Chimney animal removal and entry repair in Palm River-Clair Mel

Identifying the animal before anything is disturbed

The right response depends on what is in the chimney. A trapped squirrel, a raccoon with young, nesting chimney swifts and a bat colony each call for a different plan, and some of those plans are governed by law.

Tell us when the sounds happen, day or night, whether they come and go at particular times and anything you have seen at the chimney top. Our team uses that and a look at the fireplace and the top of the chimney to identify what we can before anything is moved.

You do not need to know the species before calling. Describing what you have heard and seen is enough to start, and nobody should climb onto the roof or look up the flue to find out.

Capping a chimney used by swifts

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encourages homeowners not to cap or screen chimneys that swifts use, because the birds depend on them for nesting. The same guidance says a chimney with a metal liner should be capped, since animals can be trapped inside a smooth metal flue.

Some homeowners choose to leave a masonry chimney open for the birds, and others decide to cap it after the season. We explain both paths honestly and do the work you choose at the right time of year.

Whichever you choose, the chimney is swept before it is capped, so old nest material does not stay in the flue under a new cap.

Other animals that end up in chimneys

Birds, bats, squirrels and raccoons are the visitors people ask about most, but they are not the only ones. Any animal that climbs or flies can reach an open chimney top, and some fall in by accident rather than choosing the flue as a home.

The first steps are the same whatever the animal. Keep the fireplace closed, keep people and pets away and describe what you have heard or seen. We identify what we can and explain who should handle the animal before any chimney work begins.

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.