Man pulls owl out of chimney in New Hampshire

By Grace Finerman

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    EXETER, New Hampshire (WMUR) — One chimney sweep had an interesting day on the job in Exeter when he found an animal he’s never come across in his work before.

Kyle Ware is a chimney sweep for A Merrie Sweepe Chimney Service.

He said he’s seen animals like squirrels or raccoons in chimneys before.

Ware was told a critter was in the chimney for at least a couple of days.

“I was like, holy crap, there’s an owl in here,” Ware said.

So, he focused on getting the owl out right away and as gently as possible.

“It bit me quite a bit, when it was inside of the fireplace,” Ware said. “But once I got it out and I think it realized I was trying to help it, it calmed right down.”

Ware brought the owl outside, but it couldn’t fly on its own.

He shares the landlord brought the owl to a wildlife center where it can recover.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for animals,” Ware said. “So, I mean, it’s not like I’m going to leave something in there to suffer.”

While this story has a good ending, Ware said animals he finds in chimneys usually don’t make it.

Ware explained installing a chimney cap is one way to avoid getting yourself or any animals in this kind of conundrum.

“Come springtime, everything’s looking to make babies,” Ware said. “And when they do they see a warm chimney as a home.”

This problem isn’t unique to New Hampshire. Owl rescues like this happen around the country.

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