put on. Then in 2004 when they had the eyes of two hurricanes pass over, the screen was gone - fortunately the roofer who repaired their limited damage spotted it and put in a new one.

My parents were lucky - they got no serious damage from the creatures that got in, but there was potential for it since the squirrel population in the oak trees that overhung the house was very large.

[octoberlib]

9. When I was growing up in KC area, I remember a

below zero cold blast that lasted a couple weeks. People would come home from work and find their living rooms full of starlings that had flown down their chimneys. Like a scene out of Hitchcock’s The Birds. Everybody solved the problem by getting chimney caps installed. That never happened to us but a couple starlings did try to fly down while we were having a fire. It was awful.