Heres the deal with this one, I got a very stubborn coon in the chimney with pups and can't get her to come up no matter what i try...started with eviction fluids , paste , urine ..name it i probably tried it...set traps ..no deal either! I know patience and persistence would be a key factor but, the home owner has a home inspection due on Monday...Any inputs or ideas might be useful..!!!

climb in there with a catch pole and get her...

thinking maybe tapping my snare pole to a pole saw handle to get the length..it might make it

Chimney brush and pole, put a metal plate a little smaller than flue size on top of brush. Run pole down flue bang around in fire box until she comes up flue a bit and then pull brush and coon up flue towards you and stop when you can reach her with catch pole. Or from inside open damper and scare her up flue, take young and use them as bait in a cage trap set on roof.

Charles, SHOW us how YOU set-up a cage trap on a roof to do this!

Although I have used that practice successfully many times, several precautions should be taken before trying this practice...

#1) A trapped raccoon in a cage trap will reach through the wire and rip the shingles right off the roof!
So setting a regular cage trap on a shingled roof or rubber roof is OUT of the question, without some type of under protection!
Also, a plastic trap will not work well, if at all, for this application.

#2) A cage trap when placing the young inside, should be a stout trap with SMALL MESH WIRE...this prevents the female from reaching THROUGH the wire and trying to pull the young through, ripping them in half...God forbid a customer ever would see that!
The welfare of the young raccoons should be parimount!
Even if you intend th euthanise them later.
This is due to the fact that removing them from their "comfort zone" will generally cause them to start whimpering and/or crying out...so consideration should be taken , not only for the young, but also for the home owner who has to listen to this all day/and or night!


#3) Trap placement,(and 2 are best) is very critical...because if
a female sets the "catch" trap off by mistake, game's over!

Lastly, if this does NOT work in the first 24 hours or LESS in most cases, it won't.... so pull the young ! Depending on their age, they won't last forever!

Setting 2 cage traps,(one with young , one without) at ground level will work, if it is where the female climbs up and down however trap placement is again critical, because if a boar raccoon or house cat, comes by, your best layed plans just went down the drain!

Bud 25, many areas and chimneys are not accessable with a catch pole !

That only looks good on paper!

Does no one on here own a chimey trap??????????????????

Traps with young are checked at first light, and often at end of day of set up as mothers will climb onto roof in daylight to retrieve young in some cases. Pro model traps with small mesh work well on non-dimensional shingles, add 1/4 hardware cloth 36X36 under traps with dimensional shingles or non pro type traps. Traps on ground where animal climbs up is not an option for us, if roof is accessible, by contract we set on roof to avoid non target catches. For larger young we have traps that have been modified to allow no access by female (sorta like a live bait holder) to young. If no catch, check chimney some females will abandoned young and chimney due to disturbance and chimney cap can be installed. This reply was to a problem coon, my guys usually trap mother on roof then enter attic or chimney to remove young after catch I almost always pull young at time of inspection to keep mother from moving them down a wall void or under a second floor bath tub from original nesting site. As far as the Chimney traps had two didn't care for them much and sold them at a loss.

LT, we have a chimney trap but haven't used it yet. That trap would only be used in a dead end flue with no babies, only adults. We also have the brush and plate system that was made by Rich Danotti years ago. That is what Charles was discribing but Rich's comes with a cage that you pull the raccoon into. We haven't used that for years either, but it does work well.

Charles, we would never allow the female in the same cage as the young. Half the time the babies end up in really bad shape. That picture I saw with the babies in a half inch by half inch cage has possibilities, though.

Charles, (interesting cradle ya' got there...)

But, If I'm seeing that pictire right...that picture is of a trap set on a slanted roof, What holds it in place to keep from sliding ??? Not sure I see anything...

Also what protects those lil' 'coons from over heating in the sun, as there is no shade protection?

In my 40 plus years experience,an adult raccoon should never have access to the young raccoons, only think they can, THE REASON 2 TRAPS ARE USED IN A "T" FASHION!
If the wrong raccoons get into the cage, you got one bloody mess in short order...Don't think it will ever happen?
Think again!

Lastly, no protection to the roof itself from damage...what raccoon does not reach out and grab anything it can get ahold of in an evert of free itself ???

That roof will most surely have raccoon damage if left like that.

Problem solved..i like that plate idea....I tapped 3 pole saw lengths together along with my snare pull on the bottom..out in a jiffy!!!customer was running out of time so i did what i had too.

Thought the roof damage thing may come up so after a repair today snapped these pictures of a coon on a roof I picked up for one of my guys. Besides a little urine stain and some smashed bait no damage to roof. And as I said before if this was a dimensional shingle or a non-pro type trap there would of been a 36x36 inch piece of 1/4 hardware cloth under trap. Screws and wire holding trap to roof when pulled a clear terpolymer will be used to seal holes and now we get some shingle grit from gutter and put on top of terpolymer (thanks Vinke for that tip) Not much problem with heat on that day, I believe I put fiber fill in with young to help with cold, if rain is possible I will make a shelter with a zip lock bag over top wire with bottom left open for air. If to hot may not of used them but in most cases you can find shade due to orientation of home, dormer or trap cover. And while I only have 32 years trapping experience and the last 14 or so as a full time wco I also have caught the wrong raccoon or had the mother kill them. If the mother is experienced the babies get torn apart as she fight some material that was to strong for easy removal of the young which is why I use shoe covers, they are water proof and as we use them on every job I have a ton of used ones otherwise onion sacks work in a pinch. A young mother may kill them but that is usually a bite to head/ base of neck in my experience. And as always these possible out comes would have been discussed with home owner in advance so there are no surprises and as our traps are on roof there isn't much to be seen from the ground in the worse case scenario. A job in Trenton last week was a example how things can go wrong. Female raccoon removed, customer not home for removal of young so time was set by phone for next day. Overnight male coon enters attic and gets young the only thing my tech heard from customer was gratitude to male coon as he saved them money in animal charges. Do I use young as bait a lot, no. often, yes. For a stubborn mother on a job that needed to be closed, always. If customer is OK with it.

Good responce , Charles. Thanks for your input!

Well put Charles. Nice talking to you the other night!

My biggest problem would be forgetting to take the raccoons out of the booty before I put it back on!

Ha!

I bet they would let you know Paul :-). Just did an interview on local news last week after we got a call from a person who got bit by mother coon. He heard "birds" in his chimney. Reached his hand in and lets just say that mama let him know not to put his hand where he couldn't see :-). I told him not to worry after using an inspection mirror on a few occasions (why I use a digital camera now) I have put my hand into a fire box and ended up wearing the brass fire place screen holder around my neck and shoulders like some weird Mr. T type necklace. Even if they don't bang ya that [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot] off scream is enough to get ya moving.

Sorry didn't know the p word that is slang for urination would trip the cuss word filter.

I have the camera and cord from a portable ice fishing under
water viewer on a simple extendable pole. makes snare pole
work where ya otherwise couldn't see. cheap and effective.

Good tip, thanks.

great data guys
hope this gets archived!

Does anyone one know of where i might be able to purchuse one of these ,horizontal chimney top cage traps ?? Iv'e maid several serches but still cannot locate one.

I'm not sure what you're referring to. The newest one is the one Alan sells at WCS. It fits inside the flue and an orange flag pops up to tell when you have a catch. We haven't used ours yet so I can't tell you how good it is.

The only horizontal one I know of is the one that came with the kit from Rich Danotti. Those aren't made any more.

Here's a tip on something I have used often. All of us carry the 9x9x24 inch Tomahawk that we use for transferring animals out of standard size cages. Well, if you take this cage and turn it upside down and stick it in a 13 inch flue, you have a makeshift chimney trap. Just make sure you run some metal bars through it so it doesn't fall into the flue. I used wood one time and we were lucky to get the cage and the raccoon out of there. I would recommend the half inch by one inch mesh. I find this cage the most versatile trap of them all.

The one I saw a pic of, must be the discontinued one cause i cant even locate the pic anymore. And thanks for that tip on the tomahawk..i'll run rebar or simular through it.

You may be able to call the coon out with a wildlife caller either out of the chimney then cap it or into a trap. I like the vanish sold by WCS. If you can't call the coon out straight away I think the vanish and an aggressive raccoon combined enhance the effectiveness of the other. Add this to all the other good advice in this thread and I thinkyou have the answer to almost any coon problem.

trapperpaw...the coons been out for days now...I took Bud25's advice and just went in and got her with a snare pole from the top, with alot of extension,..due to the fact that i could not get the damper open large enough to pull her that way..Thanks

swampdonkey, thanks for keeping the catchpole thing in my mind. We had a coon family tonight in a chimney and after removing the babies, the mother stayed within reach of the catchpole. Reached down, slipped the noose over her, cinched up, and put her in the cage just as nice as you please. Some of the city raccoons are a lot more pleasant than the city humans.

Your Welcome Paul