Suburban Raccoons


Trapping Raccoons

Trapping RaccoonsTrapping Raccoons in a raccoon trap is not an easy thing to do, however, once you do catch one, what do you do with it? Letting it go in the neighborhood is not going to solve the problems since they will just come back to your place like a homing pigeon. Many cities and towns have bylaws that basically say you must let them go within a mile or so of your home. This is really not going to solve your problem with raccoons in your attic since they will come back. They also get quite excited and snarl at their captors, hissing, and spitting. They are not pleasant to deal with when they are trapped in a live trap.

The first step is to check with the local humane society and bylaw officers. If your city has a restriction on what you can do with urban animals that have been captured then you are wasting your time trapping them. In fact, in our community, you are not allowed to let the raccoon out of the trap more than two blocks away, which basically defeats the purpose of catching them in the first place! This can be very frustrating for many homeowners dealing with Raccoons in their attic or elsewhere, however, this is the law and besides, there really is a better way to deal with them as you will read in the rest of this post.

Trapping Raccoons – More Issues

First, a few facts which may help you decide what you would like to do about raccoons. Or even if you want to spend the time trapping them.

There are usually 20 to 40 families of raccoons per square mile in urban areas. Each family will have 4 or 5 dens that they move around to. Movement is based on the availability of food and suitability for their needs. That is a pretty large number! Further, if a den is empty, they can tell if the den has been occupied recently or if it has been vacated. An open den is like an invitation to spend some time in your home and stay as long as they want.

So even if you take the raccoon you trapped 100 miles away there are many more waiting to move into the old den which just happens to be in your attic!

What Are the Alternatives

As you can probably tell, it is a waste of time to try and trap them even if you disagree with the bylaws. So what does one do?

Several animal agencies suggest that you not bother wasting time trapping the raccoons. Instead of worrying about where to let them go, you focus on getting them out of the den and then blocking the den entrance so they cannot get back in. This is by far the best solution.

Installing a one-way trap door that allows them out but not back in is an effective way of getting rid of your raccoons and you do not have to worry about where to let the raccoons go. Your current guest cannot get back in and no others from other dens can get in either.

We followed this approach and installed strong wire mesh over all potential entrances about 4 years ago. We used the door approach and then sealed it once we were sure they were out of our attic. I have seen raccoon tracks on our roof in the wintertime for the past 4 years. This shows that they are still trying to make a home in our attic. They do not stay long once they realize they are unable to get into our home.

Be Careful

A word of caution is in order. If you are going to install the one-way door, make sure that the babies are old enough to also come out and pass through the one way door. This is very important.

A mother raccoon who cannot get to her young has been known to practically tear the roof apart. They are trying to reenter the den and feed her young raccoons. If you have this situation, you may want to wait till they are old enough to travel. Besides you do not want to have them die inside your attic. They will cause a bad smell throughout your home.

For more details about bylaws and what you can do with animals you are trying to relocate, 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.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

One Response to “Trapping Raccoons”

  1. I tried using a trap to catch 5 raccoons. No problem with the young ones, but the parents were too smart for me and would not go into the trap no matter what I put in there.

Leave a Reply

?>