Tuesday, June 21, 2016

On the Hunt for a Racoon Den

As the forested areas have gone on dwindling, raccoons have invented a funny way of survival. As you walk through the streets at night, once in awhile you might see these small mammals scurrying across the street or down an alleyway. They are omnivorous and will eat almost everything particularly smaller animals found in the water such as crayfish and snails. In addition, raccoons are solitary in nature in terms of feeding and will eat alone except when there is plenty. They are very interesting animals to study and this aroused my desire to want to know more about them. I was able to learn fascinating things worth sharing.

Popular places for a raccoon den

Raccoons don’t have a specific place they can call home. They migrate to different dens after a few days though females who have young ones can stay in one den a little longer. The only time you find several raccoons in the same den is during winter. Although they migrate they have popular places they like to den. These hide outs include hollow logs, tree holes, abandoned cars, attics and chimneys. In towns, they use these dens to hide during the day while in the forest they rest in trees.

Signs you may have raccoons living on your property

It’s mainly during the winter and spring seasons that raccoons can inhabit your homestead. This is because attics are an excellent location for protecting and raising babies. The signs of their presence in your house may include scratching, crying and thumping sounds in your attic, damaged insulation and strange odours.

Humane Raccoon Removal techniques

A closer look at these simple animals will help you understand that protecting your home against their intrusions is the best course of action. Therefore, as we look for ways to remove them from our houses, we need to consider how to prevent them from coming back. There are several techniques we can use depending on where the animal is.
  • House-First you need to know how they entered. If the mother has young ones you’ll need to remove them by hand first. Baby raccoons aren’t mobile until several weeks after birth so you can’t trap or scare them out. Once the babies have been removed they can be used to lure the mother out. The entry point will need to be secured immediately afterward.
  • Chimney – Don’t put the chimney into use until you are certain that you have removed all the raccoons. Once the raccoons have left, you will need to clean the chimney and cap the opening at the top.
  • Ponds – If they are interfering with your fishpond, create hiding places for fish by using cinder blocks
  • Garden – Use a radio turned on with higher volume for few nights. The noise will create disturbance that will drive raccoons away.
If all the above-mentioned ways don’t work, call a raccoon removal company. The technicians will help you learn how these animals got into your house and other weak points they could use to get into the house. They will then provide you with options on how to remove them depending on the nature and structure of your property. Once the animals are removed the technicians will block the entrance hence ensuring they won’t re-enter.

About the Author

Bill Dowd is the President and CEO of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, Canada's largest wildlife control company. He established Skedaddle in 1989. Recognizing the need for a professional urban wildlife specialist that focuses on humane removal methods, they have since had over 200,000 wildlife removals and exclusions with environment-friendly, poison-free methods since day one. Dowd has over 20 years of hands-on experience in the industry.


Skedaddle Wildlife Control

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