The danger of scrapping in a dumpster.

I live in the city and never thought I could come across a raccoon in the dumpster. So be careful scrappers when you get scrap from dumpsters. There could be other animals like snakes or spiders. Put a comment and let me know what weird stuff you have seen when you were scrapping. Thanks for watching.

Dumpster diving at night is not a good idea, not only wild animals but will get the attention of the cops every time. Well in my area anyway.

That is a good point happyscraper. Where I live there are lots of dumpsters and all the time I'm finding goodies. I have found tv's, computers, monitors, even a car door too. There are lots of goodies that people throw away especially if they are moving out. Never in my life I thought that I was going to go dumpster diving one day but now I'm addicted. When I saw that raccoon I told myself I'm going to be more careful and maybe start doing it during the day. I also care about my scrapper friends so that is why I decided to inform all of y'all about wild animals out there.

I think I would be more worried about someone coming out with a shotgun thinking you are a criminal rummaging through someone else's dumpster at night.

Dont forget skunks, they love dumpsters too

lol yeap lots can happend in a dumpster huh. These days that have passed I been going in the day and I keep finding goodies so I think I will stick going during the day now.

I live in detroit metro area and weve always had wildlife in some dumpsters esp. At night. Caution is always needed but even more so now with urban sprawl and the increasing deminishing or thier habitat ive found whole families in dumpsters at night esp. Fast food dumpsters. Free lodging and food at least till trashday

I'm with you Hashashin....Hey geravega77, Is that a dumpster behind a restuarant?

Originally Posted by scraptologist

I'm with you Hashashin....Hey geravega77, Is that a dumpster behind a restuarant?

No is not a restaurant dumpster is a apartment dumpster. I have gone to restaurant dumpsters and hardly find anything there but apartment dumpsters I get pretty lucky. Oh by the way guys sorry for the lighting I was trying my best to film it but wasn't getting lucky.

Dumpster diving IS addictive. I've been doing that for 20 years. Scrapping is just what happened one day when I didn't find any garage-salable stuff dumpster diving!

Here's some tips:
Use a dive stick to probe around in dumpsters. A dive stick is any old broom handle with a wire hook on the end. You can also try a magnet on the other end. Don't put too much love into your dive stick, though, you may find you have to leave it behind if somebody approaches you and you don't want to scare them.

Keep your light below the level of the rim if diving at night.

A little noise around a dumpster at night sounds worse to you than it does to people living nearby.

Leave the area around the dumpster cleaner than you found it if possible.

Stay away from dumpsters with locks, or dumpsters in locked enclosures, that's trespassing (dumpster diving is otherwise legal.)

Keep some boxes in your vehicle; I have successfully used this as an excuse when dealing with the cops. (I pulled $400 worth of video tapes out of that dumpster which was behind a BlockBuster video the night the cop stopped me.)

Don't go into a dumpster unless there is NO other way. Once you're in, it can be hard to get out, also I have had sharp things below the surface I'm standing on poke up through. Never got hurt bad though.

If you do go into a dumpster, what I like to do is bring a small, portable stool with a light rope tied around one leg, and the other end of the string has a couple of pounds of washers and nuts tied to it to weight it. Throw the end with the washers into the dumpster (you need about 8-10 feet of rope). Step up on the stool, get into the dumpster. Pull the stool up by the rope, into the dumpster with you, then throw the weighted end rope back outside (the weight helps keep the rope where you want it, otherwise it tends to fall whereever the stool is.) Rummage around at will. Then, when it's time to get back out, step back onto the stool, climb out, then pull the stool back out by the rope. But remember, only go in if you *have* to, it's risky business.

Some people actually put their hips on the rim of the dumpster and lean in to get stuff out. I don't recommend that after having fallen in one time. That sucked.

I would always rather revive an old thread then start a new one. Had my first critter encounter the other day. Garter snake inside an aluminum can (busch light, maybe they have a preference). Glad I saw it before I crushed the can, so I just let him be. We definitely help by cleaning up the environment but it fascinates me how animals will always adapt to a changing landscape. As Ian Malcolm once said: "life finds a way."

A couple years ago I was remodeling an office. I went out to put some of the debris in the dumpster and it was empty except for a raccoon walking around inside. I took one of the pieces of debris I had and put it in the dumpster at an angle so he could climb out. I was a little worried he would run up and jump on me, but he just sat there. I left and went back little later and he was out. When TEOTWAWKI comes, I picture a flood of raccoons advancing towards me, and one raccoon will stand up and say, "leave this one alone!"

At night i found a gallon sized plastic bottle inside a dumpster, it had liquid in it so i took a sniff & it just smelt like stale water so i recapped it & left it in there.
The next day, during daylight i went into it again, found the plastic bottle again & read its lable...

[ Hydrofluoric Acid. ]

Its probably the last thing ( sic ) id ever want to come in contact with ( remember the TV series 'Breaking Bad' ??? )
One spill onto skin spells out a long 'n slow & very painfull death.

On the plus side, i did find a wallet in there with a $10 note folded up & snuck down into a side pocket of it.

Originally Posted by eesakiwi

At night i found a gallon sized plastic bottle inside a dumpster, it had liquid in it so i took a sniff & it just smelt like stale water so i recapped it & left it in there.
The next day, during daylight i went into it again, found the plastic bottle again & read its lable...

[ Hydrofluoric Acid. ]

Its probably the last thing ( sic ) id ever want to come in contact with ( remember the TV series 'Breaking Bad' ??? )
One spill onto skin spells out a long 'n slow & very painfull death.

On the plus side, i did find a wallet in there with a $10 note folded up & snuck down into a side pocket of it.

I had no idea it was so bad, but I knew it was not something I wanted to get on me...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid