I didn't know what forum to post this on so posting it here. I happened to be outside and peeked in the grate on top of the central unit where the fan blows all the air out, just to see if there was alot of debris and eek there were 4 dead tree frogs inside the unit. I love my tree frogs and they are fantastic bug eaters! Is there any way to stop this from happening? Can I somehow put some kind of mesh or screen over the vent to keep it from happening or will that keep my central unit from working efficiently? how can I get the dead ones out? is it okay to turn the central unit off and unscrew the grate myself and (ick)scrape them out? any suggestions are appreciated. thank you!

If you want to clean the unit, definitely kill the power before opening up the top. The fan can come on at anytime unless the power is off to the unit.

I've cleaned the inside of my unit. You have to be careful covering the grill so that you don't restrict airflow. Hardware cloth or wire mesh should be OK if you go with nothing smaller than 3/8" mesh. Window screen would restrict the air flow too much.

Sparky, thank you for answering my questions! I will look for something with 3/8" mesh or larger.
And I will definitely be flipping the main power off before i mess with this. I am envisioning my 4 year old daughter saying ooh pretty buttons! and turning the a/c back on with the thermostat controls while I am in the middle of cleaning the unit out. better to be safe than sorry!

Yay! weekend project! froggies you shall soon be safe again!

Eagle,
Thanks for posting back, so many first time posters never come back so you never know if they've read the responses. Good forum etiquette, your momma taught you well.
Spark