How Do I Get Raccoons
Out of My Attic?
I really appreciate the effort you've
put into your site, and even though I'm
in Canada and can't use your services
directly, I thought I'd ask you for some
advice and clarify some questions we
have.
Our problem is that I believe a
raccoon has been or is currently in our
attic, but the situation isn't covered
by most of the scenarios I've read
online or talked to pest control people
about.
A few nights ago, I noticed a large
raccoon in our back yard, and
subsequently began to wake up every
morning (thanks to the dog) when this
same animal appeared like clockwork at
5:00 am. just outside the screendoor
(I'm in British Columbia, and it's been
incredibly hot and humid here for days
now, so our doors are open at night). So
a couple of mornings this repeated and I
then heard some sounds, like skittering
noises in the attic and began to wonder
if there were baby raccoons in there and
the adult I've been seeing was the
mother, foraging. I knocked on the
ceiling where I heard the noises and
something definitely moved around up
there, and I heard that chittering
sound. I couldn't see anything when I
poked my head up there, not even any
feces or any obvious damage. It was at
this point that I found your website.
Then, one day, while outside and looking
up at the roof, I saw a raccoon that was
definitely smaller than the large one
I'd already seen, and looked intimidated
by me. I would have to say it looked
more like a juvenile, although not a
small baby. It was under the eaves,
facing downroof and after freezing for a
while, it backed up, turned around and
went back into the roof via a hole we
didn't know existed until then! So we
know at least one juvenile has been in
our attic for sure, and we know where it
enters. However, I haven't heard
anything since (night or day) and when I
popped my head in today, the heat in
that attic was intense. We're hitting
high 30s and even 40 degree heat lately,
and I'd say the attic had to be well
into the 40s, perhaps even 50 degrees.
The humidity makes it feel even hotter.
Now, first, can a raccoon tolerate heat
like that? And second, this is quite
late in the summer and everything I've
read says that they have their litters
in the late spring/early summer, so if
they were still in our roof, they would
be juveniles not babies by now (which
fits what we've witnessed so far). But
that leads to another mystery: how come
we've not heard them before now if
indeed there was a litter up there since
May or whenever? (That leads me to think
there wasn't one, but I don't know that
for sure.)
The thing is, we have pest control
guys giving us their opinions and
quoting some scary prices and yet we
might only have one juvenile raccoon up
there, for all we know. The guy who will
trap and relocate is charging $175
(Canadian) per raccoon, which could add
up if there were more than one, but
would be reasonable if there were only
one animal. Others will only put in a
one-way door, chase the animal(s) out
and fix the hole for a round price of
$500. I mean, we could probably do that
part ourselves, but the problem is, the
animals will probably return next
winter, and I gather they can be pretty
persistent. Who do we trust out of these
services?
I realise this is complicated, and may
not be entirely clear, and that there
are a lot of variables, but any advice
you could give us would be greatly
appreciated.
Oh, after looking in the attic today
and seeing nothing obvious, and feeling
that intense heat, we assumed there was
nothing up there currently, during the
day, so we shoved a roll of plastic into
the hole we know that young raccoon was
using, so we'll see if it's been
disturbed tomorrow. That way, if it
looks like nothing tried to get in, we
can patch the hole, or if it looks
disturbed but basically not moved,
ditto. Only if it's pulled right out,
will we know that the animal probably
got in again.
I agree with you that these are
amazing creatures and we don't want to
hurt one, which is why we're putting so
much thought into this.
I hope you can help in some way, with
your experience.
Thanks in advance,
David
Dear David,
That is probably the most normal raccoon
situation I've ever heard of. Most of
the time there's lots of crazy
variables. So a mother raccoon had some
young in your attic this past spring and
you didn't discover it until now. Very
common. Sometimes noise doesn't filter
through from the attic very well.
Raccoons can easily live in scorching
hot attics - I do all of my wildlife
removal work in Florida, which is even
hotter than Canada! They stay in the
attic during the hot day, and go outside
at night to look for food. The prices
you've been quoted are pretty normal for
professional wildlife removal. You can
wait until night-time when all the young
and the adult are likely out foraging,
and seal up the hole then, but if
they're not all out you'll have a big
problem, and many do-it-yourself
attempts like that don't work. Even if
you do seal the hole when they are out,
they may easily find another place to
break in. If you feel that your home is
secure, you can see if they remove the
barrier, and then seal. You can also try
raccoon eviction fluid. I really don't
have anything to add to your question of
How Do I Get Raccoons Out of My Attic, I
wrote all I know in that guide, and your
situation is very commonplace, with no
strange variables.
Read more wildlife articles here:
How to Get
Rid of Opossums?
Opossum
Repellents
How to Kill
an Opossum?
How to Get
Opossum Out of Your Attic
Raccoon Repellents
How to Get Rid of a Raccoon?
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