Suburban Raccoons


How do You Get Rid of Raccoons

August 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in How To 2 Comments »

get rid of raccoonsA family of raccoons living in your attic or around your home can be a real problem. They can destroy a home by tearing the siding away to get inside. This damage can let in snow, rain, and even other animals. They will leave their urine and scat on your insulation. It is not only a stinking mess, but it also lowers the insulation value and is a health hazard. If you think there are raccoons living in your attic, act quickly. Focus on getting rid of raccoons before they do a great deal of damage that could cost you thousands of dollars.

How to Get Rid of Raccoons

Many experts, neighbors, and friends will tell you that you need to trap them. Then, take them away to a forest somewhere. This is the wrong thing to do on several levels. There could be babies inside your attic. They will die inside your attic and make the situation worse. Some communities have bylaws in place that prevent trapped animals from being removed from their immediate surroundings. If the babies are still inside and the parents are released nearby, they will literally tear your roof apart, trying to rescue them. Finally, if the den in your attic is vacant, another family of raccoons will just move in.

The right way to deal with this problem is to build a one-way trap door so that the raccoons can get out but not back in. If there are babies still inside, you either have to get them out and release them to the parents or wait until they are old enough to travel on their own. Once they leave through the trap door, you can place a heavy gauge wire mesh over the opening and all other potential entrances to keep them out.

Now they are out, and they never will be able to get back in. No other roving families of raccoons can get in either. They will try but will be foiled by the wire mesh. While you are doing all of this, remove all potential food sources from around your home so that there is nothing to attract them to your area.

 

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How to Get Rid of Raccoons

September 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in How To 1 Comment »

How to Get Rid of RaccoonsThe picture on the left shows what can happen if you do not get rid of raccoons in your area and especially your home.  In this case, they have made a hole just above the eaves trough, pulling away from the shingles and part of the wooden backing that should run all the way down to the edge of the roof.

In this case, there may not be too much rain damage, however, in many cases, severe leaks are noticed in consumer’s homes causing a great deal of damage in addition to the hole in the roof. Raccoons also make a mess of your insulation, leave feces and other material in your attic, so dealing with them quickly is a necessity.

Trapping etc. Does Not Work

We have written at length on this blog about how to get rid of raccoons. Basically, you need to wait until the babies are old enough to travel on their own and then install a one-way trap door over the opening so that all raccoons can get out but not back in. Once they are out you can then make permanent repairs and install heavy gauge wire mesh as well to prevent them from making another hole.

Trapping the raccoons, poisoning them, loud noise, bright lights, shooting them just does not work in the long run. Sure you might get rid of the current occupants if you are lucky, but then another family will just move in again in a few months and you have the same problem all over again. Poison works on raccoons as well as other animals including family pets. You cannot use a gun in urban areas and they are pretty good at avoiding traps. Read some of our other posts about this subject to get more detail. In the meantime we want to discuss how to get rid of raccoons by making your yard and home less attractive to them, so they do not come around the area.

How to Get rid of Raccoons by Other Means

Raccoons are looking for two things: food and shelter. If they are in your house you really need to do something to get them out as discussed above. If they are in your area and your yard, digging up the lawn for grubs, etc, then they are there because there is a good food source nearby. There is a poison that can be purchased to kill the grubs and remove that particular food source for them.

Remove all potential food sources that may be available to the raccoons. Package your garbage in a manner that prevents them from getting into it. Encourage your neighbors to do the same thing. We only put our garbage out in the morning on the day the garbage collection takes place to prevent them from getting into the garbage and finding food.

If you have trees such as acorn or walnut trees, you may want to pick up all of the nuts that fall to the ground before the raccoons get into them. They can leave quite a mess and then you are also eliminating that food source. This applies to apples, grapes, and any other kind of fruit that raccoons love.

If you have a large dog and can stand the noise, leave him out at night to chase away raccoons and other animals that might get in the way. This may be annoying to yourself and the neighbors if he barks a lot, but then it is probably better than having them in the area.

Getting rid of Raccoons is Really a Neighborhood Challenge

While we’re doing some research for this post, we came across one fellow’s problem that involved his neighbor. Basically, this writer indicated that the raccoons were in his backyard a lot. He really wanted to get rid of them. His neighbor on the other hand saw them as being cute. They should be allowed to wander wherever they wanted. His neighbor would put out food for them. They objected to any efforts to remove them or deal with them in a permanent manner.

When neighbors take this sort of approach there is not a lot you can do. Other than some of the things we outlined above. You can hope they do not get into your home and that maybe they will get into your neighbor’s home. They can see what a significant problem it really is to have raccoons in the attic. It is not that we wish any harm to anyone. It is just that sometimes people must have their own experiences before they understand all of the issues.

Good luck with keeping raccoons out of your area and remember to eliminate as many food sources as you can for the raccoons in order to get rid of them.

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How to Poison a Raccoon

August 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in How To 1 Comment »

Poison a RaccoonPoisoning raccoons is simply not the right answer to get rid of them. Note that I am not saying this because of animal rights. Or concern for animals that are considered a pest by many people.  Instead, it is just not practical in the long run. There is a risk to your pets and your neighbor’s pets. In some areas, it may be even against the law in your city or town to poison a raccoon.

No one wants to see an animal suffer. However, when they are in your home, you will do almost anything to get rid of them. This picture shows a female raccoon with her pups in someone’s attic. If you poison these guys, they will die inside your home. The smell will be really bad. You will have to tear out all of the insulation. Then place new insulation just to get rid of the smell. The cost to the homeowner can be huge. It is important to get them out of the home quickly before a lot of damage is done.

So If Poison a Raccoon is Not the Right Answer, What is the Answer

Well, many people will try all kinds of things, usually from reading pages like this one. Forget loud noises, mothballs, and even trying to trap the raccoons. You might trap the young ones because they are inexperienced. But you are not going to get the more experienced adults to go into a trap regardless of what the pictures show.

The only way to get rid of them is to install heavy gauge wire mesh over the opening to the den which will block the raccoons from entering. You need to make sure that they are all out of the den, including the pups as well before you install the wire mesh over the opening. If you do not you risk that the pups might die inside your home and smell up your place. Worse the adults may tear your roof apart trying to get back inside to rescue their babies.

If they are not yet out, and the pups are old enough to travel on their own, install a one-way trap door over the opening to the den. This way all of the raccoons can get out of the den and then they will not be able to get back in.  They usually leave every night to forage for food, but wait a few days to make sure that they are actually out of the attic before you replace the one-way trap door with something more permanent.

Precautions to Take

If you got to this page searching for how to poison a raccoon, and are now looking at installing a one-way trap door, you are on to the right approach. When you install the wire mesh screw nail it solidly into the roof or the studs around the opening. Use waterproof silicon caulking to plug the holes created by the screws to prevent water damage.

Use heavy gauge wire mesh for this purpose so that there is no possibility of the raccoons finding their way past the wire mesh or tearing it from the roof.

The feces of raccoons have microbes that can be harmful to humans. If you need to clean your attic, hire professionals to do this work who are wearing the proper protective clothing and breathing apparatus.

Install the wire mesh over all potential openings around your home so that birds, squirrels, skunks, and raccoons will not gain access sometime in the future. While it may cost you a few hundred dollars to have this work completed, it is well worth the effort compared to the damage and the aggravation that they can cause.

Not the Right Answer

Poisoning a raccoon or any other animal is simply not the right answer. Not only do they die a horrible death, but you also run the risk of poisoning other animals including pets. Your neighbors may get quite upset with you if their cat or dog is poisoned.  Also, poison around the house is dangerous for kids as well so simply do not have it around

Finally, even if you were successful at poisoning this family of raccoons and removing their bodies, there are a hundred other raccoon families in the immediate area of your home that will come to visit once they realize that the den inside your home is vacant. Do the job right the first time and install a one-way trap door instead of trying to poison the raccoons inside your attic.

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How to Remove a Raccoon

August 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in How To No Comments »

How to Remove a RaccoonYour worst nightmare is represented in this picture. Two raccoons in your attic, setting up home and having babies! If you have raccoons in your attic or under your shed, there is a right way to remove raccoons and many wrong ways to try. We have tried many of them and found that there is only one sure way to get rid of them and it just also happens to be a humane approach as well although that was not part of our objective when we found we had them in the attic. Read on about How to Remove a Raccoon.

We will try to cover some of the right ways regarding how to remove a raccoon in this post. make no mistake, unless you do something quickly, these raccoons will set up a permanent home in your attic and have many babies. They will ruin the insulation, there will be urine-soaked insulation and feces everywhere. The smell will get worse and it will be very difficult to sell your home. Don’t wait to take action right away and deal with the problem now, they are not going to go away.

The Best Way How to Remove a Raccoon

These raccoons are smart and know how to avoid traps, loud music does not bother them, mothballs and other smells do not bother them and some of them even know how to avoid poison that you might put out for them. If you chase them or make a loud noise, they are just going to run up a tree or go into their den which happens to be in your home.

You can go in the den and you might chase them out. However, if they have babies, be ready for a fight. Note: This is never recommended. Even if you were successful in removing this family of raccoons in this manner, another family or even the same family is going to come back as soon as the coast is clear.

Raccoons living in suburbia simply have no fear of humans. Although they will stay out of your way, they are quite comfortable living close to humans. They live in their homes in the attic or under foundations etc. Once they have moved in it is tough to get rid of them, unless you put in place a permanent solution.

Build One Way Trap Doors to Remove a Raccoon

The only sure fire way to remove a raccoon and keep them out along with other raccoons in the area is to build a one-way trap door over the entrance to the den.  The picture we have included with this post shows the entrance at ground level. However, it could be on your roof under the eave or on the side of the home where they have removed the siding.

The trap door and the wire covering will need to be adapted to the situation. But the idea is to allow them to leave the den and then not be able to return. You also must make sure that the young raccoons if there are any, are old enough to travel. Otherwise, they will remain behind. They will either die inside your attic, creating a bad smell or the parents will try to get back in to rescue their babies. They will even try to tear your roof apart to get back into them. So wait until they are old enough to travel. Then install the one-way trap door. Also, seal off all other possible entrances as well so that they cannot re-enter from other locations.

Once you are sure that the raccoons are gone, you can then place a permanent wire mesh cover over this entrance as well. Use heavy gauge chicken wire so that it cannot be torn or broken. Also, screw nail the wire to the side of the house or roof. Use waterproof silicone caulking at all locations where the screw nails penetrate the exterior of the home or roof.

Lots of Raccoons in Your Area

Most people do not realize that there are lots of raccoons living in suburbia. They have adapted well to living beside humans and they are well fed. They live off the garbage. Raccoons also live off food that is discarded around homes, as well as grubs on your lawn. They even grapes off grapevines if you happen to have them.

Chasing them away, using loud noise, poison, and shooting them simply does not work in this environment. All you can do is take steps to make sure that they cannot get inside of your home. For more information about removing raccoons, click here.

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How to Repel Raccoons

July 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in How To 2 Comments »

How to Repel RaccoonsYou have raccoons in or around your home and you are wondering How to Repel Raccoons. There are a right way and a wrong way to repel raccoons or remove them from your home’s attic which was the situation we had to deal with. Some methods simply do not work while others if done properly will work every time.

This raccoon on the left was obviously threatened or was worried about their young babies and was going to fight back. There is no need to confront them and cause an attack. You do not want to endanger yourself or your family. If you try to get yell at them or chase them they will just run up a tree and then stare at you. If you corner one, you are going to get a reaction like this one above and they will fight to defend themselves so back off and let them escape. They can bite and claw you which can cause some damage to your person. Then because you have been bitten by a wild animal you will need to be treated for rabies whether they have it or not just as a precaution.

How to Repel Raccoons – What does not Work to Repel Raccoons

The following list of items has been tried by the  writer as well as some friends and found to be very ineffective:

  • Chasing them
  • Loud noises
  • Using mothballs or some other evil-smelling stuff
  • Trapping them, more just come along later
  • Poison, not considered humane and there is a risk to pets

There are all kinds of solutions that are discussed on various websites, the above included and they simply do not work. Even if you are successful at driving away or destroying the current residents, more will just come along later. You have to find a permanent solution that will work and keep them out of your home.

Lots of my friends said just shoot them. This is just boastful talk from people who do not know what they are talking about.  Well first of all you cannot fire a gun in a residential area and many people would say that it would not be humane. Besides other families of raccoons would just come along later. There are many families of raccoons in residential suburban areas. They have adapted to living with humans very well.  The same is true for using poison, with the added disadvantage that they could die inside your attic or you might kill the family pets or the neighbors!

How to Repel Raccoons?

The best way is to install a one-way trap door over the entrance to the den after the young are old enough to travel. With this approach, they can all get out of the den, but this family and any other family of raccoons cannot get back into the den. Nor can squirrels or birds for that matter.

Make sure that the babies are old enough to get out by themselves otherwise you will have very worried parents who will do almost anything to get back into the den including tearing your roof apart. There are other posts on this website that show the kind of damage they can cause.

The picture above shows the general construction of the one-way trap door. You will have to change the design to accommodate your situation and the location of the entrance to the den. This approach works well for skunks as well as raccoons and groundhogs if the den is under a building or deck. Note that you will have to block off all other possible entrances to the den as well.

How to Repel Raccoons – Use heavy Gauge Chicken Wire

Use heavy gauge chicken wire. Also, make sure you seal all holes to avoid water damage if you need to screw nail the chicken wire into the roof. This approach is by far the best way to stop raccoons from entering your home. You may not repel them from the area. But you will definitely keep them from entering your home’s attic or making a den under your shed for example.

If you are uncomfortable or not handy enough to build this kind of trap door, hire an expert. Make sure they also fumigate your attic to get rid of any odor that might remain.  The feces from the raccoon can cause disease and sickness to humans. If they are in your attic, you will need to take special precautions on entering the attic. Also, take precautions if cleaning it or if you decide to remove the insulation. Avoid entering the den of any animal including raccoons without protection.

 

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How to Remove Raccoons

July 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in How To 1 Comment »

How to Remove RaccoonsRaccoons have taken up residence in the attic of your home. You wonder how to remove raccoons so that they do not ruin your insulation and make a huge mess. It is important to deal with this problem early before they have babies in your attic. The picture on the left could be your home or anyone else’s home that has an infestation of these animals.  They are very resourceful, smart, condition of dealing with humans and they will fight to protect their baby raccoons. You need to take all of this into account when you are trying to remove raccoons from your attic or anywhere else on your property.

How to Remove Raccoons – Don’t Waste Your Time

The first thing we want to say is do not waste your time with all of the things you may find on the internet. We had raccoons in our attic and we tried the following to get rid of them:

  • Loud noise and music
  • Mothballs
  • Animal urine
  • Humane traps

None of these solutions which we found by searching on the internet worked. They are immune to loud noises and music, it bothered us more than them. The mothballs did not work at all, nor did the animal urine. (note this was a product you can buy at a local hardware store which is supposed to be the smell from their enemies). We also tried trapping and we were successful in trapping the younger inexperienced raccoons, however, the older adults were too smart and just would not enter the cage to get at the food. You can read more about raccoon traps on our website on other posts we have written.

After we had tried all of the above so-called solutions ourselves we finally turned to the experts for a solution on how to remove raccoons.

OutSmart the Raccoons

The thing you have to remember is that once a den has been created in your attic or anywhere else, even if you remove the current resident raccoons, other families in the area will be able to tell that the den is vacant and they will move right in unless you block the entrance securely.

If you block the entrance with the raccoons still inside you have a huge problem on your hands. At the very least they may die inside your attic and really cause a bad smell. They will try to get out and they might just tear a hole somewhere else in the roof, the side of your home, or worse into your home. If the young babies are inside the adult raccoons are outside, they will do everything they possibly can to get inside the den. this includes tearing a new hole in your roof or siding to rescue their babies. You will just have more damage to deal with a new hole to deal with.

The solution is to build a one-way trap door that allows them to get out but not back in!

One Way Trap Doors for Raccoons

Now it is important to only apply this solution when the young are old enough to leave the dean. Otherwise, you risk more damage to your roof or siding as the adults try to enter the den.

Building the one-way trap door when the young are old enough to get out is the best way to get rid of them and keep this family of raccoons out as well as all future raccoon families that might try to take over the vacant den.

Cover this entrance and all other possible entrances with coarse gauge chicken wire. Screw nail this wire into the roof so that it cannot be torn away. Use silicone caulking that is waterproof around all points where you have to penetrate the roof with screw nails. This will prevent water leakage into your home.

The trap door needs to open out words and not inwards. With this approach the raccoon can find its way out but not back in. the picture on the left shows the construction of a one-way trap door on the side of a building, however, the same approach can be used on your roof as well.

Hire Professionals

Note that if you are not a do it yourself type of person or you do not like to get on the roof, hire a professional to build this trap door. Also, you really should hire animal control experts who are skilled in this type of thing. They will deodorize your attic as well and they will repair any damage the raccoons may have caused.  If the raccoons have been in your home for a long time, you may have to replace all of the insulation as well. It can be soaked with urine and feces. Again hire experts who know what they are doing. The feces from raccoons can cause humans to become very sick.

Once you are sure that all of the raccoons have left via the one-way trap door, you can replace the trap door with a permanent wire mesh cover. This will keep all animals out including squirrels and birds out of your attic.

This is by far the best solution we have found on how to remove raccoons from the attic of your home. The same applies to other locations around your home or business. For more information about how to remove raccoons, click here.

 

 

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