Question: How would you get rid of raccoons in your chimney?
My neighbors have maybe four raccoons who found a home in their chimney. They tried mothballs with no result other than their home smelling like mothballs, and the raccoons are still there. Any other DIY ideas? This couple are in their late 70′s and are not able to climb onto their roof.
Thanks for all suggestions.
Answer:
Answer by Laurie
Call animal control or the department of fish and game. They should be able to remove and relocate them.
10 Responses to “How would you get rid of raccoons in your chimney?”
Soak some rags in ammonia, and stuff them up the chimney. Works for possums; should work for raccoons.
You can either call the animal shelter, but more than likely, they will tell you, they’re too busy, and have a two week backlog, OR, you can get a large wire trap (about $ 40 at a farm supply store), set it with a little wet cat food, and haul them away yourself.
Don’t tell anyone what your doing, as a lot of places (in the US) have laws against trapping animals.
Be careful because they are tough little critters and they will bite a finger off, if you get too close.
Be sure to take them FAR AWAY (at least 10 miles), then let them go. Pick a place that’s near water, but not near any crops.
If animal control won’t take them away, I’d pay someone to do it who has the proper traps and tools to do it safely. No one’s mentioned this, but raccoons can carry rabies, so you really don’t want to get close to them.
Call the county office and ask for help. They will bait and trap them to be moved. May take a few days.
I used to work for a rodent company. If you cant get rid of that sucker call a professional. They will set up a trap with bait and catch him. They will frequently stop by to check the traps. Prices averages around 50-100 bucks..it depends who you call. The rodent company that I used to work for use to catch them and release them back into the wild.
Unless your neighbors are able to trap and relocate the raccoons, and then clean out their chimney; then I wouldn’t recommend DIY.
Contact your local county animal services department to see if they will help remove the raccoons. In my area; animal services will remove trapped nuisance raccoons, but will not trap them unless there is a rabies outbreak. Traps can be rented and we use either cat food or sardines to bait the trap. Once a raccoon is caught animal control may pick it up. An easier alternative is to call a professional pest control service that deals with nuisance wildlife. Fees are charged but they do all the work.
Moth balls do not work in areas where fresh air circulates, that is why using moth balls in chimneys is ineffective. Even if your neighbors used ammonia or played a radio in the fire place; the raccoons will keep returning as long as the chimney is wide open at the top.
Once the raccoons have been removed your neighbors need to tend to their chimney. First; the chimney needs to be swept and cleaned; any debris left by the raccoons is a fire hazard. Chimney fires are ugly, and can destroy a home. Also; the litter from the coons can attract insects and promote mold growth. Second; the chimney should have a commercial grade spark arrestor cap (made of sheet metal) installed; this cap is designed to stop sparks from spewing out of a chimney, but it also prevents raccoons from entering the chimney.
I wish your neighbors luck!
Animal Control does not deal with wildlife, they handle dogs and cats ONLY.
The neighbors need to call a wildlife remover. The raccoons can cause some serious damage, and the urine and fecal material falling down the chimney can be disease laden.
Once they get the raccoons relocated, they need to have someone come and put a cap on the chimney to keep other animals from moving in.
Edit: Wildlife removers are LICENSED to remove animals. They are trained in handling wild animals. If someone gets caught trapping and moving wildlife without a license, there are STIFF fines for that. And that is true in any part of the US.
We had a momma raccoon and her six babies living in our chimney-(fireplace). We called a professional pest remover to extract and relocate them.
He set out a live trap on the roof of our house and caught the mother. Then he remove the babies from in the fire place. He released them into the wild out in the country. The babies sure were cute. The mom was very feisty. Slightly bigger that a large house cat.
We had the man installed chimney covers to prevent any other animal from entering.
We also used to have a problem with squirrels and bats.
HAVe a Heart Traps you can get from the local ASPCA for Free Then With Tuna Or Tuna Cat food Rig them up on the Roof or Near the Deck or Ground and wait…Then call some one or haul away and release.
A chimney sweep found in the yellow pages or services in the classifieds will most likely be glad to advise. I think it’s likely that the sweep him/herself will have to come do it.