We
recently had raccoons in the attic while we were
away on vacation this past spring. We had thought
we heard something banging in the attic, while we
were still home, however our neighbor called us to
tell us the raccoons had broken part of the soffit,
and which he was kind enough to repair the raccoon
damage for us. We immediately called a specialist
in the removal
of raccoons and to repair the
damage the raccoons had caused. He informed us
that we should wait.
This
was in March and he indicated that the raccoons probably
had babies and
would do anything to get back into our attic if we
blocked the hole they had created. He suggested that
we wait until they were old enough then he would
trap them and take them away. The bad part was that
we had to wait two to three months and that he would
only take the raccoons 2 blocks away due to local
raccoon bylaws. Who knew and how ridiculous was that.
He wanted $600 and really would not fixed the problem
since they would definitely come back when dropped
off that close. We wanted a better way to get rid
of our raccoon
invaders.
My
answer to this was to buy my
own trap and then release the raccoons 10 miles away,
unharmed. I was able to trap the young raccoons and the
adults left a little while later. But there was more
problems to be concerned about before we stopped the
raccoon damage. . . .
The
Raccoons climbed a tree and also up the brick. Once
on the roof they pushed the soffit back under and
overhang and found their way into the attic. These
raccoons did a lot of damage in
our attic to our insulation and if they have young
babies will tear your
roof apart to get too them.
I tried using mothballs to get the raccoons to leave, however they just ignored that, so do not waste your time. Nor do many of these other so called deterrents. You have to trap
them and you have to be smart about it, since they will discover ways to get the food out of the trap without setting the trap off.
Another word of caution, if you are going into the attic, make sure you are wearing a breathing mask since their feces turn to powder and will cause potential
damage to your lungs if you breath some of this dust into your lungs.
Browse our web site for other hints and tips about catching and removing raccoons from your attic.
