Raccoons & Raccoon Removal in Winter
It’s no surprise that it’s been cold and snowy here in the Akron / Canton / Kent area. It is January, after all.
Some people ask us if the harsh winter months shut down our business. We guess they think nuisance animals like raccoons aren’t around, expecting they’re all sleeping or something.
And while it is true that there is some decline in the volume of calls (a little more time to ice fish!), the nuisance problems with raccoons continue.
Just ask any number of homeowners who’ve called us lately for a suspected raccoon issue if nuisance animal problems go away in the winter. They’ll tell you the often loud noises indicative of raccoon problems come and go in spurts, but definitely exist.
In this post, we’ll explain our observations on raccoon activity this time of year.
Raccoons and Cold Weather
“Do raccoons hibernate?” is a question we are often asked and one we know gets entered into a lot of search engines.
FYI : Raccoons do not hibernate!
As an example, take a look at this raccoon we recently caught on camera one recent cold night. This picture was taken at a home in our area on January 10, 2015 at 9:06 PM. The high temperature that day was 14 degrees F. The low that day was -4 degrees. Obviously, the cold weather did not keep this particular raccoon from going out.
In fact, we got pics of this raccoon on our trail cam from almost every day from January 4 through the 11th. That was a generally cold week but for some reason this raccoon was still active.
It seems if raccoons can get to food easily and take in more calories than they expend staying in one spot, they have no problems going out.
That said, raccoons are very affected by cold temperatures (because of lack of food) and usually limit their movements during cold weather. In fact, they can go for days without leaving their dens when temps are at extremes. (See blog post from last year “Are Raccoons Active in Winter?”) Unlike this raccoon who was very active during our recent cold snap, many raccoons hunker down in extreme conditions and wait til a warm-up.
Mating Season Get Raccoons Moving
If not food, what else would get raccoons out and about on cold winter nights? You guessed it, mating season.
As the days lengthen, male raccoons sense the breeding season is just around the corner. When hormones dictate their activity, it seems they don’t mind the weather so much.
Biologists agree that breeding season can begin as early as late January here in Ohio. So right now, the male raccoons are hormonally gearing up. Scouting forays to locate nearby females are common and account for some of the raccoon activity we are called to help solve this time of year.
Brian relates being on the trapline this past week and finding two sets of
separate and fresh raccoon tracks going into a known denning area to check it out. The night these tracks were made, the low temperature was about 10 degrees F. To him, the tracks were indicative of a couple of boar raccoons’ scouting trips for potential breeding partners.
Taking advantage of this knowledge, it is common practice among raccoon trappers who’ve used food type baits in November/December to begin to utilize more gland type lures/baits (sexual attractants) in January.
Call us for Help
Raccoons noises come and go during January. But, if a raccoon is living in your home, the noises will eventually let you know there is a problem.
If you’ve been alerted to some raccoon noises in the Stark, Summit, Portage County, Ohio area and would like some help with suspected raccoons, give us a call.
We can verify if a raccoon problem exists and take steps to remedy the problem.
For more information, please check out our main raccoon removal page and take a look at our other posts on raccoon removal.
