Rat Nest In Chimney

Cap the chimney you should install a mesh covered chimney cap to keep small rodents from entering.

Rat nest in chimney.

You should also have a professional inspect your roof and chimney for potential entry points. To help prevent rats from entering your home through the chimney inspect your fireplace carefully for any holes and properly seal the ones you find. If you start a fire in your fireplace and notice heavy smoke and a strong smell it could be a rat nest burning in the chimney. You may hear scratching as they go about their daily routine but frantic scratching may indicate that they are trapped.

If we had been asked to treat or remove this wasp nest a few years ago then one person would have done it by putting a ladder up to the gutter level and aiming a jet of insecticide into the chimney pot. Norway rats can also enter your chimney from the ground level and find little shelves to nest on. Rats make nests by gathering debris into the narrow space of the flue of your fireplace. Without a damper in place rodents will climb down chimneys into the home.

The chimney is not a large one. When selecting places to construct nests squirrels typically look for secluded areas off the ground with plenty of cover. For a small rodent a chimney may resemble a hollow tree which can be an ideal place to build a nest. While squirrels rarely infest chimneys themselves the pests may nest in metal chimney boxes see picture below.

Occasionally even a larger mammal like a raccoon may decide to take up residence. Rats sometimes carry disease and cause property damage so getting them out of the fireplace is ideal. Small animals such as mice rats and squirrels will also build nests in the chimney.