Raccoon Removal from Chimney

Chimney’s are common dens for raccoons, it resembles their natural den ‘hollow of a tree’. In Toronto only a small percentage of homes have capped their chimney flue properly. Due to that every year we get a lot of calls in regards to raccoon removal from chimneys. So how do you know for sure if you have a raccoon living in your chimney? Let’s assume that you have access to the chimney from inside the house. Do not open the hatch all the way, just enough to take a peek inside. If you are not brave enough for that, you can just bang on the hatch and listen for movement. If you hear noises they you definitely have an animal inside. Now if you do that and you don’t hear anything, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing inside. In some cases our clients actually see the raccoon climbing up their chimney and get in. That’s 100% confirmation. Last option is to go on the roof and shine a light down the flue. If there’s anything in there you will see it. Raccoon eyes will shine when it reflects the light from your flashlight.
Now you know you have raccoon(s) in your chimney, how do you get it out?

The list below are things NOT to do:

Do not try to smoke it out. Lighting a fire is inhumane and can seriously injure the animal.
Do not use your hands to capture the raccoon, no matter how small.
Do not leave the hatch open.
Do not seal the flue without knowing 100% that it’s out.

Things you can do to kick them out of your chimney:

Use a drill against the metal hatch or the brick to make excessive noise. This will usually scare them to go up the flue and out of your chimney.
Open the hatch just a little bit and blow big horn ( ). This will also scare them.
Wait until dark and watch the raccoon leave your chimney, when it’s gone you can try to seal the flue.

What do we recommend?

We always recommend to have a professional raccoon removal company to assess the situation and come up with the best action plan. In our company, we use humane one-way door system to allow the raccoon to leave and not be able to get back in. We then secure the flue with heavy gauge screening. As always, all our work is 100% guaranteed so you can just relax knowing the raccoon will never get back in to your chimney.