Is there anything scarier than the sound of something behind your walls? What if that something turned into four somethings and could easily come through your fireplace? Have you ever been sitting in your family room, looking at the fireplace when suddenly there is a huge boom? What is that noise?
Recently I was sitting in church when I received a text from my dad.
I am not one that really likes animals, but when I think of raccoons I think of cute cuddly animals that live in the forests with the owls, deer and chipmunks playing hide and seek.
Well, I will have you know they may be cute, but they are far from nice.
Raccoons have been attacking the chickens and cats in my parents neighborhood for years. At least four of their neighbors have had problems with them getting stuck in their chimneys. One of them even came home to a raccoon that had gone through their chimney and was in their house. Could you imagine? I would die.
I was so excited to see these animals that I told my dad when the exterminators were coming to let me know because I wanted to see this process of extracting these masked creatures.
When I arrived at my parent’s house I was both excited and nervous to see these mysterious creatures. I walked into their family room asking if you could hear them. I walked over to the fireplace and BOOM! One of them was trying to climb up the chimney and fell making a huge noise and causing everyone to scream and run out of the room.
All I could think about was what if they were to climb over the flu and into the house. What would we do then?
I climbed up on the roof to look down the chimney to see how many there were down there. As I walked over all I could think about was, What if one of them had climbed to the top, and as I go to look in jumps out and attacks my face? I had to take the chance because how often do you see raccoons in the chimney.
Slowly I walked up, I looked down the chimney and there it was. A giant raccoon staring me straight in the eyes. Chills ran over my entire body thinking of it getting down there and what other animals could have gotten into their house.
The exterminators pulled up and I thought, what are they going to do to try and get this guy out of there? Smoke it out? Get one of those poles with a ring that will go around it’s neck to pull it out? Scare it out with loud music?
Again, I am no animal lover, but I didn’t want this to be some inhuman way of getting them out. Fortunately the exterminators were great too. They had just caught a huge raccoon from another home and were very prepared for getting any more that we had.
As they looked into the chimney, they shone their flashlight to be stared back by a angry raccoon. They grabbed their tools and went to work. Using a chimney sweep (like what they use on Mary Poppins) they stuck it down the chimney in hopes that the raccoon would get on and then they pull it up. That was too easy and these raccoons weren’t going to fall for that.
So then they took sticky mouse trap paper, stuck it to the end of the sweep and stuck it down the chimney again. Jack pot! As they pulled up the brush out popped a rather small raccoon. I could have sworn they were bigger than that. Maybe this is just the baby.
Again, he reached the broom down the chimney and pulled out another baby. “That’s it!” said the exterminator. I could have sworn there was a bigger one, but he said that was it.
As we started cleaning up my dad said, “Maybe you should check again. I know I saw at least three, but 95% sure there were four.” So from the inside of my parents house they took a camera and looked again.
Nothing. I don’t see anymore. “Try one more time” my dad said. The exterminator took out his phone, put it on video and started to record. When he pulled out the phone he was surprised to see not one, but two more raccoons sitting over in a corner.
“I think they’re too far in the corner, but I can try to reach in and grab them from here” he said. At this point my mom was freaking out. Bring the animals that are covered in germs and disease into my home. Not only that, but they smelled awful but it was the only way they knew they could get them out.
Quickly the exterminator climbed into the fireplace, reached his arm in and bam! He caught one. As he pulled the little guy out I was shocked again. Where is this big raccoon that I swear I could see from looking down the chimney? It must be the last one that is in their hiding.
Last time into the fireplace, the exterminator reached his arm in. There erupted a scream from the huge beast that kept trying to escape the grasp of this mean man. I prepared myself for what I thought was going to be the largest raccoon ever to be seen, only to find another baby that had nothing but fight in him.
Where had the mom gone? I guess raccoon can climb to where they push their back against the side making it so that they can shimmy up small spaces. The babies were too small to be able to do that and the mother had gotten away. Or so we thought. Maybe she is still in there, but the exterminators ensured us that all the raccoons were safely caught, but if there were to be any other issues they would gladly come back and remove the “bigger” raccoon we saw for free.
Funny thing is, once he placed the cap on the top I swore I heard another one in there. Later that day, my mom text me saying that there was in fact another one that they heard. The exterminator returned, shined his camera up the flu of the chimney and when he looked at the screen he was in shock; TWO MORE! Making a total of six baby raccoons in the chimney.
The moral of the story is, when your babies are in danger be like that mother raccoon and ditch them for an easier life. Just kidding. But really, when life gets hard and your kids aren’t really grasping what you are trying to teach them don’t give up on them. It takes time and patience to raise kids. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Enjoy that time together in the chimney, but when they keep falling down help pick them back up and get them prepared for life’s challenges.
The mom was later caught at a neighbors.
