Suburban Raccoons


Can Raccoons Climb Vinyl Siding

October 10th, 2022 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Raccoons are intelligent and have amazing dexterity in their paws. If they can find something to grab onto, they certainly can Climb vinyl siding and many other vertical surfaces. Brick walls are very easy for raccoons to climb and if you have trees with overhanging limbs on your roof, they will use the tree to access your roof. Pipes carrying rainwater from your roof are another favorite way for raccoons to gain access to your roof.

Once on the roof, the raccoons can access your attic vis the soffit, especially if one portion of the roof of your home hangs over another part of the roof leaving the perfect access point. once inside they set up a den and will give birth to their pups, urinate on the insulation and leave feces everywhere. It can be quite a mess and the damage they cause can be very expensive.

Raccoons Climb Vinyl Siding to Get Into Your Attic

The best approach is to install one-way trap doors so they can get out but not back in. make sure the pups are old enough to get out by themselves, otherwise the parents will literally tear your roof apart to gain access to their young pups, causing even more damage.

Once they are out of the attic, replace the oneway trap door with heavy gauge wire mesh to keep them from reentering the attic. some folks suggest trapping the raccoons and moving them a long distance away. This is a waste of time. Other raccoons in the area will find the now vacant den and move right in.

homeowners should proactively install heavy gauge wire mesh across any areas on your roof or soffits where raccoons could gain access to the attic. This is the best permanent solution to keep raccoons out of the attic along with squirrels and birds.

Take action immediately before they can cause a great deal of damage.

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Raccoon Damage to Homes

December 7th, 2017 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

homeowners insurance raccoon damageRaccoon damage to homes can get very expensive if you do not fix the problem immediately when they are in your home in the attic or one of the buildings attached to your home. They can make a hole in the roof or in the siding to get in. This allows rain and wind to do more damage. Some homeowners will have major water damage to ceilings and walls if there is a lot of rain or snow that gets into the attic.

In addition to the environmental damage, the raccoons may leave their scat or poop along with urine-soaked insulation in the attic. This only happens if you ignore the problem and let them live in your attic for some time. Perhaps you think that your homeowner’s insurance will cover all of the damages, remove the raccoons, and repair the damage they caused.

Raccoon Damage to Homes – Insurance Coverage

It comes as a surprise to most homeowners that their insurance company does not cover damage from animals. This is often one of the exclusions in the fine print that many homeowners never read until they are told their insurance does not cover this area. Of course, whoever expects to have thousands of dollars of damage from raccoons.

Act immediately as soon as you suspect that there are raccoons in the attic. Install a one-way trap door at the entry point so they can get out but not back in. Once you are sure they are out, replace the trap door with a permanent covering of heavy gauge wire mesh. The mesh will prevent them from getting back in.

If they have been in your attic for a few weeks, there is a chance that they will have had baby raccoons in your attic. You will have to either go into the attic and remove them yourself or wait until they are old enough to travel on their own before installing the one-way trap door. Failing to do this may cause the parents to tear another hole in your roof or siding to rescue their babies.

And yes, the homeowner’s insurance you pay for each month will not cover this expense either. For more information on damage by raccoons to your home, how they get in, etc., click here.

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Insurance for Damage from Raccoons

July 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Insurance for Damage from RaccoonsWhat a mess for this home owner! Do you think there is insurance for damage from raccoons that is going to help this home owner? Probably not and you are just as surprised as I was when I found out that the insurance company specifically included this particular item as an exclusion. In other words they are not going to pay for the damage that raccoons did to my home. Fortunately in my case it was not as bad as this homeowner. He not only has the damage shown in the picture,. There will be significant damage inside the attic as well and rainwater is going to get in and do further damage. This could cost thousands of dollars!

Insurance for Damage from Raccoons

If you are one of the lucky ones then great but do not count on it. The moment you suspect animals of any kind in your homes attic or even on the roof, take steps to get rid of them immediately. If not you could be looking at thousands of dollars in damages not covered by the homeowner’s house insurance.

A professional company can install a one-way trap door over the opening so the can get out, but not back in. Once they are out you can start repairing the hole and the other damage that they may have done. This is by far the best way to deal with the problem. If you somehow kill the first bunch a new group will just move in at some point and you start all over again. Do it the right way the first time.

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Raccoons Damaging my Roof Insurance Coverage

December 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

raccoons damaging my roof insurance coverageA consumers worst night mare is shown in this picture. Raccoons are damaging my roof. You find out that the home insurance you have excludes damage from rodents and specifically raccoons. Not only do you have a hole in your roof, raccoons in your attic. When it rains, the water is going straight in. The water damages to the insulation probably will run down the  walls etc. A hole like this one can literally cause thousands of dollars in damage. Meanwhile you still need to get the raccoons out of your attic! This is a serious problem. It should have been dealt with the moment they noticed the raccoons in their attic or on the roof.

Raccoons Damaging my Roof – What to do?

The first step is to get them out and quickly. You can try trapping etc, but this approach seldom works. The best way is to install a one way trap door so they can get out but not back in. If it is going to rain over the next week, you might also install a diverter to channel the water coming down the roof away from the hole.

Once they are out, repair the external damage and place heavy gauge wire mesh over the area so they cannot get back in. There are a couple of other considerations to think about. If they have young babies inside your attic, you are going to have to get them out before you fix the roof. Otherwise the adults will make another hole somewhere in your roof to rescue them. In addition, block all other potential entrances to your attic with heavy gauge wire mesh.

Raccoons Damaging my Roof – Insurance Coverage

In our case the home insurance I have specifically excludes damage from raccoons. This was a bit of a surprise and costly as well since I have to pay for the removal as well as the repairs to my home. Fortunately there was no internal damage. We got them out quickly so the insulation etc was not damaged and we only had to deal with the entrance.

We still ended up with a bill of $900, which is a lot especially when it is not planned for. If you suspect you have raccoons in your attic, deal with it immediately, don’t procrastinate. It will just cost you money if you do.

For more posts about damage caused by raccoons, click here.

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Homeowners Insurance Raccoon Damage

September 7th, 2015 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

homeowners insurance raccoon damageThe damage to your home from raccoon’s can be significant both inside and outside your home. This picture shows the damage to a consumer’s roof from raccoons, probably because he blocked the entrance to the den inside the attic and they were trying to rescue their young pups. They will literally tear your roof apart to get to their babies and in the process cause a lot of damage. In addition, if you are unfortunate enough to have a lot of rain, damage from water penetrating the roof can make it much worse. Homeowners insurance raccoon damage is not always available and something that you probably did not think about when you signed up for insurance. In our case, there was a clause in our insurance documentation that specifically denied coverage for damage done by raccoons. Can you believe that!

Homeowners Insurance Raccoon Damage

The best defense against raccoons is to deal with the problem as soon as you suspect that they are in your attic. If you wait thinking that they will leave, you are just giving them time to settle in and to have their babies. Once they have the babies you really only have two choices. Either wait until they are old enough to travel on their own, or go into the attic yourself and remove them risking that the adults may defend them, which can be a nasty business.

Most experts agree that the best approach is to install a one-way trap door over the entrance to your attic, wait for the raccoons to leave, and then go into the attic and remove the pups. Leave them outside somewhere that the adults can see them and take them somewhere else. Once they are all out, remove the trap door and install heavy gauge wire mesh across any opening or penitential opening.

In terms of homeowners’ insurance raccoon damage, unless you have special coverage, you are probably out of luck and will need to pay for the damage and repairs yourself which if not dealt with immediately can be thousands of dollars.

For more posts about damage from raccoons, click here.

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Yard Dug up by Animals – What to do About It

August 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Yard Dug up by AnimalsIf your yard dug by animals looks like this one in the picture, you have a serious grub problem in your lawn. Raccoons and skunks can detect the grubs just under the thatch. They will dig up the lawn to get at these juicy morsels. The grubs are white, about the thickness of a women’s little finger. They are about three-quarters of an inch long. You can roll back the thatch in your lawn and you will probably see one or two. In the case of the consumer in this picture, he has a major problem with grubs. The skunks and raccoons are having a feast at night. If he does not do something his lawn will be destroyed.

Yard Dug up by Animals – What Grubs do

Grubs exist just under the thatch and will eat the tender roots of the grass plant. As a result if you have a dry patch, you may notice your lawn turning brown more quickly in some areas. This can also be caused by cinch bugs. But your yard will not be dug up by animals in this situation. As a result of the lawn not having deep roots it is easy for any animals to dig under the grass. They roll it up to get at the grubs. I have seen it and had it happen to my own lawn.

Yard Dug up by Animals – What to do About it?

The best thing is to purchase the appropriate grub treatment and spray it on your lawn. You will need to do this several times a year for a few years in order to kill all of the grubs. It does work and if you do it quickly enough, your lawn will return to its original health quite quickly. You may also need to water it a little more often. Do this until the lawn is reestablished after the grubs have disappeared.

Whatever you do, do not wait, deal with the problem quickly, otherwise you will lose your lawn to the grubs and also to the animals.

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Possums or Racoons are pooping on my Roof

August 7th, 2015 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Raccoons Pooping on the RoofPossums or Racoons are pooping on my Roof is a big concern for many consumers. It is really a symptom of a much larger problem. The bottom line is it means that an animal, likely a raccoon has created a den in your attic. You need to take action immediately to prevent further damage to your home and a lot of expense to clean up the damage. There are right ways to do this and wrong ways to complete cleanup as well as get rid of the raccoons or possums and prevent any other animals from getting into your attic such as squirrels or birds.

Possums or Racoons are pooping on my Roof

Check out your roofline, corners and look for areas where there are potential entrances into your attic. The siding may be lifted or the soffits may be pushed up to allow entry by the raccoons. If you see this situation, then they are definitely in your attic.

Don’t bother trying to block the entrance while they are inside, use loud noise, etc. They will just either die inside the attic creating more problems or they will create another entrance. Hire a company to install a one-way trap door so they can get out and not back in. Make sure that there are no babies inside or you will have an angry parent ripping your roof apart trying to rescue them.

Once they are out, replace the trap door with heavy gauge wire mesh that will prevent them from reentering. All other potential entry points should be covered with this same wire mesh.

If there is a lot of raccoon poop or scat inside the attic, you need to get this removed by professionals following the proper process for protecting everyone’s health. Raccoon poop contains infectious worms which can cause a great deal of harm to humans including death. For more information on this topic and others browse our website for other articles on these topics.

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Animals Digging up Lawn at Night

May 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Animals Digging up Lawn at NightWhen animals are digging up your lawn at night, it can be very frustrating. Most homeowners have no idea why this happens or what to do about it. Like most things in life, there is a logical explanation about why something happens. Once you know why a solution can easily be found. As to the reason animals such as skunks and raccoons are digging up your lawn, they are simply looking for food. The food they are looking for white grubs that are fat and juicy and live off the roots of your lawn. They remain underground, just below the surface and they eat the roots which in turn will weaken the grass. If the raccoons do not ruin the lawn, the grubs will over time, particularly in dry hot periods.

In hot weather, your lawn may even turn prematurely brown, because the roots have been damaged by the grubs. In addition, since there are no roots or a very small amount of root for the lawn, it is easy to dig up the lawn and roll it back so the animals can get at the grubs. You can easily check to see if there are grubs by simply peeling back the sod and digging around a little bit to expose them.

Animals Digging up Lawn at Night – Solutions

The best way to get rid of the animals is to eliminate any food source in the vicinity of your home. In addition to the grubs get rid of any food sources such as your garbage, berries, nuts, etc that might attract animals.

The grubs are a bit more difficult. There are several solutions, but we have found that Spectracide offers the best solution for killing the grubs. Follow the instructions on the bottle. In general, you will need to spray the lawn several times in July and August. The first year will kill a high percentage of the grubs. We suggest that you spray the lawn for at least two years in a row to make sure there are no grubs to feed the local animals such as the skunks and raccoons. Your lawn will be much more healthy as a result.

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Attic Restoration – Pest Control Services

February 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Attic Restoration - Pest Control ServicesThis is an extreme case of damage done to an attic and the feces left in the attic by raccoons living in this persons attic for many months. Not only are there feces from raccoons, the insulation is pack down and not providing any insulation value at all. It may even be soaked with urine and must be removed before this home can be sold. It is actually an environmental hazard. Anyone cleaning this mess up must wear protective gear to avoid ingesting any dust particles which could contain microscopic round worms which are dangerous to humans.

Attic Restoration

Before you can remove this mess, the first step is to install one way trap doors to get rid of the raccoons. They will be able to get out but not back in. Once you are sure they are out hire a pest control services company to remove all of the insulation and dispose of it properly. This material must be burned to avoid any further chance of harming some one from a health perspective.

Once all of the insulation has been removed, new insulation should be installed to an R40 value to properly insulate your home. The vapor barrier should also be checked to make sure that there are no breaks which can cause moisture damage.

Attic restoration is typically not something that you want to take on yourself. You need to wear the proper protective clothing and the proper protective breathing apparatus. Otherwise there is a risk of ingesting round worms as mentioned earlier. Raccoons can certainly tolerate them. They appear to be very dangerous to humans to the point of even causing death.

Don’t go cheap on the restoration or the blocking of entrances. Once a den has been established raccoons will continue to come back to investigate. Make sure that all possible entrances are blocked.

Raccoons will have four-five dens in a neighborhood. There are several hundred in a square mile in suburban areas. They are always looking for a warm den to be safe in during the day since they are nocturnal.

For more posts about damage from raccoons, click here.

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Raccoon Lawn Damage

November 7th, 2013 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Raccoon Lawn DamageWe had Grubs in our lawn and we really found out the hard way just how much damage they can do as well as from animals that like to eat the grubs. The first sign was that the grass was not doing well. The grubs eat the roots which of course causes the grass to die and thin out, especially if you have hot weather and little rain. If you are not watering your lawn all of the time on hot days, your grass will die off quickly just from the grubs alone. Then there is the Raccoon Lawn Damage that occurs which can be catastrophic.

Raccoon Lawn Damage

The second problem is that skunks and raccoons started digging for the grubs and leaving holes all over the lawn. They come at night to search for their dinner! Since the roots are eaten by the grubs, there is nothing to hold the thatch down, so the raccoons or skunks can basically just roll the lawn back to expose the grubs and have their dinner.

Even in one night, they can make a huge mess of your lawn. This can be quite serious especially if your lawn is not in good shape, to begin with. Basically, your lawn will be ruined and you will have to first kill the grubs and then repair your lawn by reseeding or placing new sod.  While not expensive, this is really a major irritant.

What Scares the Raccoons Away

Nothing scares them away. We would go out at night and chase them away and they would be back as soon as we left. Even leaving the yard lights on did not bother them at all. They would hide in the bushes and wait for us to leave. Once we were gone, they would be right back to their snacking on the grubs on our lawn.

The Grass is short on roots because of the grubs. The raccoons pull it up digging for the grubs and even roll it back as if you were lifting sod. The grass of course dies and you’re left with a really bad-looking lawn. It is not level and is a total mess with the raccoons or skunks coming back night after night.

What is the Solution to the Grubs and Raccoons

Basically, you need to kill the grubs. We found that three treatments of pesticide for grubs really did the trick.  We missed a couple of small spots and will catch them next year to make sure there are no more grubs on the lawn. With nothing to eat, the raccoons went to someone else’s lawn for their meal.

We used a pesticide to deal with this problem and it was effective. You do need to be careful when applying it to make sure that it does not spread further than you planned. So if it is a windy day, wait for another day to apply the pesticide. There are other solutions, but they really are not as effective.

Reseed the Lawn after Raccoon Lawn Damage

Reseeding of the lawn was needed afterward. The old dead grass was removed with a rake and the new soil and grass seeded added. I chose the soil and grass seed route instead of applying new sod, however both work equally well. Although you do have to be more patient with grass seeds and soil. It does need time to grow.

That all happened last year. Now this year we have a great lawn with no grubs and no raccoons or skunks visiting us at night! Basically, if there is no food source for the raccoons, they will stay away. They will look for food in other areas in other people’s lawns and their garbage. By the way, store your garbage inside or in animal-proof containers, otherwise, your garbage will be strewn all over the place. It is just not fun picking all of that stuff up.

If the raccoons have nothing to eat around your property, they will not stay and will go elsewhere to find their food. this is by far the best way to keep animals of this sort away from your property and doing damage to your lawn and/or to your buildings.

For more information about dealing with damage from Raccoons, click here.

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Raccoon Infestation

October 7th, 2013 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Raccoon InfestationAs far as the writer is concerned a raccoon infestation is more than one living in my attic or around my house somewhere. We have had a family live in our attic. We had a really difficult time getting them out and keeping them out. They would also climb trees breaking branches. They would go into our pool. The raccoons would dig up worms and wash them in the pool. Worst of all they would defecate in our pool. Feeding baby raccoons abandoned by their parents is not the solution. Although cute, they grow up to cause all kinds of problems for homeowners in suburbia. This was a huge problem as far as we were concerned and I employed a number of techniques to get rid of them.

Removing Raccoons From our Attic

We finally got rid of the raccoons from my house by installing a one-way trapdoor over the entrance to the raccoon den in our attic. They had to find another place to live and that meant they left to live in someone else’s home, which is too bad really, but that is all you can do when you live in suburbia. Remember urban raccoons are very intelligent and will have four or five dens that they move around to move into. This means four or five homes that they are making a mess of. Fortunately, we have eliminated our home as one of those places where they can live in.

Trapping does not work because they are smart enough to not enter the trap and besides what do you do with them once you have trapped them? Secondly, loud noises, mothballs, and many other types of things that you might try just do not work. They are used to all of this sort of thing and ignore them. The best way is to install a one-way trapdoor at the entrance to your attic which allows them to get out of the den but not back in. You must wait until the babies are old enough to travel on their own so that they can get out by themselves. If you don’t do this the mother and the father raccoon will try to break into your roof to rescue their babies.

Our Lawn Still at Risk from Raccoon Infestation

Even though we got them out of our attic, they were still in the area and still viewed our lawn and those of our neighbors as food sources. Turns out that they were digging for grubs on our lawn. These are grubs that are as big as your little finger and white looking. They eat the roots of the grass which in turn kills the grass. The raccoons did them up which makes even more of a mess to your lawn.

We tried two different approaches to dealing with this problem and it seems to have worked. First, we sprayed the lawn with a grub killer. This takes a few weeks but does the job and now except for one or two pockets, we have dealt with the grubs. We still need to get these pockets and will in our next treatment of the lawn. The raccoons will still dig for grubs in the short term so we had to find a short-term solution.

Electric Motion Sensor

The short-term solution was to buy an electric motion sensor scarecrow. This thing senses if there is any motion in front of it and then sprays a jet of water across the area that it is pointed at. Any bird or animal or human gets a surprise with this jet of water coming at it. It will not hurt them but does surprise them. Once it sprays water it resets, waits for 15 seconds, and then sprays again if it detects any motion. Since it is not predictable that seemed to be enough to keep the raccoons from digging up our lawn for the time being.

Now that I have blocked them from getting into our home and also eliminated the food source, hopefully, they will not be back for some time to visit our yard or area. I have advised all of the neighbors as well so they know what to do to get rid of them.

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Raccoon Damage

August 7th, 2013 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons No Comments »

Raccoon DamageRaccoon Damage from raccoons can be quite dramatic. This picture shows one example of just how bad it can be. We are only looking at the outside of the home. Raccoons have obviously climbed up the brick wall (yes they can do that). They found their way into the attic probably from somewhere on the roof. If the damage outside looks bad, image what the attic looks like inside.  In this case the raccoons have actually fallen through the flashing. They probably ended on the ground and then climbed back up again.

Insulation is hanging down and the flashing is ruined. If this is winter time moisture and snow is going to be blown in through this hole causing even more damage to the home. The homeowner obviously allowed this situation to go on for too long before being forced to do something about the situation. He or she should have made repairs. He should have taken steps to block the raccoons from entering his attic the moment they heard or observed something going on in their attic. Now it is far too late. They are looking at major repairs that will cost a great deal of money.

Raccoon Damage – What Repairs Need to be Made

Well the obvious is that the insulation must be replaced and the flashing replaced. But the real damage is inside. Most likely the damage includes insulation that has been moved around. As a result the home is not receiving the same insulating value all over. This cause moisture to form in the attic and anytime you have moisture you have the potential for mold and for water damage. But this is not the worst problem.

Urine from the raccoons and feces will saturate your insulation. It will smell bad and there is a potential health risk as well. All of the insulation must be replaced and disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. There are microscopic worms in the feces which can kill humans if breathed in to your lungs. Make no mistake there is a right way to remove insulation and there is a wrong way. Hire experts who know how to remove the insulation safely. For more information on this subject refer to some our health related posts on this site.

Raccoon Damage – Permanent Solution to Raccoons in Your Attic

Once all of the repairs are completed, your insulation replaced and the flashing repaired or replaced, the raccoons are going to come right back unless you stop them. Trapping them is not the answer and poisoning them does not work either. There are lots of raccoons in your area and another family will just come a long and move in sometime.

The right way to stop raccoons from entering your attic is to install a heavy gauge wire mesh across the opening that prevents them from creating another opening into your attic. This is mandatory if you are going to prevent future damage. In addition if you suspect that the raccoons have babies inside your attic, you will need to wait until they are old enough to travel. Then install a one way trap door so they can get out but not back inside. If you do not follow this approach, the parents are going to make an even larger hole in your roof when they try to rescue the baby raccoons.

Once you are sure that all of the raccoons are out, replace the one way trap door with a permanent cover over the opening so that there is no way they can reenter. You will want to complete all of your repairs at the same time. Taking this approach will also keep birds and squirrels out as well.

The damage that raccoons can cause is in the thousands of dollars, not to mention the mess and the frustration that we all feel if our home is invaded. Don’t procrastinate, do something about your problem immediately of you want to manage and contain the damage to your home.

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Raccoon Roof Damage

January 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons 1 Comment »

Raccoons cause a lot of damage for a very specific reason, especially when it comes to tearing a roof apart. If you have raccoons inside your attic and these raccoons Raccoon Roof Damagehave babies in the attic of your home, there is pretty much nothing that will stop them from getting into the den where their babies are. They are very maternal and care for their young. They can cause a lot of Raccoon Roof Damage

Many people will block the entrance to the den as soon as they realize that raccoons are in the attic. They may not realize that they may have young babies inside. They often are too young to travel on their own. Once you block the entrance to the den, these parents hear the cries of their young raccoon pups. They will do just about anything to get to them. Humans react in much the same manner. The roof in the picture on the left is an example of what can happen. A raccoon is trying to rescue their young pups.

What Can You Do About Raccoon Roof Damage

No one wants raccoons inside their attic or anywhere near their homes. Once they have babies, they are faced with some tough choices.  You can close off the entrance to the den,  let the babies die inside your attic which will cause a smell, and take the risk that the parents will not try to get back in and do a lot of damage in the process. Just take a look at the picture we included as part of this post! Not only is the roof damaged, if it rains, but water is also going to penetrate your home and cause even more damage.

The other approach is to allow the babies to grow and once they are mobile on their own, seal all possible entrances to the den and also install a one-way trap door across the main entrance so that all of the raccoons can get out, but not back in. There are several advantages to this approach:

  • The raccoons are not going to do any damage to your roof or siding since they can all get out.
  • The young raccoons will not die inside your home which avoids creating an even worse mess
  • They will all be forced to leave to follow their parents once you install the one-way trap door and the most important part
  • No new families of raccoons are going to move in after the current ones are gone. There are lots of raccoons living in suburbia and they are constantly on the lookout for a vacated den.

Raccoon Damage  in Your Attic

Sure they made a mess in your attic and you are going to have to deal with that, but this is much better than having holes in your roof and further damage from wind, rain, or snow to your home.

Besides if you kill the raccoons, someone is going to complain and you may get in trouble with the police. You have to dispose of the bodies and you might even have them die inside your home, which is going to cause a huge bill to clean the place and get rid of the smell. Better to get rid of them with heavy gauge wire mesh across all entrances and not let any more into your attic. This solution is a permanent solution and keeps all future raccoons outside of your home. We have tried it and it works.

Loud noise, mothballs, and all of the other things you will read on the web just do not work. This approach is by far the best approach for many reasons. No mess and they are kept out of your home permanently, which works for us.

Let us know if you have roof damage from raccoons and what you did about the raccoons who caused it.

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Damage Caused by Raccoons

March 21st, 2011 ernie Posted in Damage Raccoons 1 Comment »

Damage Caused by RaccoonsIf you are having problems with raccoon damage in your yard, your outbuildings or worse your attic, there is a time to deal with them and a time to let them alone. Damage caused by raccoons can be significant. Since we are talking about raccoons that live in suburbia, you are limited by local conditions and bylaws. They cover how you can get rid of these animals. They are very smart and they are used to dealing with humans. You need to be smarter than they are if you are going to get rid of them. Once you do you need to make repairs to your home that will not be torn apart again.

Damage Caused by Raccoons – Adults

Raccoons usually have their young in the spring. However, in some climates, they may have several batches of young raccoons during the year. You need to find out if they have any young babies with them in their den. Before you can do anything, these babies must be old enough to travel on their own.

Raccoons with young pups are very protective. They have been known to tear a roof apart to get back into their den to protect their young ones. The damage the raccoons cause to the roof can let water in. When water gets into your home it can really damage your home and can cost thousands of dollars.

Most experts will recommend that you wait till the young ones are old enough to leave the den. Then you can take steps to keep them out to avoid damage to your roof caused by adult raccoons.

Once The Baby Raccoons Are Old Enough to Travel On Their Own

Once you are sure they are gone or if the young are old enough install a one-way trap over their entrance so they can get out but not back in. This is by far the best way to get rid of them and avoid further damage from raccoons trying to reenter. They will not damage your roof unless they are trying to get back to their young.

There are just so many raccoons in suburban areas and they will find the raccoon den in your home every time. In fact, they still come back to our home trying to get in even with the wire mesh over the entrance. There is really no use in trying to trap them and take them some distance away.  More families will come later to occupy the vacated den unless you block the entrance.

Once they are gone, remove the one-way trap door and use strong heavy gauge wire mesh to cover all possible entrances, screw-nailing all of the wire mesh down. Take care to properly seal any holes you need to put into your roof to avoid water leakage. Use silicon caulk suitable for cold and hot weather.

Even if there are areas where they have not entered, cover these with wire mesh as well. This will also keep birds and squirrels from getting into where they are not supposed to be. Next, you will have to deal with any raccoon damage they have caused inside and arrange for repairs caused by the raccoons to be completed.

Repairs to the Damage

Be very careful with the raccoon damage and entering attic space. Breathing the dried particles from feces as they float in the air can cause organ damage and death. In the dry air of your attic, these feces break down, turn to dust and when disturbed will float in the air for you to breathe.

Hire professionals to clean up the attic if they have been there for some time. They will have the proper equipment to protect them. You may have to replace the insulation and the air vents over the soffits if there is a lot of raccoon damage, especially if the raccoons have been there for a long time. For more information on raccoon damage repair, safety issues, and other associated topics visit our site map.

If you have had experience with raccoons in this manner and would like to share your story, feel free to leave a comment on this post. for more information about damage caused by raccoons, click here.

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