loyalguard

Last night we had a record breaking wind storm. Gusts of over 130 miles per hour. There was an awful racket coming from the attic that was scaring my kids. I figured that maybe a window had blown open and was getting knocked around in the "breeze". We have lived in this house for two years. It is rented by my employer from the owner who uses a couple of rooms in the basement and the attic for storage of his personal effects. As such, I had never gone into the attic. However, I figured if there is an open window with freezing rain blowing in I had better try to secure it so nothing gets damaged and my kids can go to sleep.

So, I grabbed my flashlight and pulled the open the attic hatch. I got up there and found the attic full of boxes, old clothes, suitcases, toy and games boxes from the 60's & 70's...total chaos. But, I couldn't believe what I found next (no, not a body!). I turned to the left and found a door. I opened it and found this:
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That's right...someone used to raise pigeons in my attic! Yes, there is still plenty of excrement and feed all over the place. I was stunned. I told my wife to hand me the camera and I snapped the photos. When I got down and showed her she went ballistic. She is seven months pregnant and the thought of living/sleeping under the "pigeon room" as we are calling it nearly brought her to tears. Who does that? Raise your pigeons in the barn, or the garage, or a coop...not in your attic!!!!!!

We've begun looking for a place to stay until the attic/house can be "sterilized" (if that is even possible) or permanently (whichever comes first).

So, if you have never been up to your attic...I highly recommend you pay it a visit.

p.s. the sound was coming from an old TV antenna. Had there been no windstorm or the previous owners not so lazy as to take town the old antenna despite having cable we might have never known!

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|TG| LoyalGuard

AMosely

Wow. The phrase 'what you don't know can't hurt you' comes to mind - I'm sure your wife has nothing to really worry about. It's gross, but I'm sure everything up there dried up a long time ago. Better safe than sorry though for sure.

Does that little hatch go to the outside? Because if I had one of those in my attic here in the Maine woods, I'd probably have one of each family of squirrels (flying, red and grey), racoons, barred owls, bats and mice in there (not really of course, the owl would eat everything, but still).

Beatnik

Man that's fowl.

Maybe it was a growroom and that's all "fertilizer".

Dick Blonov

Holy parapraxis Batman!

DB

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|TG-6th|Blonov

Beatnik

It's not a parapraxis if it's intentional, Dick.

ScratchMonkey

How do you buy a house without investigating every corner of it? (Yet my brother did it, and I was the first to see his attic.) But then, I went to MIT, where exploring every crevice of a building is a major sport. (It's one of the many meanings of the word "hacking" used there.)

I have an indoor-only cat, and have had indoor-outdoor pets in the past, so the idea of animal droppings in the house isn't upsetting to me. But I'd probably put a barrier on the floor in the attic coop to keep it from leaking down into the house proper.

Ferris Bueller

Caveat emptor!

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

Dick Blonov

DB

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|TG-6th|Blonov

Bc2ID

I think they were hiding children in their until they snuck out the window. Nice pics!

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† Disciple †

Rofl you built that up so well all i could see was that cage while reading, i thought you were gonna say that you found a labratory of sorts with lots of old animal carcasses.

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icky

I was hoping for 30 bodies in various stages of decomposition...

Why would someone raise flying rats?

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Peace through fear... since 1947!

Rincewind

Man, that totally looks like a prison for an unruly/mutant child. That's totally fsked. And yeah, your wife (and you) should be concerned with the health risks. Even dried up bird poop can be dangerous if it is aspirated.

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loyalguard

That was one of the first things I thought as well. The thing is, I am pretty sure the current owner of the house knew and did nothing about before leasing it (he purchased it shortly before renting it out). He has been completely uncooperative about any owner-responsible maintenance that has needed to be done since we moved in so to pull a move like that doesn't surprise me in the least.

I went back up there today with my (new) leasing agent. We found old excrement covered feeding bowls, chicken-wire, feathers, and planks scattered throughout the remainder of the attic under boxes and other "debris"...crazy!

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|TG| LoyalGuard

RedForman

I live in one of the rented sections of an old townhouse, like one built in the 20's or 30's or something. Come to think of it - I've lived there for just over two years and I have never been in the attic. Geez I wonder what the hell could be up there...

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"I've been working since I was sixteen. I fought two in wars. Hell, I've killed people. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it..."
-- Red Forman

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Rincewind

If you've ever heard a faint knocking or scratching noise, coupled with muffled screams and cries for help, I'd recommend against finding out.

__________________
~~ Veritas simplex oratio est ~~
No matter how far a wizard goes, he will always come back for his hat. --T. Pratchett

<---- You know you're getting old when you rely on your forum meta-data to remind you how old you are.

Required Reading for all TG sandboxers