Thread: Bird Disposal

First for me. House was vacant. Realtor comes to basement and says 2 dead birds in up bath. Would I not say anything to client as wife will freak.
Gas wall heater in family room. I take off cover and dead bird falls out. Clients wife screams and runs outside. She finally comes back in with the look of fear.
I go to kitchen and turn on disposal. Hmm that disposal is loud? Take my flashlight and dead bird that looks like baby. I turn around and wife says whats wrong? Out the door she runs again. Realtor looks at me like now you have done it. By the way Realtor says she smelled gas every time she visited house. By the time I finished the outdoors they had opened all the windows and I did not smell gas. I figured the birds died from lack of food/water. Could they die from leaking Natural Gas? Birds got in at hole next to window AC.

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My daughter has a couple of pet birds and she told me about the overheated teflon problem, and I found this in a quick google search:

"Other toxic irritants include aerosol sprays, tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, natural gas, ammonia, and burned foods and cooking oils. The signs associated with exposure to these toxins vary from mild chronic pneumonia to acute death." my bold

from Teflon Toxicity (PTFE Toxicosis) in Birds

Originally Posted by David Banks

Realtor comes to basement and says 2 dead birds in up bath. Would I not say anything to client as wife will freak.

Did the realtor ask you to hide any other pertinent info Dave? I guess she couldn't have cared less how a couple birds got in the house in the first place.

Never heard of canaries in coal mines?

Thought everyone knew about that.

Canaries in the Coal Mines

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Never heard of canaries in coal mines?

Thought everyone knew about that.

Canaries in the Coal Mines

Yea I had heard of it, my wife and I even had the conversation but I thought of it as more of a Carbon Monoxide thing than Natural Gas.

Originally Posted by David Banks

Yea I had heard of it, my wife and I even had the conversation but I thought of it as more of a Carbon Monoxide thing than Natural Gas.

I think the carbon monoxide level increases as the gas replace some of th oxygen.

From that site:

(Previous part talking about methane gas.)

But, it the carbon monoxide levels got too high, the canaries would have trouble breathing, and maybe even die. When the canaries were no longer singing, miner would know that the gas levels were too high. They would leave the mine quickly to avoid being caught in an explosion.

To me, that indicates they were really worried about the levels of methane gas.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

I think the carbon monoxide level increases as the gas replace some of th oxygen.

From that site:

(Previous part talking about methane gas.)

But, it the carbon monoxide levels got too high, the canaries would have trouble breathing, and maybe even die. When the canaries were no longer singing, miner would know that the gas levels were too high. They would leave the mine quickly to avoid being caught in an explosion.

To me, that indicates they were really worried about the levels of methane gas.

So the birds could have died due a possible Natural Gas leak. How long could a human last in a Natural Gas leak if there was no explosion? When the oxygen ran out?

Originally Posted by David Banks

-- How long could a human last in a Natural Gas leak ---

..
Long enough to Call The Bank & Put a Stop Payment on The Check.

Originally Posted by David Banks

So the birds could have died due a possible Natural Gas leak.

No, the birds died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. As the methane gas builds up, the oxygen depletes (the percentage of oxygen is reduced by the increased percentage of gas) ... at least that is what I am reading into it.

The dying of the birds indicates higher concentrations of carbon monoxide, lower levels of oxygen, which meant higher levels of gas.

The men were afraid of the explosions from the build up of gas more than the reduction of carbon monoxide.

Had there been no build up of gas, the men could have stayed in the mines longer before having to come out for oxygen. Back then ... there was no technology to show how much of what was in the air, but they knew that explosions *were not good things*.

My point in relating that to the dead birds in the house was that it may have been the carbon monoxide which killed the birds, not that the birds became trapped in the house. The level of carbon monoxide in the house, as in the mines, may have increased due to the presence of the gas by virtue of depleting other compounds in the air, such as oxygen.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

No, the birds died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. As the methane gas builds up, the oxygen depletes (the percentage of oxygen is reduced by the increased percentage of gas) ... at least that is what I am reading into it.

The dying of the birds indicates higher concentrations of carbon monoxide, lower levels of oxygen, which meant higher levels of gas.

The men were afraid of the explosions from the build up of gas more than the reduction of carbon monoxide.

Had there been no build up of gas, the men could have stayed in the mines longer before having to come out for oxygen. Back then ... there was no technology to show how much of what was in the air, but they knew that explosions *were not good things*.




My point in relating that to the dead birds in the house was that it may have been the carbon monoxide which killed the birds, not that they birds became trapped in the house. The level of carbon monoxide in the house, as in the mines, may have increased due to the presence of the gas by virtue of depleting other compounds in the air, such as oxygen.

Thanks Jerry. I did state my concerns loudly in the report on this issue.

Originally Posted by David Banks

Could they die from leaking Natural Gas? Birds got in at hole next to window AC.

Yes, but to be sure ask the reeltour to spend a few days in the house with the windows closed.

Canaries were used to detect carbon monoxide and lack of oxygen. When the birds quit singing, they booked it out of there