In what could be described as a scene from a nightmare, a northern California couple returned from a trip to find their home had been overtaken by birds. Hundreds of birds.
Gary Reitemeyer told KRCR-TV he and his wife were first alerted to the birds in their Redding home, located two-and-a-half hours north of Sacramento, by a neighbor who stopped by the feed their cat. The neighbor estimated there was about two dozen birds inside.
"As we pulled up, we were thinking, you know, 20 birds or so -- that's no big deal," Reitemeyer said.
However, 14 hours had passed since the call from the neighbor and some serious multiplication had taken place in the meantime.
"We open the door and it's like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. There were birds flying everywhere. I mean, it was crazy. We were ducking and dodging," said Reitemeyer.
Animal officials say the birds, a swarm of swallows, apparently entered the home through the chimney.
It took the Reitemeyers about three hours to shoo away all of the unwanted houseguests.
"I was grabbing a handful of birds. I grabbed maybe three of them, or three or so at a time, and kind of ushered them out the door," Reitemeyer said.
The birds may be gone now, but they left behind quite a reminder of their presence -- roughly $20,000 in damages.
"You can't get all that bird stuff out of the furniture," Reitemeyer told the TV station. "So all of the furniture is gone, all of the carpet is gone, the blinds are gone -- everything. Everything is gone."
The couple plans to live at their daughter's house until their home is clean enough to return.
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