Look what Jobob did!

[SadieKate]

She threw wet TP on my ceiling! Just kidding!

Actually, any exterminators/builders/entomologists/pestologists/critterologists on the forum? Dr Fish/Bee?

I just found this thing adorning the bathroom ceiling in the house we just moved into (house is less than 4 years old). I can't get someone here with a tall enough ladder until Sunday so in the meantime I'm fretting about all the things it could be. The picture isn't good but the "The Thing" is bright white against an off-white painted wall. It's about 3-4 inches wide. There was some discussion whether the previous owner's grandkids threw wet TP up there but it doesn't look right. A nest of some kind?

Feel free to make up stories to entertain me while I imagine the worst. Also, just discovered that a pair of flickers is enjoying my attic but I'm less worried about them than The Thing.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/SadieKate/Critter/IMG_0655.jpg

[silver]

hmmmm...is it bigger than a breadbox?

has it been there since you moved in or did it just appear overnight?

[SadieKate]

It's 3-4 inches wide. Have no idea how long it has been there. We (actually only me right now) have only been living in the house since Nov 3rd. I saw it a week ago but really nothing to do over Thanksgiving. 4 other people looked at it yesterday with no guesses other than TP or a nest of some kind. One of the guys is coming back on Sunday with an extension ladder.

[silver]

Can you poke it with a stick?

What's above there? the attic? Can you go into the attic if that's what's above?

[Ninabike]

How wierd is that!!

[SadieKate]

No attic there and nothing long enough to reach it unless I haul a ladder up the stairs. I'm saving my strength for hauling boxes up the stairs.

I had the garage looking so good and now it's exploded again. The remaining contents of our California house arrived last night. What a mess.

[silver]

I think that it is a wad of KSH's snot.

[Running Mommy]

It's a nest of Bend Bugs... They come out when people from California move there.... :D
But only Californians.. They like they way they taste...:D :p :D

[Starfish]

Can you poke it with a stick?

Now, how many stories that started with this question have ended well? :D :p

I'm thinking, stick with the Jo-Bob story!

[silver]

:D :D :p

[maillotpois]

That's the strangest thing I've seen in a long time. Have you consulted an exterminator?

Bright white? Where does that occur in nature except spider egg nests? But it seems way too big.

[IFjane]

To quote Zencentury, it's THE BLOB

[Blueberry]

In all seriousness....

I'm betting someone put some sealant somewhere and it came out through a hole. It really looks like some sort of man made extrusion to me...:)

Of course, it could be extra-terrestrial:D

[KSH]

I think that it is a wad of KSH's snot.

My snot DOES get around... but unfortunately, it's also very runny... nor that solid.

:p

[mtbdarby]

It looks like spray insulation to me. But how creative it that??

I'm going with merangue from one of Raleighdon's pies:D (and yes, Mimi, I know I spelled that wrong:p I'm just too lazy to spell check!)

[mimitabby]

Nice try, Dar, but he always browns his meringues in the broiler, so they are NEVER bright white.

yum, I'd love a lemon Meringue pie

[SadieKate]

It's a nest of Bend Bugs... They come out when people from California move there.... :D
But only Californians.. They like they way they taste...:D :p :DFortunately, neither the Bubbster nor I are originally from California.:D Respectively, the Lands of Spuds and the Land of Enchantment. Wow, our kids might have been magic potatoes.

[SadieKate]

MP, we're guessing I'll be taking it to an exterminator for assessment.

Someone else asked if there is a string attached. Ewwwww!!! :rolleyes:

[maillotpois]

I'm betting someone put some sealant somewhere and it came out through a hole. It really looks like some sort of man made extrusion to me...:)


Given that it's pure white, that sounds like the most likely scenario - some sort of caulking or something. Is this an exterior or interior wall (i.e., what's on the other side of the wall - another room or the outdoors)? What's immediately above the "thing"? You might want to call the builder and have them investigate.

[SadieKate]

It's on the ceiling of the guest bath upstairs (the one Jobob used over the weekend). No attic above. Obviously post construction and paint. I've had several people question whether it is a spider nest.

Hmm, flickers eat ants. I wonder if I could just get them to move into the bathroom from the attic?

Don't know who the builder is but sooner or later I could probably find out if I contacted the HOA which really only dealt with approving design plans. I doubt that the previous idjit owner would have even noticed there was a gap to caulk.

[melissam]

Sheesh, SK -- isn't it obvious what it is?

Cotton balls! Apparently jobob wasn't happy with the color she picked out from her last pedicure. I'm not sure why she stuck the used cotton balls on your ceiling rather than just throwing them away, but I do have a couple of theories.... :p

Seriously, though, I hope you & Bubba are settling in well and that you figure out what the Mystery Blob is.

-- Melissa

[jobob]

Oh, that !!!

Yeah, I noticed it, and I meant to ask you about it, but I forgot.

Could it be foam insulation that squeezed thru a small gap where the wall & ceiling meet?
-- oh, I see MTD already suggested that. So she gets the prize if'n there's one offered for the correct guess. Hey, maybe you have another bottle of yummy pre-1990 white wine lying around, now that would be quite the prize. :p

(BTW, nice try Mel, but that ceiling is what, about 12 or 14 feet high at that point. :rolleyes: )

[snapdragen]

I say poke it with a really looooooooooooooooooong stick, then run like hell. Wait a bit, then go back in and look.

Oooooh! Or get a slingshot and shoot at it from the doorway, then run like hell...etc, etc.

Or maybe it's the ghost of empty wine bottles.......:rolleyes:

[maillotpois]

Yeah, foam insulation sounds plausible. No attic above, but some air space at roof joists/trusses or wall cavity. If that's the case, though, it would have been there from the time the house was built and it's odd no one noticed it before now.

Okay, I give up, what's a flicker?

[Velobambina]

So, that's where they hid Jimmy Hoffa.

[melissam]

(BTW, nice try Mel, but that ceiling is what, about 12 or 14 feet high at that point. :p)
Jobob,

I have no doubt that you could throw a cotton-ball-soaked-in-nail-polish at least 12-14 feet high. Nope, no doubt at all. ;)

-- Melissa

PS Don't you just love how all of Snap's suggestions involve running like hell?

[SadieKate]

:rolleyes: Sigh, there will be a test before any growlers are allowed . . .

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Flicker.html

We have the red-shafted version -- as does Northern California.

[SadieKate]

So, that's where they hid Jimmy Hoffa.Running like hell is involved here also.

[jobob]

And here I thought you were going to post the photo of the wine bottles :cool:

[maillotpois]

Yeah, I just looked that up.

It's been a rough day. This morning I called over to the US Attorney's office in SF, asking for a specific US Atty, only to be told he was no longer working there. Fine. I get into the office and talk to my (ex) partner about this, and he informs me that this specific US Atty was recently fired by Bush as a result of the whole Alberto Gonzales mess, and that story was plastered all over the papers. Duh.

EDIT: Apparently more than just my hovercraft is full of eels. :rolleyes:

[SadieKate]

Hmm, almost like you had participated in the Jobob Wine Trashing Project.

[SadieKate]

At least I know what the pink stuff is.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/SadieKate/Critter/IMG_0659.jpg

[mimitabby]

and he informs me that this specific US Atty was recently fired by Bush as a result of the whole Alberto Gonzales mess, and that story was plastered all over the papers. Duh.

EDIT: Apparently more than just my hovercraft is full of eels. :rolleyes:

hmmm, sounds like the wrong guy got fired again.

[Kitsune06]

Being that it's bright white, I'd think one of two things: 1. foam insulation that squeezed through that no one bothered to clean up b/c it was so high up
2. a very large spider nest. you need to poke it with a veeery long stick to see what the texture is. if it's hard, it's foam insulation. if it's soft and bug parts/baby spiders fall on you, it's a spider nest. If it's soft and one big spider falls out, it could be a tunnel weaver but I doubt it.

*shrug*

buuuuugs.

[snapdragen]

Well, running like hell has served me well for many years....:D

I googled "spider nest" --- oh, how facinating. If you're squeemish about our multi-legged friends don't do it though.

[SadieKate]

buuuuugs.That would be boooooogs. :)

[Tuckervill]

I'm voting for foam insulation. Someone didn't do their job right, if it is.

Karen

[Starfish]

Posted by SadieKate: Wow, our kids might have been magic potatoes.

Better than magic mushrooms! :eek: ;)


Posted by KSH: My snot DOES get around... but unfortunately, it's also very runny... nor that solid.

Hey, Bend is a much drier climate...maybe it dried out a little! :p

[DirtDiva]

At least I know what the pink stuff is.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/SadieKate/Critter/IMG_0659.jpg
If there's Pink Batts poking out of the eves, I think the chances of the mystery substance being a blob of No More Gaps are high. But please ignore the errant beliefs of others that The Blob is too big to be a spider nest and poke it with a great big stick just for fun. :D

[snapdragen]

But please ignore the errant beliefs of others that The Blob is too big to be a spider nest and poke it with a great big stick just for fun. :D

You forgot the "then run like hell" part! :D

[SadieKate]

Oh, no, I'm not ignoring that it would be a nest.* And the pink insulation is a completely separate location and problem than THE BLOB.

Wonder if I should call my homeowner's insurance for coverage? I can see the newspaper headlines now: "Workman killed by The Blob"

Stay tuned. Above workman should be here at 9:30 and it's snowing horizontally, no, vertically, no from the south, oops the north, oh never mind. Big wind out there. :rolleyes:

*Probaby some kind of Aussie thing given to me by TrekHawk as a going away gift.

[maillotpois]

I can't stand the anticipation. What IS it????

[SadieKate]

melissam wins! Jobob threw a cosmetic cotton pad up there. Because of the pad shape kind of folded into the corner we were confused.

But we had a scare when a spider ran out from underneath before the handyman got it down. :eek:

On to the flicker roost. It's howling and snowing. Fun times. I get to go outside to make sure nothing flies back inside.


Sheesh, SK -- isn't it obvious what it is?

Cotton balls! Apparently jobob wasn't happy with the color she picked out from her last pedicure. I'm not sure why she stuck the used cotton balls on your ceiling rather than just throwing them away, but I do have a couple of theories.... :p sa

[maillotpois]

Seriously? It was cotton????