Raccoons may look adorable with their mask-like faces and cute little paws, and when they’re outside, they’re fun to watch. It’s when they come into your home that it becomes a problem.
Raccoons are nocturnal mammals that are known for eating just about anything. They’re omnivores, and in the wild, they’ll eat crawfish, frogs and anything else they can catch in a river as well as plants, fruits and eggs stolen from other nests. Around your neighborhood, you’ve likely seen raccoons poking around trash cans, trying to find their next meal from your scraps.
Raccoons can live just about anywhere. You’ll find them in forests in the northern United States, but surprisingly, you can also find them in tropical areas like Costa Rica. In a way, raccoons are somewhat similar to bears. They like to gorge themselves in the summer and fall months and then spend the winter months asleep in their dens.
You can usually find raccoon dens in the hollow of a tree or log or any secure burrow. They need warmth and protection to survive the winter. In cities, you might even find them in storm drains and other little burrows. You may also find them in the attic of your home.
Female raccoons will usually give birth in the early summer months. Usually one to seven cubs may be born at once. The cubs will stay with their mother for the first two months and then start coming out with their mother. They will start exploring the outside on their own and eventually leave the den completely and go make their own homes.
In general, raccoons are just like any other living creature. They’re just trying to live, and really most raccoons only live for about three years. But when raccoons get inside your home, they can cause big problems.
5 signs of a raccoon infestation
As mentioned, raccoons look to make their dens in warm places where they can last through the winter. They spend those cold months usually sleeping, so it can be difficult to know whether you’ve got a raccoon infestation until spring. As you’ll note from previous blogs, female wasps can lay dormant all winter in your attic and then wake up and start a colony in the spring. If you don’t go up to your attic frequently, then you might not notice an infestation before it’s too late.
If you think you may have a raccoon infestation, here are five signs to look out for:
1. The ongoing smell of feces or urine
When raccoons build a den in your attic, they usually won’t go in or out of it very much in the winter. They will eat as much as they can in the late summer and fall and then snooze through most of the winter. That means they’ll do all their, er, business in their new den — your attic.
Overtime, you will start to smell the urine and feces building up in your attic. You will probably smell it in the upper floors of your home and definitely in areas underneath your attic.
2. Outside damage to your home
Sometimes you can spot an infestation before it really takes hold. You can spot signs of raccoons hanging out around your home, and by doing this, you can try to prevent raccoons from getting inside.
If you think a raccoon is trying to get into your home, you might notice damage to the gutters, shutters, shingles and vents around the outside. This could mean that a raccoon is scouting out your attic and looking for an easy way to get in. Remember, raccoons can catch fish, and they’re very quick and good with their paws. If they find a weak spot near your roof, they might try to exploit it and work their way in.
3. Scratches and scurrying noises at night in your home
Raccoons are most active at night, so you probably won’t hear them moving around much during the day. But at night, it can usually be hard not to hear a raccoon moving around.
You can easily hear them scratching around the attic and sometimes even in the walls if they can get access to them. Though raccoons are pretty small, you might even hear them walking around your attic. If the raccoons are able to get into your home, then you will probably see scratches in odd places.
4. Tree branches connecting to your home
You might be thinking, “How could a racoon even get up to my roof? I don’t have a patio or an easy way for them to get into my attic.” But the fact is, you probably do have an easy way to get up to your roof — just not for you.
Raccoon love to climb, and they’re good at it. They’re small enough and agile, so if you have just a few tree branches dangling over your roof, that will be enough to help them get from the tree to your roof.
5. Pets acting oddly
Sometimes our pets know things long before we do. Dogs, of course, have much better hearing than we do, and some cats are natural-born hunters looking for their next prey.
If you notice your pet acting oddly, it might be because your cat or dog heard a raccoon or even smelled it. Your pet might stare up at the ceiling in a bedroom or pace near a spot where they might hear a raccoon scurrying around in the wall. Your pet might whine or you might have a hard time getting them to leave the room. If you notice these issues with your pet, they might know something that you don’t.
Raccoon infestations can look a little like rat infestations. If you’re not sure what could be living in your home, make sure you contact a green pest control expert sooner rather than later.
When you have a raccoon infestation, contact a pest control company that performs the raccoon removal Edmond relies on.