Gary and Patti Reitemeyer returned to their Redding, California home after a trip to Sacramento and discovered hundreds of swallows had taken over the place.
The birds gained entry through the home's chimney.
Their neighbor, who had been feeding their cat, told them that there were some birds in the house before they got back, saying that about twenty birds or so had gained entry (I don't know why the cat needed food with so many birds to eat).
Reitemeyer told KRCR-TV that when he opened the door,
It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. There were birds flying everywhere. I mean, it was crazy. We were ducking and dodging.
It took the Reitemeyers' hours to usher out all the birds, and they hired a company to come and clean up the mess left behind, but they're on their way back to Sacramento to extend their trip.
"You can't get all that bird stuff out of the furniture," Gary Reitemeyer said. "So all of the furniture is gone, all of the carpet is gone, the blinds are gone... everything. Everything is gone."
Apparently, the issue is fairly common with migratory birds, with several reports per year of the phenomenon.
Even the famous Hitchcock movie was based on a true story that occurred in 1961, when migratory birds near Monterey Bay loaded up on some neurotoxin found in algae that they had ingested and began to dive bomb people and homes.
Luckily, the Reitemeyers did not have the homicidal type of birds in their home. Just a bunch of normal swallows, looking for a good time.
The couple filed a claim for damage from the invasion, but State Farm informed them that they had a bird exclusion clause on their policy, and they will not pay the claim.
I guess when it comes to birds, State Farm is not there!
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