Critters in our chimney

So what does one do when you have critters living in one's chimney? It never occurred to me that I'd ever wonder that. Wednesday night, I, of course, having gone to bed at 7 pm and Ryan going to work at 9 pm, this little thought came upon me. Ryan on his way to work had heard noises coming from our fireplace. I awoke to him imitating those noises (like something that had come from the movie, The Ring). He wanted me to come down to hear the noises. In the state of my exhaustion, dragged myself out of bed to hear these freakish noises. I told him that he would not be going to work tonight until he got whatever was in our chimney out. Bring up the computer, search for animal control, calling parents, friends, anyone has any ideas? We block the kitchen entrances and build a barrier between our living room and the rec room. Ryan ties the dog leash to the fireplace handle. I open the door, camera in hand and tell him to go. He struggles the door open...there's NOTHING in there. We look a bit closer and the flue was closed. The noise was above the fireplace. Close the doors, open the flue, here some stuff fall into the fireplace and do the whole scene over again to no avail. So, Ryan goes off to work and I go to bed. Next day, we try again and no luck. FRIDAY comes along I get a text at work, of a picture of 2 raccoons...

Ryan says he's going to wait until I get home. 

NOPE. He decides to chase them out and this is the story that he told me. He made a path that led to the front door. Opened up the screen and the first raccoon ran out, no problem. Second one...directionally challenged I guess because it climbed up over the barrier and down into the rec room, back up to the corner of the living room, down to the rec room, behind the couch, up to the living room BEHIND the front door and tried to get out through crack between the jamb and the door. So Ryan put a box and scared it into the box and then made sure it only ran out the front door. It took about 20 minutes to get the second one out.