Raccoons that have made a home in your roof or attic can ruin insulation, tear down wires, and leave behind contaminated droppings. This can increase your electricity bills, create a health risk for you and your family, and cause serious damage to your home.
Preventative measures like securing garbage cans, keeping birdfeeders clean, and removing outside pet food at night will help deter raccoons. If your raccoon problem becomes too large, you may need to call in a wildlife control professional. Contact Raccoon Removal Texas now!
Raccoons are highly adaptable and can survive in a wide variety of habitats. They prefer moist woodland areas, but they also thrive in rural, suburban and urban environments as well as other natural areas such as grasslands and wetlands. These areas are ideal for raccoons because they provide food and shelter.
They also have the ability to move around on a variety of surfaces thanks to their sharp claws and ability to climb. They are opportunistic in their feeding habits and can find food in diverse locations, including trash cans. This opportunism also allows them to live in urban areas, where they can take advantage of the abundance of food waste and other resources.
The main threat to raccoons comes from human activities and changes to their habitats. As cities grow, the natural environment is replaced with buildings and roads, which limits the amount of habitat available for raccoons. This can also force them to move to areas that are less suitable for their needs.
A raccoon’s home range generally covers a radius of about a mile. It can be found in woodlands, wetlands and mountainous regions, as well as in savannas, prairies, and urban areas. Raccoons often make their dens in tree hollows, woodchuck burrows, caves, mines and deserted buildings or barns. However, they can also choose to make dens inside abandoned chimneys, under a shed or in the eaves of houses and other structures.
In the wild, a raccoon’s gestation period lasts about 63 days and she can produce a litter of up to five kits, or babies. The kits are born blind and helpless, and they depend on their mother for care for several months. In the wild, raccoons are typically non-aggressive and will not attack humans unless threatened or cornered. However, they may become a nuisance in urban areas where they raid garbage cans and garden supplies for food.
If you see a raccoon in your yard, don’t approach it or feed it. This can lead to disease and other health risks for you and your family. Instead, contact a professional wildlife control company to humanely remove the raccoon and prevent it from returning. The service they provide includes inspections and exclusion techniques that can help you keep raccoons out of your home for good.
They Can Cause Damage
Raccoons can do serious damage to your property, including tearing holes in roofs, walls, and chimneys. They also eat through electrical wires, which can lead to power outages and fire hazards. Moreover, they contaminate attics with their droppings, which can wreak havoc on insulation and damage drywall. This can cost homeowners a lot of money to repair and clean.
In addition, raccoons can leave bacteria-laden droppings behind, which can spread disease to humans and pets. A professional wildlife control expert can clean up the contaminated materials, and sanitize the area to protect your family’s health.
The best way to prevent raccoon damage is to keep them from entering the house in the first place. You can do this by keeping your garbage in a tightly sealed bin and securing it with a bungee or other device, and by bringing bird feeders inside at night. You should also make sure that your yard is well-maintained and free of weeds, brush, and other hiding places for these animals.
Another simple method to deter raccoons is to install motion-activated sprinklers or flood lights in the yard. These devices can be set to activate at night and surprise the raccoons when they are passing through, which will scare them away.
You can also try to seal entry points in the home, such as soffits, chimneys, and vents, with raccoon-proof materials like metal flashing, hardware cloth, and caulk. It is also a good idea to make sure that all of the gaps and cracks in your home’s siding are sealed, as these are favorite spots for raccoons. You can also place deterrents, such as owl-shaped deterrents, in areas that are prone to raccoon activity. These items are available from most hardware stores and can help to deter raccoons by sounding a loud noise when they come near.
They Can Carry Disease
Raccoons can carry a number of diseases, known as zoonotic illnesses, that can affect humans and domestic animals. They can spread these illnesses through their feces, urine, saliva and body fluids. Some of these diseases are very serious and can even be lethal.
Rabies is one of these diseases that can kill people if it goes untreated. Other raccoon-borne diseases include a gastrointestinal parasite known as Baylisascaris procyonis, which causes roundworm infection when people ingest it. It also carries Leptospirosis, a bacteria that can lead to flu-like symptoms and, in severe cases, liver or kidney damage.
In addition, raccoons can carry Salmonella bacteria, which can cause diarrhea in humans and other animals. They can also carry Giardia, a protozoan that induces gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, vomiting and loss of appetite.
These diseases and other parasites can be spread when humans come into contact with contaminated soil, water or food. They can also be spread when a person or animal touches a raccoon, especially while handling its fur, feet or claws.
Raccoons can also spread diseases when they disturb or enter structures like homes and sheds. Their strong hands can rip open vents, remove soffits and enlarge holes to create nesting sites. They can also tear up insulation and gnaw on wires, which can raise the risk of fires.
To prevent a problem with raccoons, homeowners should make sure that they remove all potential raccoon dens and latrines from their property. They should also cover garbage cans and ensure that bird feeders are securely covered. They should also ensure that their yards are free of raccoon-friendly water sources and brush. It’s also a good idea to use deterrents such as motion-activated lights and loud noises to keep raccoons away. Finally, if they’re cutting down a hollow tree or other structure where raccoons may be hiding, it’s important to check the area for inhabitants first. If you suspect that a raccoon is living in the tree, ask them to leave before cutting it down.
They Can Be Destructive
Raccoons can cause significant damage to your home and property. They can chew into a home’s foundation, walls and roof; rip out attic insulation; and create health hazards on your property by raiding gardens or backyard ponds. They also have a tendency to mark their territory with piles of feces and can cause severe water damage to homes. These problems are costly to repair and can result in health risks for people and pets. Prevention and early intervention are the best ways to avoid raccoons.
A common problem is raccoons raiding trash bins, especially those without lids. They have no sense of “waste can etiquette” and will happily tip, rip and toss garbage to get at food. This creates a mess, makes it difficult for other animals to access the food in the can and can leave a foul smell on garbage collection day.
They also dig up lawns in search of grubs and insects, raid gardens and can kill all the fish in an ornamental pond. They often leave a bad odor around the house from their urine and can contaminate food with feces and bacteria. They can even carry rabies, which poses a health risk to people and pets.
While raccoons are important members of our ecosystem, they are not ideal house guests and should be removed from your property. Preventative measures, including the use of motion-activated lights and setting out bait that raccoons find unacceptable can help to deter them from scavenging your property.
Raccoons are nocturnal and will rummage through your attic, wall cavities, vents and roof space looking for a place to nest or seek shelter during the night. They are often heard banging against your walls and squealing or crying during mating season. They can also cause significant damage to your chimney, roof, attic fans and chimney caps, as well as leaving a nasty odor from their feces and urine.
Before performing raccoon exclusion on your property, make sure that all raccoon babies are gone. Then seal up any places that raccoons could gain entry to your home by capping chimneys, patching holes, screening crawlspaces and decks, installing vents that they cannot get through and blocking any openings beneath porches.
