Careful chimney animal removal for homes in East Tampa

Keeping the animal out of the living space

The fireplace damper and the glass doors or screen are the barrier between the chimney and the room. While an animal is in the chimney, keep both closed and resist opening the damper to look.

If the fireplace has no doors, block the opening with something the animal cannot push aside, and keep children and pets out of the room. Those steps buy time while the animal is identified and the right help is arranged.

• Keep the damper and fireplace doors closed
• Keep children and pets out of the room
• Do not light a fire or use smoke
• Note when you hear the sounds and what they are like

Squirrels and smooth metal flues

Squirrels explore chimney tops and sometimes fall in. A smooth metal liner gives them nothing to climb, which is why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends capping chimneys that have a metal liner so animals are not trapped.

Once a squirrel is out of the chimney, the fix is a cap sized for the flue with a screen it cannot get through. We check the liner and the top of the flue for damage from the visit before the cap is fitted.

A squirrel that cannot escape may scratch at the damper and the firebox while trying, which is one more reason to act promptly once one is heard.

When animals are in the attic as well

Animals that reach a chimney top sometimes find other ways into a house, through gaps at the roofline, vents or soffits. If you hear movement in the attic or in walls away from the fireplace, the chimney may not be the only entry.

Our work covers the chimney and, on factory-built systems, the chase around it. For the rest of the roofline, a wildlife professional is the right person to look, and we tell you what we see at the chimney and what falls outside it.

A nest in a flue that serves an appliance

Some chimneys have a flue that vents a fuel-burning appliance rather than the fireplace. A nest or debris in that flue can interfere with how the appliance vents, which is a more urgent problem than a nest in an unused fireplace flue.

If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house and call 911 from outside. Once the home is safe, the flue needs checking and clearing before the appliance is used again, and the entry must be closed so the nest does not return.