Removal of Squirrels in the Chimney

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STEP 1) Determine if the squirrel is in the primary flu or stuck between the insulating metal flu, which is a common place for squirrels to fall down, on that style of chimney. To do this, you can climb a ladder and inspect your chimney cap, and see if you can see where it fell down.

STEP 2) If it fell down the gap between the inner and outer flu, you may be screwed. The only hope is to lower a rope, sisal rope preferred due to grip, with a heavy weight on the end, down the gap, and wriggle it around so it reaches the bottom. Then you have to wait for the squirrel to climb out.

STEP 3) If the squirrel is in a regular chimney flu, you have to determine if it's stuck, or if it's simply living there, climbing in and out. If it's stuck, you can either open the damper at the bottom, or use the same rope trip to let it climb out the top.

STEP 4) If it's not stuck, then you have to go through conventional trapping or exclusion means to remove it from the chimney. This is also a rare case in which raccoon eviction fluid might help.

STEP 5) If you elect to open the damper above the fireplace, you have a couple of options. You can be at the ready to grab or snare the squirrel if it falls out, or if you have an enclosed fireplace with door/grate, you can set traps inside. Bait with something moise, like fresh oranges, to ensure capture.

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"Help me get the squirrels out of my chimney!" - I hear that request all the time. A very common scenario in the field of nuisance wildlife control involves animals that have invaded a person's chimney. All kinds of wildlife love to live in the chimneys of homes. Chimneys provide a warm, safe, dry shelter that really suits the needs of many animals. Squirrels are one of the animals that will frequently inhabit a chimney, and for which trappers provide chimney removal. Squirrels are used to climbing and living in trees. If they can, they will find the hollow of a tree to live in. However, an chimney of a home is like a great big hollow tree to a squirrel. Squirrels can climb almost anything, and they will crawl right up and into the chimney, and if the walls are made of masonry of some sort, they will easily be able to climb in and out.

At first people notice the sound of squirrels running around above the fireplace. These sounds most frequently occur in the morning or evening, but may be heard throughout the day. People then wonder how they can get rid of the squirrels in the chimney. Removing squirrels from chimneys requires proper trapping techniques. The squirrels need to be trapped and removed, and then the chimney should have a professional chimney cap installed over the opening.

In this case I lowered a rope down the chimney to let a young squirrel crawl out. It is not necessary to crawl headfirst down the flu and set traps inside the chimney itself. Squirrels don't live inside 24/7. They constantly go in and out of the chimney. They have to go out to eat and drink. They are just inside because your chimney provides safe shelter.

People nationwide need to get rid of the squirrels in their chimney, and luckily, there are pros all around the country who are experts with squirrel chimney removal. Squirrels cause a number of problems for people. The most common conflicts that occur with squirrels involves their desire to live inside of buildings. Like all members of the rodent family, squirrels are excellent chewers, and they will chew their way into your home or commercial building. Once inside, they may even chew on wires or pipes! People often hear the squirrels running about in the chimney or ceiling. They often bring in nesting debris, and can create a fire hazard, not only due to the debris, but also by chewing electrical wires. Squirrels will also chew on the woodwork of a home. Everyone knows about how squirrels steal food from birdfeeders, but that problem can be solved by buying squirrel-proof feeders. Squirrels have two litters per year, and reproduce quickly, like all rodents. This means that at times the squirrel population can grow to high numbers, and extra pressure is placed on buildings. Squirrels will move into attics or chimneys, or even places like drier vents. Most trained wildlife control professionals have excellent experience in solving squirrel problems, so if you need squirrel control, click the links on this page to find a wildlife removal company in your neck of the woods, and get rid of those squirrels once and for all.

For more complete info, read How to get rid of squirrels - my main squirrel removal info guide, where you will learn how to trap squirrels, or exclude them, and seal your house to keep them out. You can also hire a pro from my list if you are having trouble doing the job yourself.


AAAnimal Control is a professional nuisance wildlife control company located in Orlando, FL. We offer solutions to wildlife problems throughout the Greater Orlando Florida area, including squirrel control. Wildlife services include animal trapping, capture & removal, plus animal damage repairs and preventative measures. We also offer biological cleanup and many other services. Call any time to discuss your wildlife management issue and schedule an appointment. You can always browse this site for more details and info, and you can even check out prices ahead of time. If you live elsewhere in the US and have found this site and need a local trapper in your area, click here for a nationwide list of 100's of professional squirrel removal experts.

Customer Inquiry About Squirrels in the Chimney: We live in the suburbs but ever since we moved in, we have had every sort of "crittur" outside in our yard and in our home on a regular basis, even squirrels in our chimney. Did I mention the chipmunk colony that was once a flower bed? That was in place before we moved in. That includes rabbits, skunks, ducks ,possums ,frogs ,birds etc. That has not been a problem until last summer. Two darling chipmunks started looking in our french doors all day long. Some how they found a way in and stayed in the walls. We could not find a hole of entry but tried to trap them in a humane trap outside the french door. We caught one of them, as well as numerous squirrels. All animals were moved to a forest nearby. This went on all summer and fall. In fall the second chipmunk left and a larger "crittur" moved in. He stayed in the walls until spring and he left. he would move to another part of the house if I yelled that he was not welcome. Then a smaller one moved in. I heard noises but didn't see anything until two days ago. He, a baby squirrel, is the first one to leave the safety of the walls and is somewhere in our living room. We have put the humane trap in our living room . If we see him, we open up the french doors to encourage him to leave. So far we have just encouraged ants and other assorted bugs to come in. I have two questions. Will he harm our small exotic birds by bacteria ,attacking them or eating their food out of their cages? How can we remove our unwanted guest without harming him. We are making sure that our birds do not come in contact with him. The baby squirrel is so timid that I doubt he will attack the birds or us. It is possible that our guests are getting in by a crumbling chimney we just discovered. . We're going to get some one to work on that . Our house was built in the 1970's and is surrounded by trees. He is now trapped in one room of the house, the bedroom. There is still a problem though. He goes for the food but is too small to trip the trap doors. What kind of humane trap works on a very small squirrel? This morning we found he had actually removed the food from the cage without tripping the doors. Yesterday we had the windows open for three hours. He didn't leave. Today we are going to get a cage that works on smaller animals. We have humane mouse traps but he is too big an animal for those.