Something Is Scratching in Your Chimney: Animal Removal in DFW
Chimney animal removal for Dallas-Fort Worth homes. We tell you what the sound is, what the law allows, and what actually fixes it.
CAMERA INSPECTION
We look before we quote, every time
PHOTOS OF EVERY FINDING
No photo, no claim
MASONRY AND VENTING ONLY
Gas lines go to a gas fitter and we say so
SAME-DAY REPORT
In your inbox before we finish the day
That noise above your fireplace is almost always one of three animals: a bird, a squirrel, or a raccoon. Which one it is changes everything, including what anyone is legally allowed to do about it.
Some companies promise same-day removal no matter what is up there. If the animal is a chimney swift, that promise breaks federal law. Swifts are protected migratory birds, and nobody can remove an active nest. Not us, not a trapper, not you.
So this page does something different. It tells you how to name the animal by its sound, what the law says for each one, and what actually gets your chimney quiet and sealed. Call and describe the noise. You will get a straight answer on the phone.
YOU SEE WHAT WE SEE
You cannot see your own chimney. That is the whole problem with this trade, and it is why people feel talked into things.
Every visit ends with photographs of what we found, walked through with you before anything is quoted. If the pictures show nothing wrong, that is the report you get.
- Camera up the flue, not a guess from the hearth
- Every finding photographed before it is quoted
- The same spots photographed again after the work
- Written report in your inbox the same day
What the Sound Tells You
You can usually name the animal without ever looking down the flue. Pay attention to the type of sound, the time of day, and the month. In Dallas-Fort Worth the calendar matters. Spring brings raccoon mothers hunting for a den and the first chimney swifts back from South America. Summer is peak swift season. Fall and winter scratching is usually a squirrel treating your flue like a hollow tree.
- Loud chattering that erupts every few minutes, like a mechanical rattle: baby chimney swifts being fed. Most common May through August.
- Fast, frantic scratching during daylight: a squirrel, often one that fell in and cannot climb the slick flue tiles back out.
- Slow, heavy movement at night, with purring, chirring, or growling: a raccoon. In spring, assume a mother with kits.
- Constant fluttering and wing beats: a trapped bird that is not a swift. Swifts can cling to the flue wall. Most other birds cannot, and they exhaust themselves trying.
Chimney Swifts: The Bird Nobody Is Allowed to Remove
Chimney swifts spend the summer in Texas and fly back to South America every fall. They cannot perch on branches like other birds. They cling to rough vertical walls, which once meant hollow trees and now mostly means chimneys.
They are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Once there is an active nest with eggs or chicks in your flue, removing it is a federal offense. Any company that offers to pull out an active swift nest is offering to break the law in your house.
Here is the honest good news. Swifts nest one pair per chimney, the nest is small, and the loud phase is short. The chicks make noise for a week or two before they fly. By late fall the birds are gone. That is when the real work happens: we remove the empty nest, sweep the flue, and cap the chimney so nothing ever moves in again. If you hear the rattle of chicks, the fix is a calendar first and a chimney cap second.
Scratching Or Chirping Up There?
We identify what moved in before anything gets sealed shut.
Raccoons: Where We Stop and a Wildlife Professional Steps In
A raccoon in the chimney is usually a mother who picked your smoke shelf as a den. Texas has its own rules for handling and relocating raccoons, and live removal of a large animal is a job for a wildlife control professional. We will say so plainly instead of improvising above your fireplace.
Our part starts after the animals are out. We run a camera down the flue and photograph it, so you can see for yourself that nothing is still living there. Then we remove the nesting material and droppings, clean the flue, and close the front door: a solid cap, plus a fix for whatever gap let a raccoon in. A raccoon that lost a den will try the same chimney again next spring. The cap ends the cycle.
Squirrels: Trapped, or Moving In?
Squirrels make two very different sounds. A frantic scramble in daylight usually means one fell in and cannot get out. Flue tiles are too smooth to climb, so the animal is stuck, and time matters. One simple field fix is lowering a thick rope down the flue to give it a ladder out. It works more often than people expect.
Steady, on-and-off activity in fall or winter means the squirrel chose your chimney on purpose and is hauling in leaves and acorns. That nest sits directly in the path of your fireplace exhaust, which makes it a fire problem, not just a noise problem. We clear it, sweep the flue, and cap the top.
HEARING SOMETHING IN THE FLUE?
Tell us what you hear and when you hear it. The sound narrows down which animal it likely is, and that decides what happens next.
What We Actually Do, With Photos
We are a chimney company, not a trapping outfit, and we stay inside that line. Every step gets photographed before and after, because you should not have to take our word for anything you cannot see up a dark flue.
- Camera inspection of the full flue, with photos of exactly what is up there
- A straight verdict: a swift nest that must wait, an animal that needs a wildlife professional, or debris we can clear today
- Removal of empty nests, droppings, and dead animals, plus odor treatment
- A full sweep afterward, since nesting material in a flue is fuel sitting over your firebox
- A chimney cap sized to your flue, so the problem does not come back
Do Not Light a Fire Under It
It is the most common idea and the worst one. A fire under an active swift nest kills protected birds, which is a federal problem on top of a cruel one. A trapped squirrel or raccoon cannot escape upward fast enough, and a panicked animal sometimes bolts down instead, straight through the damper and into the room. The nest itself, dry twigs stuck to your flue wall, can ignite and carry flames up the chimney.
Keep the damper closed, skip the fire, and make a phone call. Describing the sound costs you nothing, and it usually tells us most of what we need to know.
Tell Us What You Hear
Call and describe the sound. We will tell you on the phone what animal it probably is and what can legally be done today.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL
You call or send the form
We ask what you are seeing or hearing. A person, not a queue.
We arrive and cover everything
Tarps down and the vacuum ready before a tool comes out.
Camera, brushes, eyes on all of it
Firebox, damper, flue and the top of the chimney, photographed.
Photo report the same day
You see what we saw and decide what happens next.
COMMON QUESTIONS
If they are chimney swifts with an active nest, no, and neither can anyone else. Federal law protects the nest until the birds leave on their own. The loud phase usually lasts a week or two. Once the chimney is empty, we clean it and cap it in the same visit.
Chicks are loudest for roughly the last two weeks before they fly. The birds head south for the winter, and North Texas chimneys are generally empty by late fall. We can put you on the calendar now so the cleaning and the cap happen right after they go.
No. It can kill protected birds, it can send a panicked animal through the damper into your living room, and dry nest material in the flue can catch fire. Keep the damper closed and call instead.
No. Texas has its own rules for handling raccoons, and live removal of a large animal belongs to a wildlife control professional. Our work starts after: camera proof the flue is empty, removal of the den material, a full cleaning, and a cap so it does not happen again.
Yes. We locate it with a camera, remove it, clear the nesting debris around it, treat the odor, and sweep the flue. Then we find how the animal got in and cap the opening. You get photos of the flue before and after.
Usually not, as long as the damper stays closed. Most animals stay in the flue or on the smoke shelf above the damper. Keep the damper shut, keep glass doors closed if you have them, and do not open anything until the flue has been checked.
A chimney cap with mesh sides. It blocks birds, squirrels, and raccoons in one move, and it keeps out rain and embers too. A chimney that housed an animal once is an open invitation until it is capped.
REQUEST A CALL BACK
A person calls you back about your chimney, not a dispatcher.
Hearing Something Moving Up There?
We identify what is nesting and where it got in before anything is sealed, so nothing gets trapped behind a new cap and no nest is left to catch fire.