Top 10 Memorable Items Removed From Band Instruments

Every band instrument repair technician has extricated unusual objects from instruments.  Here is my top ten list:

Top 10 Memorable Items Removed From Band Instruments

10. Bottle of valve oil

9. Clarinet swab (pulled out through a tone hole in several tiny pieces)

8. Coin (this happens more than you would think)

7. Snowman eraser found in a sax neck

6. Drum stick

5. Plume from a marching band hat

4. School newspaper from 1978 (numbers 6, 5 and 4 were all found in the same sousaphone)

3. Wasp nest (thankfully not inhabited)

2. Live corn plant growing in a sousaphone (I did not actually witness this, but a fellow band member told me about it and it certainly deserves its place on the list.)

1. Mummified mouse

The unfortunate victim!

The host of the unfortunate victim!