Suburban Raccoons


Raccoon Scat on the Roof

October 30th, 2018 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

raccoon scat on the roofThis homeowner has a huge problem. Not only have raccoons invaded his attic. They have made a hole into his attic and distributed insulation and other material all over the roof. There will also be a raccoon scat on the roof. Raccoon scat or raccoon poop is messy and dangerous to other animals and humans. If you have this problem you need to be careful and avoid touching or inhaling the dust from the attic and the roof. We will explain why later in this post. The first step is to remove the raccoons and prevent them from entering your attic.

This can be accomplished by installing a one-way trap door over the entrance to their den, inside your home. This way the raccoons can get out but not back inside. Use heavy gauge wire mesh when constructing the trap door. Also, install the wire mesh over all other potential openings into your den. If they already have babies, you will need to wait until they are old enough to travel on their own. If they are left inside the parents will tear your roof apart trying to get back in. Once they are out you can begin repairs.

Dealing with Raccoon Scat on the Roof

raccoon feces or scat has millions of roundworm eggs in it. These eggs can survive harsh conditions. If the feces dry out, the eggs will still survive and will float in the air where they can be breathed into your lungs. Roundworms in humans can cause blindness and even death. If you are dealing with raccoon scat on the roof, take precautions when you remove it. Wear a breathing mask and dispose of the scat in a tightly sealed bag.

Keep your pets away from the feces. also throughout any house material such as insulation using the same kind of protection. This is really an environmental hazard to humans. Depending on how long the raccoons resided inside your attic, you may have to have all of your insulation removed and replaced. Hire a professional team to remove everything inside your attic. They will employ proper protective measures to keep themselves and your family safe.

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Raccoon Droppings on My Roof

April 21st, 2018 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

Raccoon Droppings on My Roof If you have raccoon droppings on my roof that look like this, chances are you have raccoons living around your home or even in your attic. They leave their droppings in the attic as well and they urinate on your insulation. They really can do a lot of damage to your home and we strongly suggest that the homeowner take action immediately. Note that most insurance companies will not deal with or cover damage from animals to your home and attic. Deal with the situation quickly or risk serious damage costing thousands of dollars to your home.

Raccoon Droppings on My Roof

The worst thing you can do is to try to block the entrance into the attic or poison them or trap them. Blocking the entrance could mean you are trapping babies inside or an adult parent inside. The parent will try to rescue the babies and even tear another hole in your roof or siding to rescue them.

Poisoning them could mean that one dies inside your home and really cause a mess and a bad smell as the body gradually disintegrates. Trapping raccoons works but then you have an angry snarling dangerous raccoon inside a trap. You might be lucky and trap one, but they are smart and you will never trap another.

Once the raccoons are gone, other raccoons in the area can smell a vacant den (your house’s attic) and they will come visiting even if you block the old entrance up. Unless you take special precautions, another family is just going to move in.

The best approach by far is to install heavy gauge wire mesh over all possible entrances. Next install a one-way trap door over the entrance they have been using. This way they can get our but not back in. Make sure the babies are out or at least old enough to travel on their own. After they are all out, remove the trap door and install the wire mesh over the entrance. Seal it so that snow and rain cannot enter.

You may have raccoons visiting your home, getting up on the roof. If you have sealed and covered all of the potential entrances with heavy gauge wire mesh properly, no more raccoons will be able to get into your home.

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Raccoon Defecating on My Roof

January 21st, 2018 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

If you see a raccoon defecating on your roof, then it probably means they are living in your attic. A raccoon defecating on your deck also could mean they are in your home or living under the deck as well. They are in the general area and you need to take steps to protect your home before they do too much damage. Whatever you do do not wait. Deal with the problem immediately to avoid more damage and also to avoid baby raccoons from being raised inside your attic.

Many consumer’s first inclinations, when faced with this kind of problem, is that they must be killed. Not only does this offend many animal rights groups, but it is also actually the wrong strategy. Killing a family of raccoons will just open the door for another family to take their place. They can tell when a raccoon den is vacant and they will just move in. You get to deal with the problem all over again.

The solution to a Raccoon defecating on My Roof

The best approach by far is to block all possible entrances with heavy gauge wire mesh to stop them from getting into your home. If you block one area, they will just find another so examine your entire home for possible entry points and place the wire mesh over them. Use strong screws screw nailed into the wood and seal around the entry point with caulking.

If it is possible that the raccoons are actually inside your attic, for example, you need to make sure they can get out. Most experts will agree that the best way is to install a one-way baffle door so they can get out but not back into the attic. After a few weeks when your sure they are out you can replace the baffle with a more permanent covering.

If they have babies inside your attic, you have one of two choices available. Install the baffle as mentioned above and then once the parents are out, go in the attic and remove the babies. If you do not do this the parents may literally tear your roof apart to rescue them. Be sure to wear a mask when in the attic to avoid breathing the dust and dry feces which could be floating in the air.

The other approach is to wait until the babies can travel, install the baffle, and make sure they are all able to get out of the den in your attic. It means more damage, but these are really the only two choices you have.

For more posts about removing raccoons, click here.

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How to Deal with Raccoon Scat

January 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

How to Deal with Raccoon ScatIt is a serious problem to have raccoons in your attic. Not only do they make a mess, they leave their scat or poop all over the place along with urine that ruins the insulation. Not only is it messy, but there is also a health issue to be concerned about. How to deal with raccoon scat in a home or even around your home can be easily dealt with in a safe manner. All you need to do is follow a few simple rules.

How to Deal with Raccoon Scat Safely

We will list the rules or guideline for readers here:

  • First job is to get rid of the raccoons using a one way trap door. See other posts about this approach and why it works so well.
  • Once they are out, hire a professional with the proper equipment to remove the insulation and the scat etc.
  • Do not risk removing the insulation etc yourself. You can become infected and have all kinds of problems.
  • If a company says they will remove the scat without environmental controls, find someone else. They do not know what they are doing.
  • Never pick up scat with your bare hands. Aside from the yuk factor, you do not want to risk the accidental ingestion of the eggs from the larvae. Use plastic gloves and immediately through the bag and contents into the garbage. Do not let your animals or children near it.
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Why is there animal feces in my window well?

October 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

why is there animal feces in my window well?In this example, it is pretty obvious. The answer to the question. Why is there animal feces in my window well? Baby skunks some how have ended up in the window well and cannot get out. The mother cannot be too far away and will be around to protect her young.

The homeowner needs to do something to get these guys out, otherwise, they may die in his window well leaving a terrible smell and mess. I would hire professionals to deal with this mess. But sometimes it is not quite so obvious regarding, why are there animal feces in my window well?

Why is there animal feces in my window well?

For whatever reason raccoons will defecate in window wells. Once they select a spot it can be pretty difficult to stop them. There are several things that need to be considered. We will cover each of them in the following paragraphs.

Get Rid of Food Sources – remove all nearby food sources. Pet food, garbage, grubs in the lawn, etc. If there is no food they will not come around your home as often.

Block Entrance to Your Home – make sure they are not living in your attic or some other building nearby. Call professionals to inspect and install wire mesh over all potential entrances. If they are already inside, you will need a one-way trap door so they can get out but not back in.

Block the entrance to Window Well – Install a heavy gauge wire mesh over the window well so they cannot get into the well. Clean it out first, using a shovel. Do not touch the feces. it can be infected and cause a lot of health problems. See other posts on this site.

Enlist your neighbors – let them know what is going on and ask them to avoid leaving food sources out as well as get them to check that raccoons are not living in their attic or under their porch.

Good luck.

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How to Stop Raccoons from Pooping in My Yard

June 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

How to Stop Raccoons from Pooping in My YardNo one wants to see this little present left by raccoons on their deck or in the yard when they get up in the morning. Once raccoons know that there is a raccoon latrine around, they will keep coming back. There are several answers to how to stop raccoons from pooping in my yard. But first, we want to remind consumers that the feces from raccoons are dangerous to humans and pets due to the roundworms they contain. Avoid touching the feces with bare skin and avoid ingesting by breathing floating particles from dried raccoon feces. They can cause all kinds of problems including death.

How to Stop Raccoons from Pooping in My Yard

There are several steps to take to discourage raccoons from coming around. One of the best ways is to have a dog that is out at night and will scare off the raccoons. Again sometimes just having a dog and allowing them to urinate in your yard will deter them since their urine marks your property.

Remove all food sources that might be attracting the raccoons. They are coming around because there is either a food source or there is a den nearby. You can read some of the other posts about how to get rid of raccoons if they have established a den in your attic or one of your buildings.

Lastly, take an old towel and soak it with ammonia in the evening where the raccoons are leaving their feces or otherwise known as a raccoon latrine. The ammonia will burn their eyes and nostrils and deter them. You may have to do this for several weeks until all roaming raccoons have discovered that this location is no longer a raccoon latrine.

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What Does Raccoon Poop Look Like

May 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat 1 Comment »

what does raccoon poop look likeThis is a good picture to show what raccoon poop looks like, although readers should be aware that it also depends on their diet. For example, if they are eating berries, the seeds of the berries will show up in the raccoon poop. This may even cause the poop to lose its round tube-like form which is the normal shape of raccoon poop. Generally, it is a little smaller than the size of the poop from a similar-sized dog. About 3/4 of an inch in diameter and about 3 to 4 inches long.  Raccoon poop is not something you should mess with. Take special precautions to remove it. Avoid getting any on your skin or breathing in any of the dry particles that might float in the air. This can cause disease to be transferred to humans.

What Does Raccoon Poop Look Like

This particular raccoon poop indicates that the raccoon has been eating a lot of seeds of some type and that is why some of the poop is not well formed. Raccoons like to use the same area for their poop. You may see piles of raccoon poop in some areas if they have been living in the area for some time.

In other posts on this site, we have pictures of raccoon poop in the attic. If this has happened to you, take special precautions to remove the insulation and the poop. You or the company you hire should use protective clothing and protective breathing apparatus when handling this material. Review some of our other posts about this subject.

For more information about raccoon scat and other topics, click here.

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How to Stop Raccoons from Pooping on My Roof

February 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

How to Stop Raccoons from Pooping on My RoofHow to stop raccoons from pooping on my roof or in my attic which is even worse? If they are pooping on your roof there is a pretty good chance they have found a way into your attic. They are busy setting up a den to raising young pups. There will be poop on the roof as well as in your attic. It is not a pretty site to see poop in either place. But you need to deal with this problem quickly to avoid more serious problems and repairs. A hole in your roof or siding, poop on the roof, urine, and poop inside the attic on your insulation is something no one wants to deal with and are very expensive to remove.

If it is raccoons the poop will be approximately 3/4 of an inch in diameter and 3 to 4 inches long tapered at the ends. It will be rough in texture and tapered at the ends.

Sometimes if they have a lot of seeds or nuts in their diet the poop will break up instead of being one solid piece. Whatever you do, do not pick it up with your hands. They can be infected and you do not want to pick this up.

How to Stop Raccoons from Pooping on My Roof – Infections

The poop may contain roundworms which also have eggs. Once ingested, larvae form and can cause central nervous system damage and even death.

Remove all potential food sources in the area, e.g. garbage stored outside for example. Cover all entrances to the attic den with heavy gauge wire mesh. Install a one-way trap door so they can get out but not back in. Once they are out, remove the trap door and repair the entrance, then cover it with the wire mesh.

Use plastic gloves to remove all of the poop and dispose of it in such a manner that no animals or humans can come in contact with it. If necessary, you may have to hire a company to remove all of the insulation and replace it with brand-new insulation. You do not want to take a chance breathing dust from the attic which could contain the roundworm eggs.

For more about dealing with raccoon scat or raccoon poop around your home, click here.

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How do I Know what Animal is Pooping on my Roof

February 7th, 2016 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

How do I Know what Animal is Pooping on my RoofThis picture is raccoon poop in someone’s attic, however if you see this kind of poop on your roof then it means they are nearby and looking to get into your attic if they have not already. How do I know what animal is pooping on my roof when I have never seen one on the roof. Raccoon’s are nocturnal for the most part. If you want to see them, hang around at night outside somewhere where they will not be disturbed. You will see them for sure especially if they have a den inside your attic.  The poop can look like a dog’s poop, 3/4 of an inch in diameter and several inches long.

The ends are usually tapered and have a rough texture. If you see berries in the poop, you can be very confident that it is a raccoon. They tend to eat berries and prefer them in their diet. Also there are not many other animals that will climb onto a roof, so the odds are that it is a raccoon that is pooping on your roof.

How do I Know what Animal is Pooping on my Roof – Danger

There is danger lurking in this poop so never touch it with your hands. Use plastic bags if you must pick it up and properly dispose of it so that adults children and pets cannot come into contact with it. Raccoon poop or scat as it is sometimes called contains roundworm eggs and actual roundworms. If animals or humans come in contact, they can become infected. The eggs can be ingested, turn into larvae and which can affect the central nervous system and even lead to death.

If you see raccoon poop on the roof, remove all food sources in the immediate area and call a professional animal removal company. Trapping does not work so if they proposed this solution, find another company. You need to install wire mesh over the opening to your attic with a one way trap door. They can get out but not back in through the trap door. Make sure there are no babies inside that cannot get out. If there are babies in your attic, the adults will literally tear things apart to rescue them.

Once they are all out, remove the one way trap door and install heavy gauge wire mesh over the opening after making appropriate repairs. Next depending on how long they have been in the attic, you may need to replace all of the insulation. Again use professionals. You do not want to become infected or harm your family!

For more topics and ideas about what to do with raccoons in your attic, click here.

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Would Raccoons Crap on Your Roof

November 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

Would Raccoons Crap on Your RoofIf you are asking would raccoons crap on your roof, the answer is definitely yes. The signs can be just the raccoon scat or poop or crap on the roof, or worse like the one in this picture which shows the entrance to the attic. In this case the home owner has serious problems. Not only is he dealing with raccoons inside his attic, the location of this entrance will allow lots of water to enter and further damage his home. He needs to deal with this situation immediately to prevent further damage.

Raccoon crapping on your roof is just the first sign that raccoons are either looking for an entrance into your homes attic or that they have already created an entrance and are setting up a den in your home. They will also have their babies as well inside your attic so it is important that you act immediately as soon as you notice raccoon crap on your roof. We will list the steps to take in the following paragraphs.

Would Raccoons Crap on Your Roof

You need to deal with this issue quickly before you end up with the situation that this home owner is dealing with in the picture above.

If they have not entered your attic, cover all potential entrances with heavy gauge wire mesh so they cannot possibly get in. A professional company can do this for you or you can do it yourself. Just make sure they are not already inside, since they will do even more damage trying to get out and you do not want them to die inside your attic.

If they already have an entrance, install a one way trap door over the entrance so they can get out but not back in. Cover all other potential areas with the heavy gauge wire mesh to prevent them from creating another entrance. Once you are sure they are out, remove the trap door and cover the same area with heavy gauge wire mesh after making appropriate repairs.

If they have babies inside you will need to wait until they can travel on their own. Then you can use the trap door approach. If you block the parents from their babies inside your attic, the babies could die inside creating an awful mess and smell. The parents may also rip your roof apart trying to rescue their babies causing even more damage.

You will need to possibly replace the insulation and complete repairs as needed once they are out. This is the best approach to use. Trapping, loud noises etc does not work so do not waste your money.

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What Animal Pooped on My Roof

November 7th, 2015 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

What Animal Pooped on My RoofIf you are wondering what animal pooped on my roof, it is likely a raccoon! They are the largest animals that typically will go on your roof and leave droppings that are noticeable. If you see animal poop on your roof, you need to deal with the situation immediately since they are up there looking for an entrance into your attic. They want to create a nice warm sheltered den. Trapping them does not work. Even if you are successful with the current set of raccoons, once they are removed others will come along and attempt the same entrance. They can smell a vacant den and whether raccoons have been there recently. You need to apply a more permanent solution.

What Animal Pooped on My Roof

Are they in your home’s attic as well. This is the next logical step if you see poop on the roof. They likely have created an entrance somewhere on your roof into your attic and now raccoon poop and urine will be in and on the insulation in your attic. Left long enough, they will raise their young in your attic and make it a year-round home, creating quite a mess.

The moment you ask the question, What Animal Pooped on My Roof, you need to take action. If they are not inside you attic, cover all potential entrances with heavy gauge wire mesh so that they cannot get through. If they are already in your attic, you need to install a one way trap door over the entrance so they can get out but not back in. Cover all other potential entrances with the heavy gauge wire mesh. Once they are out, remove the one way trap door and cover the entrance with the wire mesh after making any repairs that are needed.

Note that if they have babies inside your attic, you are going to have to wait until they are old enough to get out on their own. You do not want them to die inside your attic, and you do not want the parents to rip your roof apart trying to rescue them. Once they are old enough to travel on their own, follow the guidelines above. This is the best long term permanent approach to dealing with raccoons in the attic.

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Why Does a Raccoon keep Pooping on my Roof

July 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

Why Does a Raccoon keep Pooping on my RoofIf your asking why does a raccoon keep pooping on my roof. The answer is obvious. They are living in your attic and there is lots of food around your neighborhood. Perhaps even in your yard. The picture shows an adult raccoon and one of the raccoon babies on the roof of a home. It is just old enough to leave the den and start making its way around your roof. Of course, they are going to poop on your roof. At least they are pooping on the roof and not in your home’s attic. You need to get them out and block the entrance before there is too much damage from feces and urine in your attic. You may need to have all of the insulation removed and replaced along with any other repairs that many be needed.

Raccoons Pooping on the Roof – Install a Trap Door

By far the best way to get rid of these raccoons is to install a one way trap door over the entrance to the den in your attic. Hire a professional company to do this for you to make sure that there is no damage to your roof while at the same time stopping this family and all future families from getting into your attic.

If a company suggests trapping them, call another company. Trapping will remove the current family, but will just make the den available for another family of raccoons to move in. Also there are bylaws in may cities and towns that call for the trapped raccoons to be let go within a few blocks of where they were trapped. Of course they are just coming back to your place!

Install the one way trap door and once they are out replace the trap door with heavy gauge wire mesh over all possible entrances to prevent them from re-entering the den. Make sure you apply caulking over all of the nails to prevent water damage. Finally remove all potential food sources from your property, such as garbage bins, grubs in your lawn and anything else that might keep them in the neighborhood.

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Raccoons Pooping on the Roof

July 7th, 2015 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

Raccoons Pooping on the RoofRaccoons pooping on the roof is a sure sign that you have raccoons living in your attic. Or somewhere around your home or buildings. They can create a huge mess in your homes attic and around your property. The insurance company will not pay for this sort of damage. You are on the hook if you do not react quickly. There are multiple ways to get rid of raccoons. However, there is really only one sure-fire way to get rid of them and make sure they or other raccoon families never come back.

Raccoons Pooping on the Roof

The best approach is to have a one way trap door installed so that they can get out of their den which is probably in your attic and not back in. Once you are sure they are out, replace the trap door with heavy gauge wire mesh over the opening and nail it to the roof etc. Make sure to apply caulking over the nails to prevent any possible water damage from these nail areas.

If they have babies inside, you need to get them out of the attic or wait until they are old enough to travel on their own. The parents will do much more damage trying to rescue them and you do not want dead raccoons smelling up your attic. The trap door is by far the best approach to keeping the current family of raccoons out and any others that might be in the area looking for a home.

Note that trapping the raccoons will be successful for a short term since you will remove them and take them far away, however, note that this can be against the local bylaws in your town or city. If you do not protect the entrance to the den with wire mesh as mentioned, another family is just going to move in within several months. You still need to make sure there are no babies inside.

Noise, mothballs and many other solutions just do not work. They are too used to humans living in the suburbs. Do it the right way and quickly to minimize the damage.

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Poop on Roof What Animal

June 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

Poop on Roof What AnimalPoop on Roof What Animal? There can be poop on the roof from various animals.  These include birds, squirrels, mice, rats and of course raccoons. Which is what this web site is focused on. If you see poop on roof you are wondering what animal it is from. The first thing you should look at is whether they are also in your home. There are many potential entry points and you really need to block these. If there is poop on the roof, there will also be poop in your attic as well. It will only get worse unless you do something about it. The picture on the left shows raccoon poop or raccoon scat as it is called in some circles. This will wash off in the next heavy rain, but the poop inside your attic is full of germs and infectious bacteria that is harmful to humans. Mice and rats have their own set of problems and you should refer to other websites for information on these rodents.

Poop on Roof What Animal – and What to do

If you feel that there are rodents in your attic, especially a raccoon, call a professional who will assess the situation and propose a solution. The best approach is to install a one way trap door so they can get out and not back in. At the same time. he will block all other potential entrances with heavy gauge chicken wire. Once they are out, he will remove the trap door and replace it with permanent chicken wire.

Don’t waste your time and money trying to trap them and take them away. Other raccoon families will find the vacated den in your attic and set up shop. Many cities have bylaws regarding trapping and removing raccoons, poisoning etc. You do not want to risk harming your pets with poison either.

Finally, if there are babies inside your attic, you may have to wait until they are old enough to travel on their own. Otherwise, they will be trapped inside with the parents outside. The parent raccoons will do everything they can to get back in including tearing your roof and siding apart to create a new entrance. Get the babies out at the same time you install the one way trap door.

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Breathing Raccoon Shit

March 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat 2 Comments »

Breathing Raccoon ShitWe do not like using this term, Breathing Raccoon Shit, preferring to use proper terms such as raccoon feces or raccoon scat, however in the age of search engines, you have to cater to what people are looking for and this seems to be a popular term. Regardless of what you call it, humans definitely should not breathe in the floating dust that is created from raccoon scat when it is disturbed.

In a dry attic, the scat dries out. It becomes powdery over time and then if disturbed floats easily in the air for anyone in this area and not wearing protective gear to breathe in. You would be amazed at how much dust can be disturbed and float through the air from simply walking around your attic.

Breathing Raccoon Shit – Danger for Humans

Aside from the thought of breathing in raccoon feces or breathing raccoon shit as one reader prefers to call it, and the unsanitary conditions associated with breathing this stuff. There is some real danger for humans. You want to either not go into the attic or take serious precautions to avoid becoming sick.

Raccoon feces contain roundworms by the millions. They are very hardy and can last a long time in various conditions. This includes very dry places like attics which tend to be very hot in the summer. The feces turn to powder. The eggs from the roundworms are so small they can float in the air. They can be picked up on clothing and skin as well as breathed into the lungs.

The danger is that these eggs will hatch inside of you and then travel to various parts of your body. They prefer the eyes and the brain and will settle in causing blindness and even death if not treated. There is no record of anyone being cured of this disease once it has set in.

The bottom line, protect yourself if you need to go into the attic. Wear a protective mask and thoroughly wash your clothes and body after spending time in the attic.

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What Should You do With Raccoon Poop or Raccoon Scat

May 7th, 2013 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat 2 Comments »

What Should You do With Raccoon scatThe picture on the left shows a lot of raccoon poop or raccoon scat as many people call it. Raccoons have been in this attic for a long time judging by the amount of raccoon scat laying on top of the insulation. There is probably more raccoon scat underneath and then there is the urine. This is a big problem for this homeowner and he or she needs to make arrangements to remove the raccoon scat and also the insulation in a safe manner.

Before we talk about removing the raccoon scat and insulation safely, we will discuss why humans working in this attic need to be so careful. Later on in this post, we will also discuss the best way to keep raccoons out of an attic and to get them out once they have found their way into the attic to avoid situations with the raccoon scat like the one in this picture. If you see raccoon scat laying on your roof, you know you have a problem inside your attic as well.

Dealing with Raccoon Scat in the Attic

We will discuss the following topics in this post:

  • Conditions in the Attic Contribute to Dangerous Environment
  • Removal of the Raccoon Scat or Raccoon Poop Safely
  • Why Trapping, Poisoning and Other methods do not Work
  • How to Remove Raccoons from Your Attic
  • The solution is to use heavy gauge wire mesh
  • Limit the Food Sources In Your Area

Raccoon Scat Conditions in the Attic Contribute to a Dangerous Environment

During the wintertime, the raccoons have wintered in your attic and also birthed their pups and then raised them until they are ready to begin to go outside and learn how to find food on their own. During this time, there is a lot of raccoon scat left in the attic along with urine and other material that they might have dragged into the attic. Even if you have managed to remove them, which we will get into later in this post, there is still a lot of raccoon scat left in the attic as the picture showed above.

During the summertime, the attic is very hot and dry. Anything left in the attic is going to dry out and as long as it is not disturbed will remain exactly where it is. This applies to the raccoon’s scat and it drys out and will turn into a fine powder if it is disturbed at all by someone walking in the attic to clean it or remove insulation. This is where the danger is.

Hidden in the raccoon scat are microscopic worms that easily ingested as they float on the dust particles in the air when you disturb the attic. They can get on your clothes, on your skin and you do not even know it. In addition, if you are not wearing a mask they could be ingested into your lungs and cause extensive health-related problems. Never go into a contaminated attic without protection from this environmental contamination. These worms can survive in very harsh conditions including hot attics so be careful if you are dealing with raccoon scat in the attic of your home.

Removal of the Raccoon scat or Raccoon Poop Safely

raccoon scatIf you plan to remove the raccoon scat, and if you own this home shown in the picture above, you really should be removing the raccoon scat/insulation, and there is a proper way to do it. Raccoon scat is really considered a hazardous material kind of removal due to the possible harm that can come to any human that is doing the removal. All of the raccoon scat and raccoon scat must be removed. In addition, the insulation must also be removed. It has been in contact with the scat and it is also possible that it is soaked with the urine from the raccoons, particularly if they have been there for some time.

Safety Precautions

The proper process needs to be used to ensure that nothing escapes into the air and into the home. The person cleaning out the attic must follow proper procedures or remove this material which includes wearing protective clothing and an external breathing apparatus. Professional companies who do this sort of work will use a vacuum to suck all of the material up through a vacuum and into sealed bags that are disposed of at the appropriate facilities.

By following these procedures the people doing the removal are protected and your home and family are also protected as well. Nothing escapes into the air into your home to come in contact with anyone in your family. Nothing escapes and comes in contact with your clothing, your furniture or your floors while being removed. When the person who was in the attic leaves the attic they must follow a proper procedure to ensure that any material that is attached to his protective suit is not accidentally dislodged and left in your home. Most attics are entered through a trap door in the ceiling of your home and they must walk in the front door through the house to get to this trap door.

This is serious stuff and it is important to pay attention to this issue to protect the health of your family and yourself.

Why Trapping, Poisoning and Other methods do not Work

raccoons in garbage binsIf you just read the above paragraphs, you now realize how important it is to keep raccoons and other animals out of your home. If you see them, deal with it quickly before they do a lot of damage and leave a mess like this one shown in the picture. We have looked at numerous ways to remove raccoons and even tried some of them and frankly they were all a waste of time and just do not work with the exception of one approach.

Note that we are not selling anything here. We are so angry at all of these fake solutions. We wanted to make sure that people know about these things that do not work. They are a waste of time and money. We will quickly review some of the methods we read about and tried to find out that they did not have any impact at all.

The first thing you have to realize is that raccoons living in urban areas are used to humans. There are a lot of them and they move around from one den to another. If you did manage to get rid of the raccoons in your attic by whatever means, another family is just going to move in a few weeks or months later. So you need to have a permanent solution to this issue.

Things That do Not Work

We tried loud noise blasting in our attic. This had zero effect other than keeping us awake half the night. We tried mothballs and about the only thing this did was to make our attic smell like mothballs. The raccoons could have cared less. We did not try spreading dried urine from wolves in the attic. Apparently wolves are one of their enemies; however, would urban raccoons even know about this kind of enemy? We also did not want to make our attic smell any worse than it already did. We did not try poisoning the raccoons. There was concern they might die inside our attic. Or we might poison some neighborhood pets which would have been much worse. Finally, we tried trapping them with humane animal traps.

Raccoons are very smart and the older ones simply will not go inside a trap. They will reach through the wire mesh to get to the food you have left in there. But they will not walk into the trap. It ended up that was just giving them a nightly meal to munch on! We also found out that our city bylaws restrict us from moving a live animal more than two city blocks from where the raccoon was captured.

This is frankly ridiculous since raccoons will range this far in their nightly search for food. They will be back the next night! There is only one real way to get them out and keep them out of your attic. We will review it in the next section. It turns out that this is also the most humane way.

How to Remove Raccoons from Your Attic

One way trap door for Raccoons in your atticThere are professional companies that do this work, however individual consumers can also install this solution themselves if they have the proper equipment and are not afraid to go up on the roof. This is an individual decision.

We opted for a professional company to do the work. It cost around $600 to get the raccoons out of our attic. Make sure that they are never getting back into our attic from any location again. Including the one that they used to get into our attic in the first place. It is important to do this quickly so that the raccoon scat and other damage does not accumulate.

The solution is to use a heavy gauge wire mesh. Screw nail it to the roof or the soffit area, wherever the raccoons are entering your attic. Use long screws to attach the wire in a solid manner so that it could not be pulled off. Before tightening the screws, place a large dab of silicon waterproof caulking where the screw nail enters the roof. This will prevent water from leaking in around the screw nail. You want to avoid rust. You also want to avoid water from getting in and causing the underlying wood to begin to rot. If you know that the raccoons and their babies are out of the den,  install a permanent cover over the opening. Complete any repairs that are needed.

Install a One Way Trap Door

If you think that the raccoons are inside the attic when you are doing this work, you will have to install a one-way trap door. Which will allow them to get out of the den, but not back into the den. Wait a couple of weeks. Then you can remove the trap door and replace it with a permanent wire covering. At the same time cover, any other areas where the raccoons might be able to gain entry. Also, areas were squirrels and birds can get in. This is by far the best way to deal with raccoons in your home.

If you suspect that the babies are still inside, you are just going to have to wait. They must be old enough to travel on their own. The best approach is to wait until you actually see them outside the den in the early evening. Once you are sure that they are coming out of the dean, you can install the one-way trap door. Eventually, they will come out and not be able to come back inside the den.

We are suggesting this approach since the parents are very protective of their young. If the parents are prevented from getting into the den, they will literally try to take your roof apart to rescue them. Better off to wait until they are old enough and then install the one-way trap door. They can do far more damage to your roof. Then the rain or snow and wind can do far more damage!

Limit the Food Sources In Your Area

raccoons in garbage cansUrban raccoons live in suburbia because there is lots of food around. Their favorite time is garbage day when there are lots of food scraps to be found. We have seen many garbage bags strewn along the road. Also, garbage cans tipped over from raccoons trying to follow their noses to some tantalizing food scraps. We wait until the morning to put our garbage out at the curb rather than provide a tasty meal for the local raccoons.

Store your garbage inside as well to avoid tempting them during the week. Anything stored outside is going to be a place for them to look for food.

Deal With Grubs in Your Lawn

If you have grubs in your lawn, lookout. They love grubs and will dig up your lawn to get at them. If your lawn is not dying from the grubs getting at the roots. The lawn is going to be a mess from the grass being dug up by the raccoons. You can deal with grubs by asking your local lawn care company to spray your lawn in early spring or in late summer.

They love apples, fruit, grapes, and any other food item that might be found in your garden. Corn is a particular favorite for them in the fall. We recommend that you do an inventory of your property. Try to eliminate all food items that may be attractive to raccoons living in your area. The objective is to make your property as least attractive to raccoons as possible.

Good luck with removing raccoons from your property. Take special care in dealing with the removal of any raccoon scat.

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Raccoon Feces Removal

March 21st, 2013 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat No Comments »

Raccoon Feces RemovalRaccoon feces removal should be completed by trained professionals who have the appropriate safety gear to protect them from contamination. No one wants to be around feces of any kind, particularly in the attic of your home. Raccoon feces have a particular hazard that humans need to be aware of. They need to avoid touching and ingesting these particles into their lungs.

When raccoons get into the attic of your home, they leave all kinds of feces scattered about. It ends up on the insulation as shown in the picture. Your attic is very hot and dry during the summer months. Your roof allows the heat in and the insulation prevents the heat from getting into your house. Air is ventilated through vents in the roof and vents in the eaves of your home. The impact of all of this heat and air movement is that these feces dry out over time. They will turn to powder if disturbed.

Raccoon Feces Removal – Danger Floating in the Air

Anyone walking on the insulation or disturbing it will cause these microscopic particles to float in the air and they will eventually distribute over the insulation or be carried out through the vents in the roof. These particles contain viruses that if ingested into a person’s lungs by breathing the air that is contaminated with this material can infect your lungs. If not dealt with properly, humans have been known to become very sick and even die from diseases caused by these viruses.

The proper way to deal with raccoon feces in your attic is to hire the proper company with the proper equipment that protects their employees and your family at the same time. Most consumers will want this insulation removed and new insulation installed. Removal and disposal must be completed in such a manner that no one can be harmed in any way. The gentleman shown in this picture is wearing an air filter and also the proper protection for his clothing and hair to avoid any part of his body being contaminated.

Follow Proper Precautions to Protect Yourself

Even if you are wearing a mask that will protect your lungs, you can still be contaminated by these particles ending up on your clothing and hair. As you crawl around removing insulation and feces, everything gets disturbed on your clothing.

As you leave the attic and travel through your home to get outside, you risk leaving more particles inside your home from your clothing and from your hands. These viruses could be picked up by your family just from touching something that you may have touched.

The only proper way to deal with this kind of situation is to place a suction hose in the attic to ventilate the air in the attic. It should draw all of the particles into a vacuum bag made for this purpose. It can then be properly disposed of. Only companies that have the technology and the training should operate this equipment to protect your family and themselves.

Replace All of Your Insulation

Homeowners will need to replace the soffit or repair it at the location where the raccoons have been getting into your attic. The insulation should be removed as discussed above and new insulation installed. The bad news of course is that you have to go through all of this trouble and expense. The good news is that you will have new insulation installed that will meet the latest standards for insulating homes. Your home may even be warmer as a result of this new insulation installed in your home.

Based on all of these issues, I would arrange to have the raccoons removed as quickly as possible. Use a one-way trap door approach. There are other posts on this site that discuss why a one-way trap door is a proper technique. Check these out. Install heavy gauge wire mesh over all potential openings that could be used by the raccoons, squirrels, and birds as an entry point into your attic. Only do this once you are positive that the raccoons are out of your attic. Make sure that they do not have any babies in your attic. They could tear your attic apart trying to rescue their babies. You can minimize the number of raccoon feces in your attic.

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Is Breathing in Air with Raccoon Feces bad

January 21st, 2013 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat 2 Comments »

One of our readers asked a question, “is breathing in air with raccoon feces bad?”

The answer is definitely yes! the picture on the left shows the proper way to enter an attic where raccoons have spent some time in a home and defecated in your attic.

Raccoon feces left in a hot dry attic dry out and crumble over time into fine particles that remain on top of the insulation until something disturbs them, such as air currents set up by someone walking through the attic, even if it is just to evaluate the damage. These fine particles are picked up by the air currents and of course, if you are in the attic and breathing in an unprotected manner, you will ingest these particles into your lungs. These particles contain roundworm infections called Baylisascaris. The eggs of this roundworm are very resilient and cannot be destroyed by conventional means.

Is Breathing in Air with Raccoon Feces bad

What Infections Can Be Picked Up?

Eggs ingested by humans will cause nausea, organ malfunction, blindness, loss of muscle control and even death in extreme cases. These are serious problems and easily avoided, so be very careful if you decide to enter an attic where raccoons have spent some time.

Animals such as bats and squirrels carry infectious diseases that can be picked up by humans. If you suspect that any of these animals are living in your walls or attic, take precautions before entering these spaces.

What Precautions Should be Taken

Take respiratory and physical protection measures before entering these spaces. Proper disposal afterward is also important as well to avoid contaminating other areas of the home or living areas. Remove insulation, bag it, and then properly disposed of. There are professional companies that specialize in the removal of this kind of hazardous material. Some people will attempt to replace their own insulation, however, you are literally risking your life if you do not take the appropriate precautions for removal and disposal.

Disposal of the insulation and feces or raccoon scat as some people refer to it, is also important. You cannot just put this stuff out in the garbage. Take everything to an incinerator to incinerate everything including the feces and the eggs of the roundworm.

Decontamination Services

There are companies that offer these types of services including replacing your insulation with new insulation up to the proper R-Value.

These companies provide the following services. The homeowner decides what steps to deal with this issue:

  • Full inspection of all contaminated areas
  • Evaluation of the R-value of the insulation in the areas where animals such as raccoons have been
  • Recommend the amount of insulation needed to meet building codes
  • Vacuum contaminated areas removing insulation and feces
  • Installation of new insulation to specified levels.
  • Permanent blocking of all potential entrances to the contaminated area.

They will use all of the required protective gear and proper disposal methods for dealing with your contaminated insulation.

The writers at this website strongly recommend that you not do this work yourself. Instead hire professionals with the protective gear, the proper removal methods, containment vehicles. They will also know the proper disposal methodology of the contaminated material. While it is going to cost more money than you probably planned, the alternative health issues are not very exciting. Spend the money and have it done right.

If you have a problem with raccoons invading your attic. There are also recommended methods to remove them as well and keep them out. Check out other posts on this website on the best methods to remove raccoons. Get them out of your attic as quickly as possible to avoid damage to your home.

Be careful and avoid you and your family becoming sick from raccoons!

 

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Raccoon Poop on the Roof

April 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat 9 Comments »

One topic we have not touched on is what to do about raccoon poop on your roof. This Raccoon Poopsituation often occurs when the access to the den, which happens to be in your attic is through an opening on your roof under one of the eaves. The picture on the left is a typical situation where the raccoons have gained access onto the roof and then pushed the soffit up to gain access to their den inside the attic of your home. Before you say, raccoons could not climb onto the roof of my home. Think again. They gain access by climbing up the brick if you have a brick wall, they can gain access from trees nearby. If there is a way to get there they will find it. They are smart animals. Back to dealing with raccoon poop or scat on the roof and what to do about it.

During their entrance and exit to the den they will also do some damage and have been known to scatter insulation as well as their own scat on the roof. A picture later in this post shows just how bad it can get when this sort of thing occurs.  Most people do not want to personally deal with removing raccoons and will hire an expert to remove the raccoons and place a secure guard of wire mesh over the entrance so that another family will not make the existing den their new home.

Raccoon Poop – Cleaning up Your Roof

Cleaning up though is usually left to the home owner and several precautions need to be taken. If you live in an area were you get heavy rains, chances are that the rain will wash the raccoon scat or poop off the roof and down the down spout. this is a good thing and makes the job easy unless there is also insulation and other pieces of your home mixed in. In this case you are going to have to clean it up and maybe even unplug the down spout and the eaves troughs as well.

In areas were you do not get much rain, it is going to be pretty much up to you. Otherwise the poop will just stay there and possibly clog up your eaves trough and down spout.

Take Precautions When Cleaning up Raccoon Poop

If you do need to clean things up yourself take the following precautions:

  • Were a mask to prevent any spores from entering your lungs
  • Were rubber gloves and through them out when you are finished
  • Use tools as needed and wash them thoroughly when you finish
  • Discard all material in a garbage bag that will go to the dump
  • Clean up any raccoon poop around your yard in the same manner

The following picture shows an example of what some people have had to deal with. A combination of insulation, foam insulation, raccoon poop and possibly other material that they have pulled out of the attic. Not a pretty picture and very frustrating for the owners.

We want to emphasize that you need to stop the raccoons from getting into your home first before any clean up is done.  If you do not they will just keep making a mess. Also you need to do it properly so that other  raccoons cannot get in later after the first ones are removed.  A post we did a few months ago deals with this issue in more detail . Click here to go to that post.

If you have had to deal with this problem, we would like to hear from you. Leave us a constructive informed comment that will be interesting to our readers. We will even approve your comment with a link if the comment is helpful to our readers.

 

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Raccoon Scat in the Attic

April 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in Raccoon Scat 1 Comment »

Finding out that you have raccoons in the attic can be one of the most depressing as Raccoon Scat in the Atticwell as frustrating things. Not only can you not get rid of them, you know they are making a mess in the attic. They are probably tearing things apart to make a nice warm den for themselves. In addition, both they and their babies are leaving their scat or poop all over the place.  Raccoon Scat in the Attic can be a significant problem. This post is focused on the raccoon scat that will be left in your attic. However, first, you must get rid of these pesky animals. Before you can even think about what to about the mess. There is a right way to get rid of raccoons and a whole bunch of wrong ways. Don’t waste your time, get rid of them in the right long term manner.

Check out several of our posts about how to get rid of them properly and permanently. This is important. You do not want to get rid of this particular family of raccoons only to have another family move into the vacant den.  Read up on this subject and do it right or you will continue to have more raccoon families inside your attic making a mess. They might even get into your home as well which would be even worse!  Read our post about how to get rid of raccoons!

What to do about Raccoon Scat in the Attic?

The first thing you need to do is to make sure they are out of your attic and that they are not coming back.  Now that they are out you need to take several precautions to ensure that no harm comes to yourself or the people removing the material. Most people will just hire professionals to remove all of the existing insulation and then install brand new insulation. Make sure they know what they are dealing with and have the proper tools to protect themselves and your family while removing the raccoon’s scat and the insulation from your attic.

Raccoon scat contains small organisms that can be harmful to humans if ingested through your nose or mouth as you are breathing. These organisms can cause blindness and even death over time so it is important to take precautions. Typically what happens is that the raccoon scat will dry in the heat of the attic. When it is disturbed, it will break down into a powder form. Many small particles will float into the air. If you breathe this or somehow get some in your mouth, you could end up with it in your lungs which is not a good thing.

Always were a proper mask when you are in the attic and especially if you have had raccoons in the attic to protect yourself.  Professionals may even use air breathers with good filters and they also may negatively pressure the attic so that all of the insulation and raccoon scat is sucked out through a large vacuum and packed in sealed bags for this purpose.

New Insulation in the Attic

Once everything is removed, make sure all of the proper weather barriers are in place. Check the soffits are where they should be before blowing new insulation into the attic. This is a good time to increase the level of insulation in the attic as well. It makes your home somewhat warmer in the wintertime and conserves energy. Also, make sure that all potential entrances to your attic that raccoons or squirrels might use are sealed. Use heavy gauge chicken wire and that it is screw nailed and sealed to your roof. Sealing each screw nail will make sure that your roof does not begin to leak around the screw nails.

This may seem extreme, however, it is your life you are dealing with and why take the risk. In preparing this post we came across lots of situations where people are going into their attic where raccoons have spent some time. They had no protection at all. They could also have been dealing with hostile raccoons who are only trying to protect their babies and their dens!

If you have a comment or story to tell feel free to leave us a comment on this subject. Good well, written comments are welcome. We will even provide you with a link back to your site for comments that are instructive and helpful to our readers.

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