Perhaps no critter has adapted to urban life as successfully as the raccoon. Fox Valley Wildlife Control has removed plenty of these “backyard bandits” from homes and businesses throughout northeast Wisconsin. We’re frequently asked how raccoons are able to cause so much damage. The answer: raccoons have evolved to take full advantage of an opposable thumb. They have the manipulative dexterity much like people have and can pick up, pull, push, or twist whatever they can grab with their paws. For raccoons opening latches on garbage cans, climbing the side of a house or down a chimney and rolling over a trap to steal the bait are all easy tasks.
Fox Valley Wildlife Control receives the most calls for raccoons in the spring. That is when female raccoons are searching for a den site to give birth to their young. They like warm, quiet and dry places like an attic, chimney, or garage. Female raccoons can be deceptively quiet or as loud as a teenager. Many times homeowners don’t realize they have a house guest until after the little ones start chattering each time they get hungry.
Raccoons In Attic
If you are hearing noises coming from your attic at night, it is likely to be a raccoon. The most common times to hear them is at night, as they go out to find food, and when they return right before sunrise to sleep. Raccoons gain entry into attics in a variety of ways. In most cases they will create costly damage while creating their openings. Raccoons can sense weak spots in your home and take advantage of them. They seem to learn from their parent which is the best method for them.
Common entry points:
- Attic Fans
- Attic Roof Vents
- Other Vents
Racoon in Chimney
Next to attics, chimneys are also a popular place for raccoons to make their home in. Chimneys closely mimic trees and offer a safe and temperature controlled environment. As adult raccoons are good climbers, it is easy for them to climb up and down the inside of a chimney. Mother raccoons also find the area just above the firebox, called the smoke shelf, to be an ideal spot to raise their young. Since the chimney has only one entrance, it is easier for the mother racoon to protect their young from predators.
Dangers of a Racoon in your Home
Raccoons are one of the most commonly dealt with nuisance animals. They have adapted to living with humans. They have learned that garbage cans and dumpsters are excellent sources of food, and that houses are excellent habitat. They cause damage while searching for entry points to your home – but that is still nothing compared with what they can do once they settle inside your attic or another place in your house.
Damage to Insulation and Wires
When a raccoon has found its way into your attic, your insulation can be damaged as a result. Raccoons often damage the attic’s insulation just by walking around. Damaged insulation will cause your heating and cooling bills to increase.
Not only will you insulation be destroyed but raccoons tend to chew on the wires, sometimes ripping them apart and turning into nesting material. It is a damage that is often very costly to fix, and can cause much more serious issues. Exposed wires are a serious fire hazard – using damaged wires or overloading them may lead to causing sparks that start a fire.
Leaving Urine and Feces
If a Racoon is living in your attic, it is only natural that they will leave urine and feces throughout, this can lead to serious health concerns, not to mention the situation when your attic becomes a home for baby raccoons.
Raccoon excrement carries the risk of disease such as roundworm eggs, which can lead to an infection called Baylisascaris. This infection can cause damage to the human nervous system and even lead to death if left untreated. It can also infect other animals such as dogs.
How to Keep Raccoons Away from Property?
It’s difficult to keep raccoons away from your property. The average fence will not work as they are good at climbing and there are no machines or devices that can keep them away. The problem is that they are interacting with some part of your property that you don’t want. For instance, they’re getting into your garbage, or eating your birdseed, or living under your shed or porch, or tearing up your new sod, or eating your crops, and so on. That’s the key – something about your property is attracting the raccoons! The best way to keep them away is by eliminating the attractive source, or by making it inaccessible. If they are getting into your house, seal shut the entry holes! If they are eating your pet’s food, bring the pet food indoors.
Raccoons can cause considerable damage if not removed. Damage to soffits, siding, and insulation is common. In many instances Fox Valley Wildlife Control can offer repair and restoration services so the damage gets addressed as soon as possible. We also install chimney caps and roof vent guards to help keep raccoons on the outside where they belong. If you have raccoon problems, you need Fox Valley Wildlife Control.
For professional service at affordable prices call Fox Valley Wildlife Control at 920-419-8727.