Suburban Raccoons

Do you really want to deal with this raccoon caught in a trap? Snarling and biting and trying to grab your hands as you move the trap with the raccoon inside?  They have sharp teeth and claws and can cause a lot of damage to a person or their possessions. They may also be infected and could spread disease. Should you consder Raccoon Extermination in this situation?

Raccoon extermination is also not the answer either. You have to deal with dead raccoons, possibly inside your attic or under your deck. Or wherever they have taken up residence. If you do not remove the bodies, you will have a very bad smell as the bodies gradually rot in place.

As a writer, I do not even want to think about this kind of situation. You can hire companies that will look after raccoon extermination. However unless you plug the entrance to the den, other raccoons are just going to come along sometime later to take up residence. Raccoons can smell a vacant den and will willingly take up residence in a vacant den.

What is the answer to this problem? There is one and it is surprisingly simple and will keep raccoons and other animals out of your home for good.

Build a One Way Trap Door Instead of Trying Raccoon Extermination

Professional animal control officers have figured out the smart way to deal with these animals. They know that raccoons cannot be permanently kept away from a den, a food source or their babies. They also know that once you eliminate one family another is just going to come along a short time later. A new family will move in where the old family of raccoons used to live. They have learned to survive very well in the urban environment and no matter what you do, they will survive.

The answer is to eliminate all potential food sources. Use metal containers for garbage that cannot be broken into or store your garbage inside. If they have established a den in your home, attic or outbuildings you probably will have to wait until their babies are old enough to travel on their own. If there are no babies, then install a one-way trap door so the can get out but not back inside the den.

This trap door and the subsequent permanent covering should be of heavy gauge wire mesh that will not let them tear it apart and it should be securely screw nailed into the roof or the side of the building. Use waterproof silicone around the screw nails to seal against water penetrating around the screw nail.

If there are young babies, you will have to wait until they are old enough to travel on their own. Raccoon parents are very loyal to their families and will literally tear a roof apart to rescue their babies and you certainly do not want this to happen to you. There is already enough damage caused by these animals without forcing them to cause more.

Much Better Than Raccoon Extermination

This is a much better solution than considering exterminating raccoons or any other animal. It is a permanent solution to keeping raccoons out of your home, both this family and all other families of raccoons. Raccoons will be in the neighborhood and you may even see them from time to time. But they will not be in your house. They very well could be in someone else’s house, which is not a good thing, but at least they are not in yours.

Extermination is not a nice thing to consider. Disposing of the bodies which are often disease-ridden is not a fun thing and in some localities, there are specific laws to deal with this sort of thing. Trapping raccoons that are fighting mad, spitting and clawing as well as biting is not fun. In fact, it can be downright scary. Much better to deal with an issue like this in a passive way which does not affect the environment in any way what so ever.

Don’t get ripped off by raccoon exterminators who trap them and take them several miles away. You will just have to call them back a few months later. They will have to remove another family and pay another large bill. This approach of applying heavy gauge chicken wire over the opening is by far the best solution. Just make sure that they are all out before you install it. Use a one-way trap door to be sure that they are all gone first.

More raccoon extermination posts are available here, click here.

Save

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.