An inanimate magnetically attractable object retrieval apparatus configured to retrieve small, inanimate, magnetically attractable objects from confining spaces with magnetic forces. The apparatus comprises a head comprising magnetic material permanently attached to a first end region of a flexible body that has a tail with a width and a length. The length is able to be reversibly bent in a 180 degree arc with a diameter of 1 inch only in a plane perpendicular to a plane containing the width and the length of the tail and unable to be reversibly bent in a 180 degree arc with a diameter of 1 inch in a plane parallel to the plane containing the width and the length of the tail.