Suburban Raccoons

Raccoons are living among us as comfortably as our pets. In fact they tend to ignore us as they go about their daily activity of searching for food. Or searching for a place to live or hide during the day.

They are primarily nocturnal, so if you see one during the day, it is a rare event. Most likely there is something wrong with them. They could either be sick and diseased which means you want to stay well away from them. Or they could have lost their den and could not find another location to spend the day. Also, keep your pets well away from them in case they are diseased.

Raccoon characteristics – Dens

Raccoon characteristics suggest that they will have 4 or 5 dens that they can go to within the area that they live in and search for food. They tend to move around from one den to the next in the search for food within the territory that they live in. As the picture shows, they search for food among the garbage.

They have become quite adept at opening garbage pails and garbage bags. Raccoons tend to make a mess when this happens so many people will keep their garbage inside until it needs to be placed at the curb on garbage day. They can also use animal-proof garbage bins. However, these are typically more expensive than the average garbage can.

Raccoon characteristics – Sickness

If you do see one out during the day, keep your distance. If they are drooling at the mouth or are exhibiting aggressive characteristics they are probably sick and you should stay well away from them. You will want to call animal control to remove them safely from your area.  It is also important to keep your kids and pets well away from the raccoons and also any feces that they may leave behind. Protect yourself from touching or coming in contact with the feces or call someone to properly dispose of the feces. They can be infected and can cause serious disease in humans.

If raccoons are in your home inside your attic, you need to get them out as quickly as possible. Install a one-way trap door to allow them to get out and not back out. Once they are out, you can replace the one-way door with permanent heavy gauge chicken wire that is securely screw nailed to your roof. You may want to also make sure that all other possible entry points are also covered with chicken wire as well. While it may not look really great, it is always better than having them in your attic.

Trapping Raccoons

If someone suggests trapping the raccoons, don’t waste your money. They are unlikely to enter the trap. If they do, you will have a very mad snarling biting raccoon to deal with. Other raccoons can still get into the now vacant den. The best long-term approach is to make sure they can get out with the one-way trap door approach and then seal the entrance with heavy gauge wire mesh so they cannot get back in.

If they have babies in your attic you will need to wait until they are old enough to travel on their own. or get the parents out and then go into the attic to remove the babies. If you leave then in the attic they will die and smell up your attic, the parents may tear another entrance into your attic causing more damage. Wear a protective mask when you enter the attic to avoid contracting any disease that may be present.

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