Suburban Raccoons


Feeding Baby Raccoons

Feeding Baby RaccoonsAs cute as they are and as cute as this picture looks, we really do not recommend feeding baby raccoons. Rather, we should let nature take its course which in many cases would mean the demise of these baby raccoons. You are probably asking why we would take this seemingly harsh approach. The answer is that they are considered a menace in urban, suburban, and even rural areas. There are more than enough raccoons around as it is. In addition, these particular raccoons will grow up depending on humans. They will not learn to survive in the wild. They will end up not doing very well as young adult raccoons.

As they grow are you prepared to continue feeding them. You probably will have to keep them in cages so that they do not get into just about everything in your home? When they are finally released into the wild to be on their own, they will not have any of the skills needed to survive. They did not have the benefit of the training that adult raccoons would have given them. They will likely not survive very long.

Urban Areas – Feeding Baby Raccoons

There are actually many raccoons living in urban areas. They will have four or five dens often in the attic of people’s homes. Much to the distress of the people who own these homes. We recently saw a report on a news show where baby raccoons were removed from an attic and placed in a box outside. The mother had been driven from the attic so that the babies could be removed. Permanent repairs were made so that she could not get back in. These babies were so young they were still blind and needed the mother to support them.

The theory was that by placing them in an open box, the mother would come back later on. She would remove them taking them to one of her other 5 dens in the neighborhood. Since this was an urban area, this really means someone else’s home! Funny, this was recommended by the removal company which would mean another call for them. More profit for them as they remove the same raccoon family from someone else’s home. Capture them and take them into the country somewhere. Let them fend for themselves. The adult raccoons came and picked up every one of their babies. They took them somewhere they considered safe for their little family.

Damage From Raccoons

All of the animal rights readers will cry foul at this suggestion. However, after you have to pay the $500 to remove them from your own home and pay to clean up and repair damage to your own home. You may have a different opinion. The damage can run into thousands of dollars replacing the insulation and fixing the area that they used to get into the attic in the first place.  Dealing with raccoons and feeding baby raccoons just makes the overall problem much worse for someone since they will end up in someone’s home sometime.

If you have not had this problem and want to make sure that you avoid any issue with raccoons have a professional evaluate your home for all possible entrance locations for raccoons, squirrels, and birds. You can then decide if you want to take the next step in installing heavy gauge chicken wire across all potential openings so they cannot ever get into your attic.

This step should be taken by all new homeowners as far as we are concerned, but then the cost will deter many people until such time that they have to deal with the problem first hand.

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