Suburban Raccoons


Raccoon Behaviour

September 22nd, 2022 ernie Posted in Deterrants, Raccoon Removal $, Raccoons in the Attic, Removing Raccoons No Comments »

Raccoons exist in virtually every city across North America and these pesky animals have adapated to living in dense urban environments as well as in suburbia. There is generally abundant food for them available in our yards and especially on garbage day. most people believe they are friendly and cute and should be protected. However once consumers have to deal with a family living in the attic of their home, it is another story. undrestanding raccoon behaviour can help a great deal in preventing problems with these resourceful animals.

Raccoons can climb walls, trees and even downspouts to reach the roof of your home. They know how to puch up the soffit to gain access to your attic where it is warm and protected from the cold weather, rain and snow. Your attic is a great place for them to have their babies and raise them until they are old enough to travel outside the den.

Raccoons can do a great deal of damage. The insulation will be soaked in urine, there are feces everywhere and there is an entrance to the attic which can allow other rodents, birds, and rain to penetrate potentially causing further damage. Raccoons will have at least four dens and travel back and forth depending on food sources and the stage of their pups.

How to Avoid Raccoons In your Attic

Once they are in the attic, the best way to remove them is to install a one-way trap door which lets them out but not back in. after they have left, remove the one-way trap door, make repairs to the entrance and cover the spot with heavy gauge wire mesh to prevent their return. Trapping is a waste of time. Other raccoons will smell the den, check it out, and move in at a later time.

Be proactive and have all potential openings to your attic covered in wire mesh before they move in, especially if you are aware of raccoons in the neighborhood.

Do not leave dog or cat food outside where they can get at it. Place all of your garbage in raccoon-proof containers to avoid providing them with a food source and also spilling the contents of your garbage all over your driveway.

Raccoons love grubs on your lawn and will dig up the grubs which make a mess of the lawn. Treat your lawn to remove all of the grubs, which will improve your lawn as well.

 

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Do Raccoons Swim in Water

November 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in Deterrants No Comments »

The answer to the question, do raccoons swim in water, is definitely yes. Do they swim in backyard pools? Do they defecate on the steps or wash their food in your pool. The answer is yes to both questions. We have seen them swimming on our pool. We have seen the results of them washing grubs on the steps of our pool and we have seen poop left on the steps of our pool. It is all pretty gross and turns you off in terms of ever swimming in the pool again. That’s whey you need to discourage them and also apply lots of chlorine.

In fact my family and friends were sitting in the backyard one sunny afternoon having a few drinks when a raccoon came from behind our hedge. He stopped and looked at us and I guess decided that we were no danger to him. He slowly walked over to the steps and took a drink of water before heading back into the hedge.

We were all so shocked that we did not do anything at the time. Probably a good thing since they can be quite vicious if attacked.  Now the question for us was, what could we do about this problem and how to stop them from using our pool to wash their food.

Do Raccoons Swim in Water – Prevention

If there are raccoons living in your area there are two main reasons. There is a food source and there is shelter. In our case we had both. There were lots of grubs in our lawn which on their own almost destroyed the lawn. The raccoons liked to dig up the grubs, wash them in the pool and then eat them. They dug up our lawn in the process.

We sprayed our lawn and killed all of the grubs so they stopped coming to our yard for a feast. They were still in the area, living in someones attic. Once our neighbors dealt with the problem by using one way trap doors to keep them from entering their attic, they left for other home in the area.

For more information on raccoon deterrents, click here.

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Raccoon Proofing House

September 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in Deterrants No Comments »

raccoon proofing houseIf you have raccoons in your attic already or, as in this case, in the crawl space under your home, it is too late for raccoon-proofing house activity. You will need to install a one-way trap door, as this consumer has done, to get them out and keep them out. Once the raccoons come out of the space, this one-way trap door will keep them from going back in. Make sure that there are no babies left inside, otherwise the mother raccoon will do everything she can to rescue them. She can do a lot of damage in a situation like this.

Raccoon-proof your house now before they get locked out and begin looking for a new den in your home; if there are raccoons in your neighborhood or in someone else’s home, 

Raccoon Proofing House Steps to Take

Use heavy gauge chicken wire like that shown in the picture. Cover all potential entrance points to block entry to your home. Make sure to use self-sealing screws or dab with caulking to avoid water leaks when screw nailing into your roof. Here are some of the areas that you need to check and install chicken wire to prevent raccoons from getting inside your attic or under your home:

  • Walk around your home and identify any entrance point at ground level
  • Cover all points of entry with chicken wire
  • Block all roof vents with chicken wire
  • Cover chimney vents with chicken wire
  • Wherever one roof overhangs another, install chicken wire over the soffits
  • If in doubt, install chicken wire; raccoons are very smart and have a lot of experience breaking into people’s homes.

It is better to take these precautions now vs. waiting until they have broken into your home. If the neighbors have them, your going to get them in your home too. For more information on raccoon proofing house deterrents, click here.

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Can Raccoons Climb Brick Walls

January 7th, 2016 ernie Posted in Deterrants No Comments »

Can Raccoons Climb Brick wallsThe answer to the question, “can raccoons climb brick walls?”, is definitely yes. The picture on the left demonstrates they can climb quite high. This raccoon got up several stories on the sidewall of an apartment building before being removed by animal control officers. Based on our own experience, they can also climb brick walls. Our home has brick walls with no trees nearby. They climbed the brick to get onto the roof over our garage, and they made a den in the attic of our home.  Our experience with raccoon’s in our attic is the main reason we decided to start this particular blog. If you have raccoon’s in your attic, deal with the issue immediately before they make a mess and do much damage.

Can Raccoons Climb Brick Walls

As soon as you suspect that you have raccoons in the attic, call an animal control company to install a one-way trap door over the entrance so they can get out but not back in. Do this before they do much damage, leave feces all over your attic or worse have young babies in your attic.

Once they are out, replace the one-way trap door with a permanent heavy gauge wire mesh that can prevent them from getting back in. You may still notice raccoons on your roof for a while, but they may leave to find another home once they realize they cannot get back inside your attic.

Don’t waste your time and money trying other solutions. Even traps do not work over the long term. You might be lucky and trap the current animals, but other families of raccoons can move into your attic in a few months.

If there are babies in the attic, you only have two choices. First, wait until they are old enough to travel on their own and get out through the one way trap door. Second, install the trap door and then enter the attic to remove the young baby raccoons yourself. If you leave them there, they can die, smelling up your attic and home, as well the parents may tear your roof apart trying to rescue them.

For more posts about keeping raccoons from spending too much time around your home,

click here.

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Raccoons digging up the Lawn

March 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in Deterrants No Comments »

It is bad enough to have raccoons in your attic, but when they also dig up your lawn and make a mess of it,  this is adding insult to injury! We have had raccoons in our attic which is what prompted this website. In the process of getting rid of them, we Raccoons digging up the Lawnlearned a lot about them and some of the things to do and not to do.  You can read all about this aspect in some of the other posts if you are interested or have this same problem. We strongly encourage you to read up on this issue to avoid experiencing additional major problems such as Raccoons digging up the Lawn.

We managed to deal with the raccoons in our attic and solved that problem. Unfortunately for us and our neighbors, they just moved to another home and now someone else has the same problem. This also means that this family of raccoons is still in the neighborhood scrounging for food. Before you think, well why didn’t they just take them into the country or a long way away from our home, there is a reason for that. It turns out there are lots and lots of raccoons in suburbia and if one family moves away for whatever reason another just moves in.  You need a permanent solution which we describe in one of our other posts called getting rid of raccoons.

Raccoons digging up the Lawn

Anyway, they are still in the neighborhood and they scrounge for food in people’s garbage cans, their gardens as well as look for grubs and even berries.  This is where our lawn comes into the picture. Apparently, we have an infestation of grubs in our lawn. They are about an inch long and about 3/8th’s of an inch thick. They eat the roots of your grass and they are just under the root system of your lawn. They are juicy and good to eat I guess! This may have been what attracted the raccoons to our area in the first place. Skunks also apparently like grubs. We are actually not sure if it is raccoons or skunks that are doing this damage to our lawn. It really does not matter. The damage is the same as far as we are concerned. We have to get rid of these grubs.

The raccoons or skunks will dig up the lawn wherever they smell these grubs. They can really make a mess of the lawn. In one night they dug up almost 10 feet square of the lawn! The only way to get rid of them is to kill the grubs which we promptly did and we have not seen them back since. No food means no reason to visit our place at night.

Raccoons and Garbage Day

Also on garbage day, I wait until the morning to place our garbage out at the end of the driveway. They pick up early in our area. So that means I have to get up early and get it out there to the street. Otherwise, I would be out the next morning picking up garbage that is scattered all over the road!

It does cost some money to get rid of the grubs. There really is no choice in the manner. You either get rid of the grubs or you replace the lawn at some point when all of the grass dies during the hot summer months. The grass will literally have no root left. It cannot withstand the hot sun, since it has limited access to water.

So if you do not want raccoons around or other predators such as skunks, make sure there is no reason for them to visit. No food and they will just head off somewhere else hopefully!

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Repelling Raccoons

August 7th, 2011 ernie Posted in Deterrants 1 Comment »

Repelling RaccoonsThere is no easy way to repel raccoons. These are smart animals who have gotten used to living around humans in suburban settings. Many web sites will suggest cutting down all of the trees around your house that are close to the roof to decrease access to your roof. You can cut down the trees, but this will not stop them, you have to try other approaches, and who wants to cut down the trees anyway? There is just no way Repelling Raccoons.

Other websites will suggest placing mothballs in the attic or placing speakers that make loud music all night long in the attic, and still, other sites will try to sell you some magic potion that will drive the raccoons away.

The fact is, that raccoons have become used to living in urban areas and the Repelling Raccoonssounds and smells that go with living close to humans. They just will not be deterred by these types of things. They can climb the side of a house as the picture shows, and they seem to intuitively know where the good places are to find a den inside your home’s attic!

While it is a good idea to remove obvious things that the raccoons can use to gain access to your attic, as the picture shows they can climb straight up a brick wall over 4 stories!

Best Approach to Repelling Raccoons

The best approach is to keep all potential food sources away from them and ensure that all potential entrances to your attic are blocked in a way that they cannot gain entry. Blocking raccoons successfully involves placing strong wire mesh over all potential openings to your attic.  There are companies that will do this for you, however, if you do it yourself there are a couple of things that you need to be aware of.

If your neighbors are having raccoon problems and you are not, now is the time to block any potential entrances. It is just a matter of time before they find your home and create a raccoon den inside your attic. Do it now before it is too late. Forget trapping them, other raccoons are just going to come around later. The best long term solution is to block all entrances with strong wire mesh!

If Raccoons are Already in Your Attic

If you already have raccoons in your attic you need a plan. Your raccoon repel plan must first include getting them out and keeping them out.

Some companies will recommend the installation of a one-way trap door over the entrance to the den. The surrounding area is covered with strong heavy gauge wire mesh. This way the raccoons can get out, but they cannot get back in! This is an effective raccoon repel approach, however, you must make sure the young babies can also get out as well. If not the mother raccoon is going to do everything in her power to get back in. This includes tearing roof vents off to return to her young.

If There are Raccoon Babies Involved

If there are babies involved, you are just better off to wait until they are old enough to come out on their own. Then install the one-way trap door as a means of repelling the raccoons from your attic.

Also, make sure you cover all other potential entrances with heavy gauge wire mesh. Screw nail it into the roof and seal it to avoid any potential water damage. This is very important since you are penetrating the sealed portion of your roof. Unless it is sealed properly water damage is going to result.

Damage Caused by Raccoons

Raccoons can cause a lot of damage to your home. First, there is the entrance location which must be repaired. Second, there is the damage they do to the interior of your attic. They displace the insulation or even damage some of the vents that let fresh air into your attic. Finally, they are living in your attic so there is raccoon scat or feces. There is also the remains of the birthing process if they have young babies. You must get this all cleaned up if you are going to live in your home.

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Raccoon Deterrants

February 21st, 2011 ernie Posted in Deterrants 2 Comments »

Raccoon DeterrentsA Raccoon clinging to bricks six stories up a Burlington, Iowa, apartment building, a masked burglar is finally collared by the authorities. Raccoons can climb just about anything if this picture is any indication. They are very smart and have excellent claws for climbing and taking things apart. They can get into just about anything you can imagine. If they can climb this building, they can certainly climb the brick at the front of your home. Then onto your roof and push their way under the eave into your attic. Raccoon Deterrents is one approach to dealing with them. They seem to learn which homes are easy to break into and which ones are more difficult. Make sure that yours is one of the difficult ones!

We all want to avoid raccoons getting into our homes or in our attics. I have tried loud music, lights, noise, live animal traps, and more after they got into our attic. Nothing works. Don’t waste your time. Do not waste your money on traps etc. These suburban raccoons are used to living around humans. In fact, they depend on us for their food and shelter! They just ignore us unless they are physically threatened. You need to make sure that all of the potential entrances into your home’s attic are properly blocked.

Best Raccoon Deterrents

The best raccoon deterrent is actually to have your home checked by a professional before you ever have a problem with raccoons. For example, any location where they can gain entry to your attic or some other place inside your home should be covered with heavy gauge wire mesh and screw nailed into the surrounding roof or siding. If you do need to screw nails into the roof, be sure to use a sealing compound to avoid any potential water damage.

If you think they cannot climb up the brick on your house, think again. They can climb so fast that they are almost running up the side of our house when we do see them and scare them.

There are many websites that advertise a variety of raccoon deterrents. These include everything from moth balls to wolf urine. Don’t buy them because you are wasting your money and smelling up your home. Block all entry points to make sure that they cannot get in in the first place. Use strong wire mesh and screw nail it over all potential openings. Don’t take a chance, place wire mesh over anything that you think might be a potential entrance. While you are at it, block entrances for squirrels as well. This is really the best form of raccoon deterrent. It worked for us.

Be Patient if Raccoons Have already Invaded

If you already have a raccoon problem, you will still need Raccoon Deterrents, but first, you need to get rid of them. If they have young ones inside your attic, make sure you get the young ones out as well otherwise the parents will tear your roof apart to get back into the attic where they are. Once the young ones are old enough to travel, installing strong gauged wire mesh with a one-way trap door is the best bet, so they can get out, but not in again. This is the best form of raccoon deterrent and will prevent this family from getting back in as well as others that roam in your neighborhood.

Raccoons in Your Neighborhood

In case you are wondering raccoons will have up to 4 or 5 different dens in a neighborhood and there can be as many as 5 or 6 families in a square mile, sometimes more. So trapping one family and moving them well away will not solve your problem, especially if you have not blocked the entrance. Another family is just going to move right in. Raccoons can tell if the den is in use. Or if it has not been used for some time.

So forget those other types of raccoon deterrents and install a strong wire mesh they cannot remove or get through.

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