Why do I hear scratching sounds coming from my chimney at night?
Scratching from the chimney at night almost always means an animal has got in — most often a bird, a squirrel, a raccoon or, if the sound is light and fluttering, bats. The flue is a vertical shaft with rough walls, so it looks like a hollow tree to wildlife, and anything that falls or climbs in may not be able to get back out.
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What changes the answer is the time of year and the sound itself. Scratching that moves up and down suggests something climbing and still mobile. Frantic scratching in one spot, or chirping and squeaking, often means young animals in a nest or an adult trapped above a closed damper. Either way, do not light a fire to drive it out.
Why it happens
An uncapped flue, or a cap with torn or missing mesh, is an open invitation. Birds build nests on top of the smoke shelf or wedge them into the flue itself. Squirrels and raccoons climb down deliberately and den there because it is dry, dark and sheltered. Bats roost in the gaps around the top of the masonry.
Night noise is a clue to the species. Raccoons and most bats are active after dark, so you hear them when the house is quiet. Birds and squirrels are usually noisier at dawn and through the day. Scratching that you only notice at night can also simply be the hour you stop hearing everything else.
The real problem is what gets left behind. Nesting material is dry twigs and leaves packed into a flue, and burning it is a common cause of chimney fires. A nest also blocks the flue, which pushes smoke and carbon monoxide back into the room the next time you light a fire. Droppings in the firebox and on the smoke shelf carry disease and should not be swept up dry by a homeowner.
What you can check yourself
Stop using the fireplace
Do not light a fire while anything is living in the flue. It is cruel, and burning nesting material is how chimney fires start.
Listen for where the sound sits
Noise that seems to come from behind the damper is usually on the smoke shelf. Noise from high up is in the flue itself. Note what you hear and when, and tell the technician.
Leave the damper alone
Opening a closed damper can drop an animal, or a nest full of droppings, straight into your living room. Leave it as it is until someone has looked up with a camera.
Check your alarms
Make sure smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are working on every level. A blocked flue is exactly the condition they exist for.
Look from the ground
From the yard, look at the top of the chimney for a cap, twigs hanging over the edge, or birds coming and going. Do not go on the roof.
When to call a technician
Call once you are reasonably sure something is in there — particularly if the sound has gone on for more than a day or two, if you hear young animals, or if you can smell droppings or decay. Nesting birds are legally protected in many places, and what you are allowed to do about them varies; a wildlife specialist is often brought in alongside the sweep for that reason.
If you have already lit a fire and smoke came back into the room, stop using the fireplace entirely until the flue has been inspected. If anyone in the house has a headache, nausea or dizziness, get everyone outside and call 911. One Call Chimney arranges the visit with an independent sweep or mason, in all fifty states. It is one call, the estimate is free, and the technician gives you the price before any work starts.
What the technician will do
- Identify the animal firstNothing is done until it is clear what is in there and whether young are present. A camera is used to see the flue and smoke shelf.
- Removal or humane evictionDepending on the species, the animal is removed or evicted humanely, with a wildlife specialist brought in where the species requires it.
- Clear the nest and debrisNesting material and droppings are removed from the flue and smoke shelf so there is nothing left to catch fire or block the draft.
- Sweep and inspectThe flue is swept and inspected afterwards, including the liner, so you know it is clear and sound before you light a fire again.
- Fit a proper capA correctly sized cap with mesh keeps the next one out. Ask to see the camera footage and ask for the reasoning in writing.
Related questions
- Can I just light a fire to make it leave?
- No. It is cruel, animals often cannot climb out in time, and a flue packed with dry nesting material can catch fire. Keep the fireplace cold until the chimney has been cleared and inspected.
- The scratching stopped on its own — am I fine now?
- Not necessarily. The animal may have left, or it may have died in the flue, and either way the nest is usually still there. Have the flue checked and swept before the next fire.
- Will a chimney cap really stop this happening again?
- A properly sized cap with mesh is the single most effective fix, as long as it fits the flue and the mesh is intact. Caps can rust, loosen in wind or lose their mesh, so it is worth having it looked at during a routine sweep.
- What does this kind of job cost?
- It depends on what is in the flue, the species and whether a wildlife specialist is needed, how much nesting material has to come out, chimney height and roof access, and whether a cap has to be supplied and fitted. The estimate is free and the price is agreed before work starts — call (866) 576-7943.
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