Preventing Animals in Chimney
Keeping Animals Out of Your Chimney
As chimney professionals serving homes throughout Delaware, our team at ChimneyTEK of Delaware has seen it all, including animals trapped inside chimneys. Sometimes, animals aren’t actually trapped. They’ve just decided your chimney makes a better nesting spot than a tree. In either case, getting rid of the critter is essential for their safety and ensuring any parasites or diseases the pest carries don’t enter your home. Of course, avoiding the problem altogether is ideal. We offer solutions for animal prevention and what to do if you find yourself with an animal stuck or living in your chimney.
Chimney Cap Installation in Delaware
Installing a chimney cap is the best protection against animals entering your chimney. We offer this service to ensure the cap is installed properly and is the correct size for your chimney’s opening. Chimney caps are covered on all sides by mesh screens with a cover on top. The screens allow smoke and ash to safely exit while keeping animals out of the chimney flue. These are ideal for keeping out larger critters. However, pests such as bees and hornets will likely still be able to get through the screens. We offer other solutions for those insects.
What to Do if You Have an Animal in Your Chimney
If you’ve seen or can hear an animal in your chimney, here are the steps to handle the issue appropriately.
- Call Animal Control – Trying to interact with or remove the animal yourself is unsafe. Animal control can send someone experienced and understands how to handle wild animals, taking suitable precautions.
- Protect Your Home – If you’re waiting for animal control to arrive, take steps to ensure the animal can’t get into your home. Cover the fireplace opening with a piece of wood, or close the fireplace doors if you have them.
- Offer a Way Out – If you’re safely able, you can try to lower a rope down the chimney to assist the critter. For example, a squirrel can grab a rope and use it to climb to safety.
- Lure With Food – If a rope doesn’t work, and you can safely access the chimney’s opening, you can try luring the animal out with food set at the top of the chimney, such as birdseed. This may not work if the animal is stuck, but it might if it’s living in the chimney. Be sure to clean up the food if the problem is solved.
- Don’t Light a Fire – Lighting a fire or trying to smoke the animal from the chimney is inhumane and shouldn’t be done. If trapped, the animal is likely scared and can die from smoke inhalation. A dead animal in your chimney is as much trouble as a live one.
Ask About Our Chimney Cap Installation Services
We offer chimney cap installation services in Delaware to protect chimneys of all shapes and sizes from potential animal infestation. If you’ve had an animal removed from your chimney, contact us for an inspection. We’ll take a close look at your chimney to survey it for any potential damage. Get in touch today to schedule your service.