Raccoons can cause a lot of problems, from raiding your trash cans to pooping in places you would rather they didn’t. In addition, they can cause various damage to your home and garden.
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Raccoons are a common pest around homes and can damage roofs, chimneys, siding, decks, and landscaping. If the problem is severe, trapping is one option. The best traps are well-built, with sturdy metal parts to prevent them from being chewed through or tampered with. A cage trap is generally the preferred choice. These are large metal cages into which the raccoon is lured with food. They are secured with a trip pan that triggers the door latch when the animal steps on it. There are many different makes and models of cage traps, so be sure to choose the type that is appropriate for your situation.
When setting a trap, be careful to set it away from any areas where children or pets might disturb it. It is also important to avoid placing it where the raccoon is likely to find shelter, as this will make it less likely to be captured. Raccoons are scavengers and will readily eat garbage, pet food, and even live prey such as mice or birds. The type of bait used will depend on the season. Sweet fruit, berries, marshmallows, and jelly are all good choices.
To help protect shingles on roofs, it is a good idea to place a piece of plywood over a cage trap placed on a roof. This will keep the raccoon from tearing through and pulling the trap to the ground below. The same precaution is necessary when securing traps on porches, woodpiles, and other locations where the raccoon might find cover.
Once a raccoon is trapped, it will be frightened and anxious, so it is important to check the trap on a regular basis. It may take a few minutes to a couple of days to catch a raccoon, but it is not humane to leave animals trapped for extended periods of time.
Some wildlife control companies recommend leg hold traps or body gripping traps for raccoons, but these are generally lethal devices. They are more commonly used by fur trappers, but they can be a suitable solution for some situations.
Exclusion
When raccoons invade attics, walls, and chimneys, they can cause serious damage and cause costly repairs. They wreak havoc on insulation, damage roofs and siding, and create a mess in the attic that requires decontamination and sanitizing to prevent pathogen spread to living spaces. Raccoons can also carry rabies and roundworm and leave behind contaminated waste that can affect humans, pets, livestock, and garden vegetables.
While trapping raccoons can work in some cases, it is not an effective long-term solution. We recommend utilizing wildlife exclusion, which is the best way to deal with this pest in and around your home or business. Wildlife exclusion is done by installing preventative materials that restrict access to areas where raccoons can enter and exit. These can include removing food sources, securing garbage cans and bird feeders, preventing access to open water sources with pond dams or fences, trimming overhanging branches that could provide a raccoon climbing ledge, and blocking possible entry points by loosely wadding up newspaper and placing it in an area of the attic where there are multiple openings.
Piles of outdoor debris in the attic or in small spaces can be signs that a raccoon is attempting to make a den. The most common den sites are under decks, porches, sheds, and in chimneys. If you find that you have these piles in your attic, you can often avoid the expensive costs of raccoon removal by simply relocating the litter to another location.
Baby raccoons are easily trapped, and it is a more humane option to remove the babies from a nest in an attic space instead of relocating momma and her litter. This can save you from having starving raccoons in your attic crying at night and a lot of money from the unnecessary cost of a professional raccoon trapping company.
In the future, you can prevent raccoons from damaging your property by putting up an electric fence where legal to do so. These fences will repel raccoons and other animals, and can help protect crops from damage such as sweet corn, watermelons, and cucumbers.
Nest Removal
A homeowner can often spot a raccoon’s nest by looking for a hole in the roof or attic, as well as droppings and other signs of habitation. These animals are highly territorial, and if they know a place is safe and warm, they’re likely to return.
If you think you have a raccoon problem, it’s best to leave the trapping and removal to the professionals. Disturbing a nest can provoke the mother to become aggressive, and direct contact with these creatures can expose you to diseases they may carry. A professional knows how to read the signals a mother will send, and can quickly trap babies without risk of agitating her.
Once a nest is removed, it’s important to make sure the area is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. Raccoon droppings contain parasites and bacteria that can cause disease in humans. If left unchecked, these contaminates can spread to the rest of your home.
After removing the nest, it’s also necessary to seal off any entry points that raccoons might use to reenter your home. You can do this by reinforcing any vents, soffits or eaves, and blocking any potential access to crawl spaces. You can also eliminate easy shelter sites, like unsecured trash cans and wood piles. Regular inspections can help you identify the most common entry points, and a qualified pest control company can assist you in making them inaccessible to raccoons.
Raccoons will use any opening they can find to enter your property, including ripped or loose shingles, cracks and gaps in the roof, broken vents and chimneys, and a number of other places. A reputable pest control company can offer preventative services to keep raccoons away, which include sealing any entry points and repairing damage to your roof, and removing attractive habitats around your property. These measures include removing wood piles, clearing brush and other debris from your yard, and locking up any trash cans that aren’t securely attached to the lid.
Another step is to install one-way doors to prevent raccoons from reentering your home, which you can purchase at most home improvement stores. These devices are simple to install, and they can be a very effective deterrent.
Inspection
When raccoons move into a home, they leave behind bacteria-laden droppings and urine that can cause health problems. Wildlife control companies can clean and sanitize affected areas, including attics, crawl spaces, and basements where raccoons have made nests. They can also remove contaminated insulation and drywall and clean up the remains of dead raccoons. They will then seal the holes that raccoons used to access these spaces and install barriers to prevent future entry.
Raccoons love to make dens in dark, confined spaces like attics and garages, where they can live, give birth, and raise their young. They often find these locations by prying up roof shingles or by accessing vents, ducts, and chimneys. A raccoon inside the attic can make a big mess and may tear off insulation paper, rip open ducts, and gnaw through pipes. It is important to call a professional for humane removal and relocation of the raccoon, especially if there are babies present.
A professional will also conduct an inspection of the property and recommend steps to deter raccoons, such as covering outdoor trash cans, locking down dumpster lids, and installing chimney caps. They will address the spots in the yard where raccoons can gain access to the house, such as screening porches and decks and closing off entry points to attic vents and crawl spaces.
A raccoon is an excellent digger and will burrow under your deck or porch to search for food, and it will dig up gardens in search of grubs and other insects. You can deter raccoons by removing their favorite food sources, such as scraps left out overnight and pet food that is stored outside, as well as by cleaning up garden debris, repairing fences, and putting up wire mesh around trees and shrubs to keep them away from the house. Raccoons are very strong, so if you try to trap them on your own without a wildlife control specialist’s help, they could break into the attic and tear off insulation, rip open ducts, and chew through pipes. A qualified wildlife control specialist will use humane trapping methods, avoid killing the animal unless there are health concerns, and relocate the raccoon in accordance with local laws.