You have a nice, wide chimney. That is great if you would want to make a fireplace to make your home cozy. It is also a great way to attract raccoons as big chimneys are similar to hollow spaces in trees. They are a perfect place for pests to go through the winter. Raccoons are known to have advanced climbing skills and prefer to set up a nest for the winter in a safe and dry hollow area. Not only that but female ones would use the place to give birth to her little ones.

You might be thinking that living in the city makes you raccoon free, however, the thing is, the pests have adjusted so well to urban areas that it doesn’t matter if you live in the outskirts in a house or in the center of your city.

Initial Reaction

So you have noticed the signs and found out that you are in fact infested by raccoons in the chimney. The first action most people take is to try and set up a fire. It only makes sense that smoke and heat would drive them out. While that is correct in some scenario, you will have to prepare to deal with the consequences of the two different alternatives.

First, to let the smoke out, you would have to open the damper, which will give the raccoons an opportunity to enter your fireplace. Second, in case that the raccoons don’t leave the chimney and gets roosted, and we won’t even discuss how inhumane that is even to pests, you will be left with a horrendous smell for a very, very long time.

The Right Way

A solid attempt to drive it out of the chimney would be to use ammonia. I’m using the term “solid attempt” as repellents are known for their low efficiency when it comes to dealing with raccoons. If you are dealing with a pregnant female, this will certainly not work.

Another way would be to close off all of the open entrances to the chimney, then set up a trap in front of one of them, best would be the one it uses the most. The trap would catch the raccoons as it exits its habitat and you could set it free at a location of your choosing on a later instance. If there are babies left in the chimney, they could be removed by hand.

Generally, dealing with raccoons in the chimney is quite tricky and difficult. There are many situations where you could either hurt yourself or the raccoons if you lack the experience or knowledge on how to approach the situation. Hiring a professional would be the best option in this case as their expertise and years of training and experience would fully qualify them to remove the pests out of your chimney harmlessly.

Read the How to get rid of raccoons page for helpful information and to learn more about How to Get Raccoons Out of the Chimney