Suburban Raccoons


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If you are having problems with raccoons in your attic it is important to deal with this problem quickly and humanely before they do a lot of damage and it costs a lot of money.  As you can see from the picture there is a tremendous amount of damage that were caused to this man’s roof. The first step to deal with repair for raccoons is to arrange to get them out of your attic or where ever they are.

Note that if they have young ones that are too young to leave the den, and you block the parents from entering the den, they will literally tear your roof apart to get back to their young just like the picture!

So make sure that the young ones are removed or are old enough to travel themselves. Even if it means waiting until they are old enough it is better waiting vs. dealing with all of the repair for raccoon damage that you might have to deal with. Water damage from a leaking roof can be even worse than what the raccoons will do if they cannot get to their young babies.

Once you are sure they are old enough, arrange to install a one way trap door so that they can get out, but not back in. This is the humane way to deal with the raccoons, however there is actually another reason that this is the most reasonable approach. Raccoons have 4 or 5 dens in a neighborhood. In addition there are anywhere from 20 to 100 raccoon families per square mile.

That means you and your neighbors will have to deal with them for some time. They can smell a den, know whether it is used or not and move in, so blocking the entrance is the best approach to avoid dealing with repair for raccoon problems long term . Make sure you block every possible entrance to your attic!

Once they are gone, use strong heavy gauge wire mesh and cover all possible entrances, screw nailing all of the wire mesh down. Take care to properly seal any holes you need to put into your roof to avoid water leakage. Even if there are areas were they have not entered, cover these with wire mesh as well. Next you will have to deal with any damage they have caused inside and arrange for these repairs caused by the raccoons to be completed.

Be very careful with the repair for raccoon damage and entering attic space. Breathing the feces can cause organ damage and death. In the dry air of your attic, these feces break down, become dust like and when disturbed will float in the air for you to breath.

Hire professionals to clean up the attic if they have been there for some time. You may have to replace the insulation and the air vents over the soffits if there is a lot of damage. For more information on repair for raccoons and other associated topics view our posts and watch for additional posts over th enext few months.

Browse our web site for other hints and tips about catching and removing raccoons from your attic. We finally hired a specialist who installs wire mesh across all openings so there is no way for them to enter. At the main entrance they install a one way trap door for them to get out and not back in. This is a permanent solution to getting rid of the raccoons in our attic.

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