Are there animals in your Pensacola chimney?

Raccoons, opossums, squirrels, bats, birds, and snakes.

Contrary to popular belief, animals don't accidentally fall down chimneys. Often, homeowners are unaware that their cap might have been blown off in a storm or rusted due to age. Animals that find their way into a chimney usually have a reason.

The 4 most common reasons are:

1. A mother raccoon may use a masonry chimney as a nest to safeguard and rear her young. Concurrently, a male raccoon will enter a chimney only to kill baby raccoons, as he perceives them as rivals. Sometimes, a chimney's burnt smell could remind a raccoon of a burned-out hollow tree, a part of their natural habitat. Most animals struggle to climb back out of the chimney once they've entered, but a raccoon is one of the few that can manage it.
2. A migratory bird from South America, commonly known as a Chimney Swift, uses chimneys to construct their nests. Like raccoons, Chimney Swifts are accustomed to using hollow trees for their homes. These birds can fly straight up, making them ideally suited to living inside a chimney. These birds are federally protected and should only be handled by people familiar with the laws and special considerations involved.
3. Snakes enter a chimney solely for one purpose: to hunt. They are ultimate predators and enter with a hunger that needs satisfying. They prey on bird eggs, baby birds, and baby animals.
4. Frightened wild animals such as opossums, squirrels, and mice will often scurry down a chimney when a severe storm is imminent. The issue here is that once the storm has passed, the animals find themselves trapped inside the chimney.

From this situation, only one of three outcomes can occur:

1. The animal is rescued (preferably by a professional).
2. If the damper is open and the critter finds its way into the fireplace, and if the homeowner doesn't have glass doors, you now have an uninvited guest in your home, hence the term nuisance wild animal.
3. Or, if left unrescued, it will slowly and painfully perish. This should never be an option because it is not only inhumane, but now you have a larger problem. A dead animal in your home poses many issues, from lingering terrible odors to potential health risks, and creates a more complicated and costly problem to solve.

For your fireplace and chimney in Pensacola, ARC Chimney Sweeps is the company to call for humane animal removal, proper clean up, thorough inspections, and the ability and experience to solve and repair any situation so your fireplace and chimney system is yours again. Call us today at (850) 760-0123!