Summertime Raccoon Irregularities
Nuisance wild animals follow patterns and have strong tendencies to do certain things at certain times of the year. Generalizations can indeed be made.
For example, here are two generalizations related to raccoon removal:
- Most raccoons in Northeast Ohio are born in the spring (March, April, May)
- Raccoons use chimneys in the spring when babies are being born
Are these generalizations true? Yes. But, there are always exceptions to the “rules” when it comes to nuisance wild animals.
So here’s a word of advice: Affixing hard and fast predictions to nuisance wildlife behavior will sooner or later make you look foolish. It is better to expect the unexpected and be open to an exception to the rule.
It’s these exceptions to the “rules” of raccoon removal that we’d like to focus on in today’s post. Enjoy.
Baby Raccoons in August
A typical April or May day finds the phone ringing with reports of baby raccoons.
They’re in the attic, in the chimney, in the soffit, in the walls—seemingly everywhere.
But as we get closer to summer, the calls for little raccoons start to drop off and by mid-summer are almost non-existent.
This pattern makes sense because MOST raccoons are bred in the winter and give birth in the spring.
Read about that here in our older blog post WHEN DO RACCOONS GIVE BIRTH?
There are some raccoons that give birth in mid-summer, however.
It is why getting a call for baby raccoons in August is a good example of one of these exceptions to the rule.
Ryan was recently called to a job where he found the younger-than-expected August raccoon kits.
Take a look:
As Ryan pointed out, female raccoons that lose a litter can go back into estrus and be bred again resulting in a summer litter.
Also, some female raccoons may not have been bred in the winter and so their estrus cycle repeats. The literature generalizes that this “2nd estrus” is often around the first of June.
Other late litters are attributed to year old female raccoons only reaching sexual maturity in the summer.
The point here, is that later raccoon births do happen. So, being called for baby raccoon removal this time of the year is not typical, but not unexpected either.
Raccoons Using Chimneys in the Summer
Along with all of the spring births of raccoons, another common scenario is raccoons in the chimney.
We’ve covered chimney raccoons in our blog before. You may want to take a look at this older post for a refresher.
Just like baby raccoons in August, it is not typical for us to get called for raccoons in the chimney in August. But, it does happen.
Take a look:
As Ryan explained, an uncapped chimney is a good spot for a raccoon any time of year. And if they were using it in the winter and spring, continued use throughout the year is not unheard of.
A whole family might not be in there, but any neighborhood raccoon that knows about the spot is likely to take advantage.
Cap those chimneys to prevent raccoons!
Raccoon Removal, Prevention & Control | Akron, Canton, Kent
No matter what time of the year it is raccoons are not a surprise here in the Stark, Summit, Portage County area.
If you have a raccoon problem, we can help solve it.
Please give us a call to find out how we can professionally solve your raccoon problem.
