Baby Raccoons Are Here
Have you heard noises (or seen other evidence) in the attic or chimney and suspect that raccoons may be there?
If so, it makes a lot of sense, as female raccoons here in NE Ohio have been giving birth for a few weeks already. The older the little raccoons get, the noisier they become. The more noise they make, the likelier they get noticed.
Raccoon breeding usually starts in January. Breeding continues into the spring as young females born last year typically come into heat the latest.
Raccoons have a gestation period of around 65 days. Consequently, raccoon litters are usually born beginning in March and continue till the early summer. Doing the math for a raccoon bred on January 31, she will deliver her litter about April 6. The math proves it, baby raccoons have arrived.
More concretely, we have already been removing litters of young raccoons from soffits, attics, and chimneys since the beginning of April.
Location of Babies Drives Raccoon Removal
Three to five baby raccoons in a litter is pretty typical.
Nests can be made wherever a mother raccoon feels it is a safe, comfortable place.
Raccoons use soffits, chimney bases, attics; really any cavity-like structure they can manage to get into.
When they are young and not traveling in and out of the nest, the best way to get the baby raccoons is to remove them by hand.
Wearing a set of gloves, the babies are not very mobile at all and aren’t a threat to the remover until they are older. They do make chittering noises and growls.
In removing them by hand, you always want to know where the mother raccoon is at.
Many times she is in a trap already and accounted for. But, if you are unsure of her location it’s best to respect her motherly instinct and make a different plan.
After factoring in the mother raccoon, the degree of difficulty in the job all depends on where the babies are located.
Location. Location. Location. Just like in real estate, location matters. In baby raccoon removal it dictates the tactics used.
Some Location Scenarios
Baby Raccoons may be found in:
1) Attics: Getting them out of attics is pretty straightforward. They are usually tucked into a depression in the insulation and can be scooped up. Finding them in a large attic can be tricky but noise and thermal imaging usually find them quickly.
2) Soffits: Soffits are usually pretty easy to dissemble and find the babies. Trouble comes when the soffit is solid. A hole can be made like in this video.
3) Chimneys: Raccoons in chimneys are dealt with using chimney traps for the mother and removing the babies from the fireplace. If you enter “chimney” in our search bar, you’ll find a lot of chimney raccoon removal posts.
Here is some recent snake camera video:
4) Walls and Ceilings: These spots become the trickiest because access can be tough. That doesn’t mean the raccoons can’t be removed. Cutting into walls is a good tactic when the location is known. The thermal imager and the snake camera are good tools to find raccoons in these cases.
Professional Raccoon Removal Akron, Canton, Kent
Wherever they may be, Frontline Animal Removal can come up with a plan to get the raccoons out.
Sometimes we even have to use the mother raccoon to remove the babies.
Like we said, sometimes its quick and easy. Other times it takes some creativity. But, no matter the scenario, we have the experience to employ the necessary tactics to achieve a raccoon-free outcome.
We encourage you to look through past raccoon removal blogs for more complete scenario descriptions and videos. Also visit our raccoon removal playlist on YouTube for numerous baby raccoon removal scenarios.
