I've Got a Squirrel in my Chimney

Early B.
Early B. Posts: 7,900
edited April 2024 in Clubhouse Archives
I came home today and heard some scratching going on inside my chimney and found some twigs in my fireplace (the flue is supposed to be closed). Apparently there's a squirrel or some other critter trying to make a nest in there.

Background: a few weeks ago I heard this critter scrambling around in my chimney and called a critter company to remove it. When they showed up, the guy looked around my house, went into my attic, and peered into my chimney, but says he didn't see anything (still cost me $80 for nuthin'!!). Well, the critter is back. I have no idea how it gets in and out of there.

How do I get rid of it? Should I start a fire? :eek:
HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

"God grooves with tubes."
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
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Comments

  • masanz1
    masanz1 Posts: 511
    edited February 2006
    start a fire indeed, the critter will be out of there before you know it. If not, I heard squirrel is good eating :D
    Matthew
    Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason


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  • Strong Bad
    Strong Bad Posts: 4,278
    edited February 2006
    Flame on!
    No excuses!
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  • Pablo
    Pablo Posts: 723
    edited February 2006
    light it up and they'll leave in a minute (the smoke will clear them out). But check the chiminy first to make sure it's not clogged! That smoke will fill your house faster than you think. (then get a cap for the top).
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited February 2006
    Mmmm smoked squirrel. More tender than char broiled?
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited February 2006
    Open the flue and let whatever is in there drop out first!
    Never Forget
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited February 2006
    PolkThug wrote:
    Open the flue and let whatever is in there drop out first!

    Do you mean BEFORE or AFTER I start the fire?

    I gotta find the most humane method of critter removal 'cuz the WAF will freak out if she knew I did otherwise.

    I'm headed to HD to get some logs. Be back soon.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited February 2006
    I say time to get out the 9 iron....
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    Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
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  • phoneisbusy
    phoneisbusy Posts: 867
    edited February 2006
    I think you can also rent squirrel traps and relocate them. Probably most humane although they'd probably clear out of the chimney at the first sign of smoke.

    Good luck. We had a wasp nest in the chimney once. Exterminators wouldn't touch it because it involved being on the roof in a dangerous situation. Duh!! Like I'd pay you the $80+ otherwise...

    regards

    Dave
    Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited February 2006
    I forgot about the trap thing. I happen to have three of those traps. They're little collapsable steel cage things. One of the ends is a spring loaded door that you press down and when the little critter steps inside the box the door slams shut behind it. They might have been chucked when we cleaned out our shed though...

    Might want to keep in mind all those stories about flaming mice setting people's houses on fire before you decide to get a roaring fire going.
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited February 2006
    had the same problem, built a fire,no more animals(squirrels or birds),never noticed any casulties,,,is your chimney top screened ?
    Fire in the hole :D
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • amulford
    amulford Posts: 5,020
    edited February 2006
    You DO NOT want to light a fire. Squirrels build nests of all kinds of flammable materials. If you light a fire you are going to VERY LIKELY catch that material on fire also. When was the last time you cleaned your chimney? If you have a buildup on the flue, that's going to burn, too. OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.

    Get them out and clear out the nest. Cap the flue w/ something to keep them out.

    DO NOT BUILD A FIRE!

    Edit: The only reason I say this is I have had a friend LOSE HIS HOUSE from the same situation. Will it happen to you? Maybe not, but are you willing to chance it? Is your homeowners paid up???
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  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited February 2006
    I hope your Insurance is up to date
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited February 2006
    Early B. wrote:
    Do you mean BEFORE or AFTER I start the fire?

    Before! Or you will smoke your house out and your wife will get pissed!
    Never Forget
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited February 2006
    amulford wrote:
    You DO NOT want to light a fire. Squirrels build nests of all kinds of flammable materials. If you light a fire you are going to VERY LIKELY catch that material on fire also. When was the last time you cleaned your chimney? If you have a buildup on the flue, that's going to burn, too. OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.

    Get them out and clear out the nest. Cap the flue w/ something to keep them out.

    DO NOT BUILD A FIRE!

    Whoa, thanks for the advice. I just got back from HD where I bought some logs to build a fire. Thought I'd check this thread before proceeding. Glad I did.

    BTW -- I already have a cap on my chimney. Still not sure how he got in there.

    How would a trap work if the squirrel is in the chimney?
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited February 2006
    It will climb down the chimney following the scented trail of nuts? :p
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  • amulford
    amulford Posts: 5,020
    edited February 2006
    Does the cap have screen around the sides?

    You can trap it right outside of the chimney. Be aware there are probably two of them, as normally a mating pair nest up.

    If you have to, you can use ultra sonic pest control to drive them out. But they need to be relocated AWAY (far away) from the house, as they will try to find another way in/place to nest.
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited February 2006
    Freakin' tree-rat!!!!
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited February 2006
    Start firing some golf balls up into your chimney. Better yet, get Pablo to come over. I hear he has a knack for golfing amongst little creatures ;)
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  • StopherJJ1980
    StopherJJ1980 Posts: 267
    edited February 2006
    Early B. wrote:
    When they showed up, the guy looked around my house, went into my attic, and peered into my chimney, but says he didn't see anything (still cost me $80 for nuthin'!!). :eek:

    Sounds like an easy way to make $80. Where do I sign up for this job? :)
    -Stopher
    Tempe, AZ

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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited February 2006
    Here's an update...

    Was cleaning out the fireplace today and shined a flashlight up the chimney to make sure the flue was closed. Lo and behold -- there's a fu*kin' dead squirrel stuck in the secondary flue. His bushy tail was just danglin' there.

    Glad I didn't start that fire. I would have had a smoked squirrel corpse still stuck there. Yuck.

    Called the pest removal company again today and they'll be here tomorrow to dispose of it. Yeah, I'm a punk **** when it comes to things like this, but I don't mess with dead stuff. I'd rather pay someone to do it for me.

    My wife is gonna freak out when I tell her. Maybe I should tell her after it's gone.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • amulford
    amulford Posts: 5,020
    edited February 2006
    Good. Friggin tree rats. I had a problem with them, once:D
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited February 2006
    Confucious say...

    Squirrel stuck in chimney better than gerbil stuck in ****.....unless you're Richard Gere:eek: :eek: ;)
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited February 2006
    ND13 wrote:
    Confucious say...

    Squirrel stuck in chimney better than gerbil stuck in ****.....unless you're Richard Gere:eek: :eek: ;)

    That's funny.:p
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited February 2006
    Squirrels are the absolute stone freaks of nature. Totally wacked out creatures. The guys at M.I.T. once decided to build a "squirrel-proof" bird feeder. It was neat with hydraulic rams and ****. Took the squirrels ABOUT 20 minutes before they were eating bird seed.
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited March 2006
    Screen was off the chimney cap a couple years ago. Had a squirrel and a couple birds make a duplex out of my chimney/ fireplace. Wife thought it was cute until the squirrel started trying to eat its way through the firescreen.

    As cautioned above you don't want a big fire, but easy thing to do is smoke them out, e.g., damp wood chips, and have the new screen at the ready. I added a couple wraps of chicken wire as they will try to get back in.

    So far so good...
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited March 2006
    Final update: the pest control company called me back today and said it would cost me $279 to get the squirrel out of there (that's the discounted rate). Needless to say I looked for other options, so I drove around my neighborhood for two minutes and ran across a couple of guys replacing siding on a neighbor's house. I asked one of them if he'd like to make a quick buck. Long story short -- he removed the squirrel and I paid him $50. Everyone's happy, especially my wife.

    Now I gotta figure out how he got in my chimney. The siding guy said squirrels have been known to chew through siding, so I used binoculars to see if I could locate any holes, but didn't find any. The hole may be at the top of the chimney, but I have a 2-story house and a steep roof, so I ain't goin' up there.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 11,077
    edited March 2006
    When we first moved into our house, I noticed birds trying to get in our bathroom vent. Summer came around, I walked in the powderoom and noticed a light smell, thought nothing of. Then the smell kept getting worse. I can only blame my wife for so long:p . The Willow, would stand in there sniffing constantly. The one day it was hot as hell out and very humid, we walk in the front door and we were welcomed by the pure stench of decaying corpse. Nasty-est smell ever. We called they got it out and put a screen in place.
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited March 2006
    Gotta get someone to inspect the chimney cap and screen below it. Might be a small hole up there somewhere. While they're up there, this person can cut a branch that's dangling over the roof. I think the branch is how the squirrel got to the chimney.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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