Raccoons in the attic! Fighting! In the middle of the night! How do I get rid of them?

[zeno]

I know where they're getting in. I just need to chase them first. Killing is not an option for me. I'd let someone else do it, maybe. But not me. I'd be happy just to chase them and cover the hole. Thanks for your help.

[C K Dexter Haven]

You probably need to contact a pest-control person. Your local city management will have someone that they provide or they'll recommend. It costs a bundle. The guy we had set traps (cages that trapped them but didn't hurt them), and then he had to check the traps every few days. It took a while, and cost around $40 per raccoon.

What he does with them afterwards depends on city regulations, but you probably don't want to know. It's usually considered nassssty to transport them to some other area and letting them become someone else's problem.

Chasing them out yourself is gonna be difficult, and potentially dangerous (bites, y'know.)

[J-P L]

Had that problem two years ago, I called a pest-control company as mentioned above.

The guy came over and looked thru the attic, he definately found indications that one or more racoons had been there but none were found at the time.

He then rigged some kind of trap door at the original entry point, so that if any were in fact hiding in the attic, they could get out not get back in.

He said to be on the lookout in case a mother desperately wanted in if she had any youngs inside, and also to check for noises from the attic indicating the presence of youngs.

He said that if he had found youngs in the attic, he would have taken them outside in a special box for the mother to find and take them away, any adults found in the attic would have been left to get out by themself thru the trap door.

Everything around the house was fixed ( soffits, vents, etc ) so that no more wildlife could get in.

He came back about 5 weeks later and replaced the trap door with a permanent barrier, he mentioned at that time there were signs that at least one had tried to get in again.

The whole think cost about $600.00 (Canada).

[beo.thuck]

Buy raccoon traps, or do a Google search "humane raccoon traps". Catch em and drop em off like 5 miles away. I did it and it worked. Then fix the hole in the roof.

[C K Dexter Haven]

Originally Posted by beo.thuck

Buy raccoon traps, or do a Google search "humane raccoon traps". Catch em and drop em off like 5 miles away. I did it and it worked. Then fix the hole in the roof.

The humane traps are what the pest-control people use (at least, in civilized areas); the issue is taking them five miles away and making them someone else's problem. If you can take them out to wild woods, or the middle of a forest preserve, that's one thing (although in our area, it's illegal to drop them off in the forest preserve) but... you wouldn't want someone else dropping them off in your front yard, would you? so why do unto others?

And thanks, J-P L, I had forgot that the pest-control guy did set one-way doors over their entry-way when he set the traps. Still took several weeks to get them all because there were pups (whatever babies are called) who didn't go out of the attic at night.

[EdwardLost]

Try releasing some badgers up there to chase out the raccoons.

[beo.thuck]

"The humane traps are what the pest-control people use (at least, in civilized areas); the issue is taking them five miles away and making them someone else's problem. If you can take them out to wild woods, or the middle of a forest preserve, that's one thing (although in our area, it's illegal to drop them off in the forest preserve) but... you wouldn't want someone else dropping them off in your front yard, would you? so why do unto others?"

Now that you got me thinking about it... Dropping them off in the middle of nowhere is no good. Mine were house/attic raccoons, they probably would have suffered if I had dropped them off in the middle of nowhere 'cause they had no woods skills. I guess I DID make them someone else's problem 'cause I dropped 'em off in some thin woods by a mall with dumpsters..

If it happened again what to do with trapped raccoons?

[C K Dexter Haven]

Originally Posted by beo.thuck

If it happened again what to do with trapped raccoons?

Check with your local animal-control (usually a branch of the police dept) on what the regulations and laws are around where you live. Unfortunately, the laws are liable to be that you can't transport them, which means the only way to get rid of them is to kill them. If you don't want to do that, I guess I'd find some really far away deep-woods. Will they survive in deep woods if they're used to garbage cans and attics? I dunno, but at least you're giving them the chance to be back in something like a native habitat.

I think it's a scenario where there's no "good" outcome, but making them someone else's problem seems more wrong to me.

[RickJay]

I very strongly suggest you call a professional. You CAN trap them yourself but please bear in mind three things:

1. Raccoons are strong, clever, and ferocious when cornered. The Hav-A-Hart traps will not necessarily protect you from bad bites or scratches if the raccoon fights his way out (and they can) or you get too close to the cage. If you piss off a raccoon who can hurt you you are in a world of shit, and I must also remind you raccoons are a common carrier of rabies, which you do not want to get.

2. Dumping raccoons can be illegal, and, to be honest, isn't a whole lot more humane than shooting them. If you dump a raccoon you're probably dumping it in the territory of other raccoons (actually, in North America, it's almost 100% certain) and one raccoon or another may die anyway as a result, and

3. Getting rid of the racoons won't fix your problem unless the point of entry is found and properly blocked, 'cause more raccoons will find their way in next year.

[DrDeth]

Good advice. Always start by calling Animal Control, however.

Just go up there. They may be gone or they may run, see what happens. Wear gloves, leather jacket, hat, bright flashlite, long pants tucked into boots (this is mostly for ticks & fleas). Make plenty of noise getting up there. Don't to screw with them, just to see what they do when they see you. They may bolt, you may also find out when they are not home. If you have got lucky, make sure you have brought long stuff for a quick jury-rigged repair.

Ill point out that some dudes, feeling sorry for the little guys , thinking their antics are cute and not having any outdoor pets of their own, have procured an old wood doghouse, a food and water dish, and put in the far corner, where they cen be watched from the back windows.

[EdwardLost]

Originally Posted by RickJay

2. Dumping raccoons can be illegal, and, to be honest, isn't a whole lot more humane than shooting them. If you dump a raccoon you're probably dumping it in the territory of other raccoons (actually, in North America, it's almost 100% certain) and one raccoon or another may die anyway as a result, and

3. Getting rid of the racoons won't fix your problem unless the point of entry is found and properly blocked, 'cause more raccoons will find their way in next year.

Get them spayed/neutered and return them to your attic.

Am I helping at all?

[kayaker]

Depending on your location, the incidence of rabies in raccoons can be very high.

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by EdwardLost

Try releasing some badgers up there to chase out the raccoons.

Ah, the Australian Solution.




We rescued a young o'possum and gave it to an animal relocator. After raising it to the point it can live on it's own, she would release it. I believe they have licenses and stuff to do this.

[Magiver]

If it's a family of raccoons and they are mobile then momma will most likely move on if disturbed. If you can enter the attic without it turning into an episode of the Simpsons then that alone may get them to leave. In my experience they are a very mobile species.

If it was squirrels then best of luck. I've battled them and they are obnoxious. I was in the process of plugging a hole from the inside and got into a fight with a squirrel tying to enter by hanging off the roof. Can you imagine how tenuous a position it is for a squirrel to push against a piece of wood while hanging over the edge of a 2 story roof? I had a piece of wood on the end of another piece in a "T" configuration and that SOB was fighting with the end of it. I could write a book on squirrels.

[CannyDan]

Originally Posted by RickJay

I very strongly suggest you call a professional. You CAN trap them yourself but please bear in mind three things:

1. Raccoons are strong, clever, and ferocious when cornered. The Hav-A-Hart traps will not necessarily protect you from bad bites or scratches if the raccoon fights his way out (and they can) or you get too close to the cage. If you piss off a raccoon who can hurt you you are in a world of shit, and I must also remind you raccoons are a common carrier of rabies, which you do not want to get.

2. Dumping raccoons can be illegal, and, to be honest, isn't a whole lot more humane than shooting them. If you dump a raccoon you're probably dumping it in the territory of other raccoons (actually, in North America, it's almost 100% certain) and one raccoon or another may die anyway as a result, and

3. Getting rid of the racoons won't fix your problem unless the point of entry is found and properly blocked, 'cause more raccoons will find their way in next year.

Excellent advice. Allow me to amplify it a bit.

Re 1-- raccoons can not only be carriers of rabies, they can be asymptomatic carriers. This means they can harbor and spread the disease while never showing symptoms themselves. (So too can skunks and bats, by the way.) Even raccoons that appear healthy are still a risk for rabies. And this is merely the cherry on top of the sundae of about two dozen assorted parasites and diseases that raccoons can transmit to humans and our domestic animals, from Raccoon Roundworm (almost as nasty a death as rabies) to fun things like Toxoplasmosis.

Re 2-- The biological reality of "carrying capacity" in action. A given habitat can only support a finite number of any particular species. Releasing raccoons into an area already at carrying capacity for raccoons results in dead raccoons, either among the standing population or the newcomers. Beyond this, the newcomers may introduce parasites and diseases, or novel strains of diseases, into ingenue populations, possibly producing catastrophic results in the recipient group. Biologically speaking, it is almost never beneficial (from anyone's perspective) to move animals from place to place. Thus excluding the raccoons from your home, but allowing them to remain in their own home territory, is the optimal solution.

Re 3-- amen