Heavy, slow thumping overhead after dark — the kind that sounds like a person walking around up there — is a raccoon, not a squirrel. If it's spring, it's very likely a female with kits, and that changes how the job has to be done. We're a PA-certified Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator. Don't light a fire, and don't seal anything yet.
Free Estimate — Call or Text 717-379-3248Two instincts, both bad. Smoking out a chimney with kits in it kills the young and panics the mother, and a panicked raccoon frequently comes down through the damper into the living room rather than up. Sealing the entry while she's out foraging locks the kits inside your wall or attic — she will then tear open soffit, fascia, or roof edge to get back to them, and she will succeed. The damage from that is routinely worse than everything the raccoon did beforehand.
Call, describe what you're hearing and roughly what time, and we'll tell you what you have.
You almost never see the animal. You diagnose this by sound, and the sound is genuinely distinctive.
Sounds like: Deliberate thumping and dragging. Real weight. Often described as "someone's up there." Vocal — growls, chirps, and the distinctive chittering of kits. Loudest around dusk as she leaves and again before dawn.
Where: Attics, uncapped chimneys, soffit returns, and above porch roofs. Entry is torn or pried open, not gnawed neat.
Sounds like: Quick skittering and rolling, like something small running laps. Active at first light and again late afternoon. Quiet overnight.
Where: Attics and soffits, through a neatly gnawed round hole. See squirrels in your attic.
Sounds like: Scratching, rustling, and squeaking in the wall or ridge rather than footsteps. Heaviest right at dusk as they leave.
Where: Ridge vents, gable ends, chimney chases. Different law, different method. See bats in your attic.
Sounds like: Fluttering, scratching, and chirping that stops at nightfall. Chimney swifts in particular nest in flues and are federally protected.
Where: Chimneys, bathroom and dryer vents, soffit gaps. If it goes quiet at dark, it isn't a raccoon.
Inspect first. We find how they're getting in — and it's frequently not where you think. Soffit returns, roof-line junctions, and the gap behind a gutter are all common and all invisible from the ground.
Remove. Depending on the situation and the season that's trapping, hand removal of kits, or a one-way door once we're certain no young are present. Raccoons are a rabies vector species in Pennsylvania, and state rules limit what a licensed operator may do with a trapped animal — we'll explain exactly what applies to your situation before we start rather than leave it vague.
Close it properly. Entry points repaired to a standard that holds against an animal with hands. On chimneys that means a proper cap, which is also what stops the next one — an uncapped flue in Central PA will be occupied again, if not by a raccoon then by swifts, squirrels, or starlings.
Clean up. Latrine areas and contaminated insulation dealt with rather than left.
Cost: raccoon in a chimney with cap installation runs $350–$650. Attic work with exclusion depends on entry points and damage and generally falls in the same band as squirrel exclusion, $400–$900. Estimates are free.
All of the City of Harrisburg (17101–17104, 17109, 17110) plus Penbrook, Paxtang, Steelton, Highspire, Colonial Park, Lower Paxton, Susquehanna Township, and Linglestown. Also Hershey, Hummelstown, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Palmyra, Middletown, Carlisle, and Lebanon.
The sound and the time of day are usually enough for us to tell you what's up there before anyone comes out. PA-certified Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator, licensed applicator since 2005, fully insured. Serving Harrisburg and all of Dauphin, Cumberland, and Lebanon Counties.
Call or Text 717-379-3248