Chris and I did our weekly wildlife jobs together and had to go down to Provo to remove a dead raccoon out of a chimney. This is why you buy chimney caps to avoid this type of problem.

At the time, I had never been to a job where you had to remove a dead animal. I was curious how this job would turn out (I am currently studying to be a police officer and a Crime Scene Investigator).

We arrived at the house, and the owners lead us to the basement where we immediately were invited by a dead, decaying smell up our noses. We got all of our equipment and started the project. Of course, I had to do it because Chris is this big, tall man that wouldn’t have been able to reach up into the chimney to get the raccoon out.

I am a 19 year old girl that is 105 pounds so it was quite obvious who would be the lucky winner. I had to wear a full body jumpsuit with gloves, goggles, and a facemask to ensure I was fully protected from any diseases.

Then, the fun part started. I crawled into the chimney, reached up, and grabbed a nice chunk of a slimy, maggot filled raccoon leg. I looked at it like it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Chris was about to throw up and insisted I throw it in the garbage immediately and to stop playing with it.

I had absolutely no problem removing the fleshy body. I guess I have a sick, unique gift for that. I continued removing the body and we ended with a nice chimney sweep to ensure all hair, maggots, and feces were gone.

When we finished, we got up onto the roof to measure for chimney caps. When we got to the entrance of the chimney, there was a bodiless raccoon head staring at us. You could see its spine and brain from where it got decapitated.

More than likely it had gotten attacked by a male raccoon, leaving the owners with a nice welcoming stench. We took some pictures and then threw it to the ground to put in the garbage. When it hit the ground it made a splat noise. It was still a little fresh. I was very proud of myself after that job.