The Beast in the Chimney
Jun. 17th, 2011 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
errantemberWe've heard some odd chittering noises in the chimney recently. The dogs have been very interested, which has lead to even more indoor marking during a time when I've been working hard to bring that problem under control. Nothing crazy fell out of the flue when I carefully opened it, and nothing was visible from careful, mirror-reflected light from below.
I proceeded to burn some incense in the fireplace with the flue open, and a few hours later, the chittering had stopped.
Clambering up top, I discovered that the hardware cloth cover had been pried open. The flashlight I brought up was totally inadequate to the task of illuminating the entire chimney, but I *was* able to use the mirror to reflect afternoon sun into the hole.
I have to admit, I felt like Batman.
One reason I felt like Batman was because of how shitty the little bob of light was, and how hard it was to see anything. However, I was finally able to discover a large hairball with ears occupying approximately half the width of the lintel.
Thank God that fucker didn't fall on me. It probably weights 20 lbs! I dropped some small twigs on it to see if she would move, but I only got one small jiggle after several direct hits.
I'm fairly certain what's up there is a momma raccoon and her unbelievably cute babies. I used to hand-feed baby raccoons when I lived near Mount Diablo in California, and they are fucking *adorable*.
So I can't kill them. Or take their mother away.
Gonna do more research to determine what might be the best way to proceed. For the time being it might be best to just plug the fireplace with some foam or something to reduce the noise, and wait for the family to move out on it's own. I'd be willing to deny the family it's hidey hole if I knew that the momma could move the babies to another location on her own. All of this would be greatly facilitated if we had some kind of night-vision camera that could see what the fuck was going on. Otherwise there's a good chance the dogs might get one of them, or get mauled by momma. Raccoons are actually much more dangerous to dogs than most people realize, and this one is big enough to possibly kill both of mine in a fight. And if the alternative were for her babies to end up as Louie Treats, fight she would!
I proceeded to burn some incense in the fireplace with the flue open, and a few hours later, the chittering had stopped.
Clambering up top, I discovered that the hardware cloth cover had been pried open. The flashlight I brought up was totally inadequate to the task of illuminating the entire chimney, but I *was* able to use the mirror to reflect afternoon sun into the hole.
I have to admit, I felt like Batman.
One reason I felt like Batman was because of how shitty the little bob of light was, and how hard it was to see anything. However, I was finally able to discover a large hairball with ears occupying approximately half the width of the lintel.
Thank God that fucker didn't fall on me. It probably weights 20 lbs! I dropped some small twigs on it to see if she would move, but I only got one small jiggle after several direct hits.
I'm fairly certain what's up there is a momma raccoon and her unbelievably cute babies. I used to hand-feed baby raccoons when I lived near Mount Diablo in California, and they are fucking *adorable*.
So I can't kill them. Or take their mother away.
Gonna do more research to determine what might be the best way to proceed. For the time being it might be best to just plug the fireplace with some foam or something to reduce the noise, and wait for the family to move out on it's own. I'd be willing to deny the family it's hidey hole if I knew that the momma could move the babies to another location on her own. All of this would be greatly facilitated if we had some kind of night-vision camera that could see what the fuck was going on. Otherwise there's a good chance the dogs might get one of them, or get mauled by momma. Raccoons are actually much more dangerous to dogs than most people realize, and this one is big enough to possibly kill both of mine in a fight. And if the alternative were for her babies to end up as Louie Treats, fight she would!
