The common name "raccoon"
comes from the Indian word
"arakum" or "aracoun,"
meaning"he scratches with
his hands."

Adult raccoons may be up to
3 feet long and weigh up to
30 pounds. They have a black
face mask and ringed tail.
Their fur is long and dense,
a grizzled brown and black
color that has often been
described as "salt and
pepper." Although raccoons
are flesh-eaters and have
long canine teeth, their
molar teeth are adapted
for a varied diet which
includes more than just
meat. The raccoon's closest
relatives are ringtails and
coatis from the Southwest.

Raccoons are among the
most intelligent of wild
animals. They are most
active at night and their
nightly travels depend upon
where food is available and
the weather conditions.
The home range of an adult
male is about one mile in
diameter, although it
expands in size during
the breeding season.
Adult females and their
young inhabit smaller
areas and one male's home
range often overlaps several
females' home ranges.
Adult males tend to be
solitary, but family groups
are quite social and will feed
and den together into the fall.
As family units grow,
raccoons become increasingly
solitary. The young leave
the area where they are born
between the fall and spring of
their first year and may travel
75 miles or more before
settling in a new location.

Check with your local state wildlife office before undertaking a raccoon eviction; in Kansas, it is illegal to trap raccoons.

My experience has been in following up other people who trap momma raccoon, then leave the babies to die. Then I got called in because of the smell of dead babies. Not a pretty sight or smell to clean up. Other sweeps report they reach in through the damper opening and pull the babies off the smoke shelf. Seems like a very risky proposition to me.

Raccoons are nocturnal animals, and momma does not want to leave her chimney nest until after dark. I go there in the daytime to verify it is a raccoon in the chimney. Be sure to open the damper, if necessary, very carefully, and secure the damper with heavy wire or a weight, because momma can open most any damper except for the rotary screw type Vestal dampers, and then she still can move the damper.

I have used all of the following by themselves or in combination to convince momma to leave at night:
-A trouble light, turned on, lowered down the flue to hang in the smoke chamber.
-A radio set to a hard rock or rap station, placed in the firebox, volume turned up as loud as the customer can stand.
-A TV already on the hearth, turned to MTV, loud volume.

I used to use ammonia, full strength, poured from the top of the flue,1/2 bottle at a time. That brought momma out to the top of the chimney inless than 30 seconds. Drawbacks: obviously, any ammonia that gets in theeyes or skin of the baby racoons, is mean and hazardous to their health. I stopped using ammonia years ago, when a customer called the day after the raccoons were gone; the customers were elderly, had breathing difficulties, and the downdraft in the chimney was choking them. I went over to their house and put a fan on top of the flue and ran it for 2 days, and made frequent trips back to spray odor killer in the firebox and smoke chamber. Luckily neither customer had to make a trip to the emergency room, but they certainly were not happy with me and the strong ammonia smell that literally left them gasping for air.

You must put stainless steel covers over every masonry flue, whether for gas, oil, or wood appliance. If you do not do this, momma will be in another flue at the same house when you return. They can chew through wire or aluminum mesh, and most steel mesh. They cannot chew through stainless expanded mesh that is securely spot welded.

Here is what I tell the customer upon arrival at their house: "Mrs. Jones, you have a momma raccoon and 2-5 babies in your chimney. I want to stress that I only use the most humane method of removing them, they will not be harmed, and they will be able to live, just not at your home.

Here is what I want to do: I will hang a trouble light, use your radio for noise, and since raccoons are a nocturnal animal, momma will not remove her babies until after dark. Before I do anything, I must put stainless steel covers on the other openings to keep her from just moving from one chimney to the others.

I will return tomorrow to see if she has left. If she has, then I must put a raccoon proof cover over this opening, or she will return in a day or two.If she has not left, then I will come back the next day to verify she has left with all the babies. Once I am satisfied that she and the babies are gone, I need to deodorize, sanitize, and spray insecticide from top to bottom in your chimney and fireplace. Raccoons carry rabies; about 1/3 to 2/3 of raccoons tested nationwide are found to have rabies in their system. They also have a roundworm in their joints and other body areas; if this were to get into a human, they get in the bloodstream, and can end up in the human eyeball;  the only cure I am aware of is laser surgery on the eye. That is why I wear the full body white suit, and why I wear latex gloves under leather gloves while working on your chimney. When I am finished, I will put that in a trash bag and put in your trash container.

As you can see, it is not a simple thing to remove animals. It is high risk for me, and the animal is high risk for you and your pets the longer the animal stays in your chimney. Also, I might mention that in about 1 out of 10 raccoon in the chimney calls, it is possible for fleas, lice, and other critters to decide to enter your living room. If that happens, you need to call a professional exterminator to kill critters in your living room and fireplace.

Marion Schroll has been a chimney sweep since 1978, a member of the National Chimney Sweep Guild since 1978, a Certified Sweep since 1979. His e-mail address: mschroll@kansas.net