Ugh! In my haste to get a mare bred, I lost a cane at the bottom of my narrow mouthed tank. There was one .5cc straw of very expensive semen in it, which does look to still be inside as I can see it laying at the bottom of the tank. I don't have a pour tank. Surely someone has been there/done that before and has some sort of trick.....wire? Coat hanger? Reeeeaaally long forceps that you got from somewhere?
Welcome to the dark side of the world of frozen semen... <lol>
You're on track with the wire coat hanger. What is better if you can find it is wire that is a little thinner than a wire coat hanger, but has as much (or more) rigidity. Create a flat "U" on the bottom of it, but with only about an eighth of an inch of the other side of the "U" from the main part of the wire (am I making sense? ).
Then start fishing...
You can try shining a flashlight in to see if you can see the cane. You will have to wait until the "fog" dissipates - do not blow in there thinking that will dissipate it faster - it won't!! <lol>. The thing to try and avoid is accidentally hooking the cane upside down. Oh, that and dislodging the goblet by mistake...!
If you can maneuver it to a vertical position (and the right way up), then you should be able to hook the cane just above the top goblet and underneath the tab part and carefully - oh so carefully... (slip, splash, "oh bother"!! ) bring it up to the neck of the tank where you can quickly grab it and pop it into a Styrofoam box with some liquid nitrogen (at least 2 inches) already poured into it. You want to do that as (a) you need to check to see if the goblet is still secure on the cane; (b) to make sure the straw is still in the goblet and not lying on the bottom of the tank; and (c) you can't easily move a canister into position to put it in when you're trying to fish out the cane.
If you do dislodge the goblet and the straw ends up loose in the tank, transfer all your canisters to another tank and try dumping all the nitrogen out of your tank into a Styrofoam box (put a little LN2 in the box first in case the straw does come out in the first splash). Often this will result in the straw coming out as well - but be aware that you want to put some nitrogen back into the tank very quickly if the straw doesn't come out, and then try again. And again. And again...
Good luck!!!
Diana Gilger Senior Stallion or Mare Username: Kdgilger
Post Number: 4238 Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2012 - 11:44 pm:
Have mercy, good luck to you Kristie!! Jos, certainly good to have you (and your past follies) around to help out in times like these! ROFL!!!
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) bring it up to the neck of the tank where you can quickly grab it and pop it into a Styrofoam box with some liquid nitrogen (at least 2 inches) already poured into it. You want to do that as (a) you need to check to see if the goblet is still secure on the cane; (b) to make sure the straw is still in the goblet and not lying on the bottom of the tank; and (c) you can't easily move a canister into position to put it in when you're trying to fish out the cane. 
