In the spirit of Halloween, here are some of the odd, weird and even scary things we have come across while on roofs. Some don’t or won’t cause any harm, but some could damage your roof or scare you enough to send you over the edge.
Not so scary on the roof.
Tennis balls, baseballs, wiffle balls, plastic balls, inflated and deflated balls are the most common items found, usually in the gutters and more times than not covering a downspout. We have rescued a downed quad-copter and recently retrieved a toy sword from roofs we’ve been on.
Not so scary, but potentially dangerous to a roof.
Tools left on roofs aren’t scary, but dangerous if forced off the roof unknown to anyone below. Discharged fireworks are not healthy for ones roof, occasionally will see this after July 4th. We have had the opportunity to be on a shingle roof that allowed access inside a bell-tower on a church. Ding-dong!
Scary stuff on the roof?
Lots of raccoon droppings, have yet to catch one in the act and don’t want to. Bird nests are scary when momma bird is protecting eggs, have not been allowed up a ladder by birds before. Orb spiders, these are very pretty when I see their webs instead of accidentally walking through one around a furnace flue.
Active bee nests are terrifying when several feet off the ground, whether hiding in soffits up in a gable or behind gutter board. Once and only once, encountered the partial remains of what was believed to be a groundhog. Assuming a bird left it behind. The scariest ever…three stories off the ground in Shelby County…a SNAKE hanging from a dormer on the back of the house. Lived to tell the tales.
