Raccoons Still Getting In
While on a walk the other day, we were passing a building that had three young raccoons on the roof! To someone in the nuisance animal removal industry, that meant snapping some pictures. But rather than just getting a couple of quick pictures, what was seen illustrated a number of great take-aways in the world of nuisance animal removal. Here are some good raccoon removal lessons illustrated by the pictures.
Most Common Raccoon Entry Point
We’ve posted about it before and here it is demonstrated by a young raccoon—eave to roof transitions are the most common area of raccoon entry. If you think you have a raccoon problem, look at these areas on your building. It is a great starting point for a raccoon inspection. Click to watch this short video and watch where the young raccoon on the right goes.
More of a Story
Seeing the raccoons was entertaining, but snapping a few more pictures revealed a broader story from an animal removal perspective.
It turns out that the building in question had work done on it to keep animals out! And, what was done wasn’t working.
That area the young raccoon went was actually screened off in an attempt to animals out. And it looks like there is a one-way door trap for SQUIRRELS in place. You can see the raccoon on the inside of the screening looking out. You can see wire covering the soffit-to-roof transition and you can see that the bottom of the soffit has some significant damage to it. It’s not clear what the cage trap up against the brick is exactly. It looks like a one-way door excluder. It seems undersized for raccoons.
Which other company did that? Or, was this a DIY job by a well meaning person?
These are two questions which come to a nuisance animal control specialist when they see something like this. It’s not our job so we’re not sure what was seen or reported to whoever did the work. But, it has the indication that someone thought they were dealing with squirrels instead of raccoons. Getting up under that eave (and three others) took some effort. They’ll need to readjust for the raccoons.
That little raccoon went in on the left side of a dormer structure that looks like this.
We stepped around to the right side of that structure to look at the mirror area and guess what we found? Momma raccoon.
As on the opposite side where the three young ones are, the mother raccoon was hanging out at a spot that was screened off to keep animals out. In the short time we watched her she did not go inside here. She was content to watch us until we left. But, if the young ones on the other side are able to get past the screening, it is suspected that she has or will have a way past this screening. The damaged soffit where it meets the roof shows they use this side as well.
This viewing was at dusk. So, one would think that these raccoons were coming out of this building for the night; not just arriving at it. Maybe they were inside during the day and the screening was just put up. Who knows?
Points to Consider
This chance meeting of a raccoon family on an evening walk points out a couple of great lessons in nuisance animal trapping.
- Figure out the species you are dealing with prior to trapping. By all indications, it looks like this was set up for squirrels when raccoons are the issue. Knowing which animals one is dealing with drives the trapping methods. The size of openings at the damaged soffit is one indicator. Watching the holes with a game camera is also a great method.
- Raccoons are strong. Screening like that won’t keep a determined raccoon in or out for long. It may deter a passing raccoon. But, one who already calls that space home will be able to force that sort of blocking. Capturing and removing the ones living there is a requisite assuring any repair will not be damaged.
Final Thoughts
It’s easier to armchair quarterback than it is to play in the actual game. So if the tone of this post seems a tad critical, that’s on us. But, the nuisance animal removal and repair industry in our area has a lot of revolving names and faces and skill levels. It’s interesting for us to see how others go about nuisance animal work.
We assume the operator on the job depicted above will pivot soon and catch the raccoons and make a beautiful repair.
There’ll be some more walks in the future and we’ll be sure to see what we can see. Will the raccoons be captured? Will the wire in those spots will be left? We’ll see.
