Eight Raccoon Control Tips

Raccoons are smart and quirky animals that might be fun to observe from far. However, they are not one of those creatures you want to share your home with.  Once they have invaded your house, they will cause a tremendous amount of structural damage to your property. 

‍From digging through your trash to destroying your lawn, damaging your building's materials, consuming pet food, and transmitting many contagious diseases, raccoon infestation in your house can cause huge problems for you, your family, and pets.

‍With all that in mind, it is easy to see why raccoon removal from the attic or house is necessary. Your well-maintained garden or dark attic can seem quite appealing to raccoons. Once they gain access to your property, they will refuse to leave like an unwanted guest.

‍From our experience providing raccoon removal services, we found that winters are usually a busy time for raccoons to prepare their nests for staying warm and safe during the coldest months of the year. So, the chances of raccoons entering your property in winters are high. 

‍Therefore, it is best to know how to remove raccoons from the attic, garage, or any other area of your house. By taking strict measures for raccoon control, you can keep yourself, your family, and your lovely home safe.

Signs Of a Raccoon Infestation In Your Attic 

Like other rodents, raccoons are nocturnal. Therefore, they will be most active at night, making their presence difficult to be detected. However, if you suspect an active raccoon infestation in your house, you must pay attention to the clues they leave behind. 

As raccoon removal experts, we have learned how to identify these clues. Here are some of the most common signs of a raccoon infestation in your house:

Clear Evidence of Raccoon's Feeding 

Raccoons are usually messy creatures. Therefore, they will leave a trail behind after their mealtimes, such as a knocked over trash can, dug up gardens, and empty or broken bird feeders.

Foot Tracks 

Raccoons usually walk flat-footed as humans do, and they have claws on all their toes. However, the primary differentiating factor is that their foot tracks are diagonal, just like deer. Therefore, if you see any diagonal track pattern, you must take quick action for the raccoon removal before the situation worsens. 

Droppings 

As raccoons are pretty large, they produce large-sized droppings too. Therefore, if you spot any piles of large-sized droppings, you must know that raccoons have entered your house and are causing huge structural damage somewhere to your property.

Unusual Noises

If raccoons are nesting in your house, you will hear unusual noises, especially at night. The sounds raccoons make are mowing, growling, and whistling. Therefore, if you hear strange noises at night, you must take help from one of the most reliable raccoon removal services. 

‍They will inspect your property thoroughly to look for an active raccoon infestation. If yes, inspectors will remove them humanely and relocate them somewhere safe.

‍However, it is worth keeping in mind that raccoon infestation can be damaging, and waiting for too long to address the problem will only worsen the situation.

8 Effective Raccoon Control Tips

A good approach for raccoon removal is to take help from any professional raccoon removal company. However, if the cost of professional raccoon removal is out of your budget, here are the eight most effective tips to get rid of the raccoon from your house fast:

Raccoons Are Better Outdoors Than Indoors 

Raccoons always enter your property in search of water and food. If you have an attractive garden full of vegetables and fruits, you will experience huge traffic of raccoons on your property. 

‍However, they only enter inside your house to build their nests and raise their babies. That is something most important to avoid. Raccoons are usually solitary animals. However, a large family of raccoons urinate and defecate in the same place to avoid spreading mess across their feeding range.

‍Therefore, if a raccoon or group of raccoons have gained access to your attic, you must take quick action for their removal. Otherwise, they will cause extensive damage to your belongings and building materials. 

‍Also, raccoons, like other rodents, carry many infected fleas, ticks, and mites in their fur. Therefore, they can expose you, your pets, and your family to many harmful diseases. A raccoon infestation inside your home is more dangerous than an outdoor raccoon infestation.

‍Now you must be wondering how to keep raccoons out of your attic or house? Raccoons are fond of climbing. Therefore, if there are any tree branches near your home, raccoons will easily jump through them to the roof of your house.

‍Once the raccoons enter your attic or roof, they will soon find their way to the inside of your house. Thus, you must keep the branches of trees near your house trimmed and short. Also, make sure to be on top of repairs. Otherwise, raccoons and many other species of rodents will enter your house through broken roof vents, chimneys, and windows. 

Cut Off Their Food Supply 

Raccoons always prolong their stay where there is a steady supply of food. Therefore, you must make sure to remove all of their attractants from your property. If you have outdoor pets, you must bring their food inside before the night falls. Also, make sure to cover your garbage containers with heavy lids.

‍Furthermore, if you have a garden full of vegetables and fruit-bearing trees, you must look regularly for fallen fruits and nuts. Otherwise, they will attract raccoons and many other pests to your property. 

‍When you stop feeding them, you will discourage them enough to leave your property. 

Frighten Them 

Raccoons are naturally easy-to-scare animals. Therefore, you can use their weakness as your strength by installing motion-activated sprinklers or radios to scare them. Also, you can use scarecrows or water sprinklers to deter raccoons away from your property.

‍However, these methods might offer a temporary solution to repel raccoons away from your property, but soon raccoons will lose their fear and ignore them completely. 

Dogs Are a Real Threat to Raccoons 

If you own a dog, raccoons may not enter your property. However, if your house has a steady supply of food and water, then they might take a risk. Also, raccoons may give a tough fight to your dog as they have become quite smart over the years. 

‍However, several breeds of dogs such as Black, Tan, Blue Tick coonhounds, and many others are specially bred for hunting raccoons. So, if you have a dog of one of those breeds, it will help you a lot in keeping the raccoons away from your house.

Use Live Traps 

Another effective method for raccoon control is trapping them. Many homeowners install a few traps in areas frequently accessed by raccoons and use their favorite food as bait to attract them towards the trap. 

‍However, if you want to get rid of raccoons from your property without killing them, live trapping is a good option. All you need to do is, place a few live traps in your house and use their favorite food such as fish, fruit, or peanut butter as bait. Once a raccoon enters the trap to get the bait, the door snaps behind it. 

‍However, after trapping a raccoon in a live trap, you will also have to relocate it somewhere safe. If you take help from one of the most professional raccoon removal companies, they will help remove and relocate raccoons.

Shooting Raccoons

In various countries, shooting raccoons is legal under certain circumstances. However, it is still not recommended to kill innocent animals just for the sake of protecting your house when there are several ways for their removal in a humane manner. 

‍Furthermore, raccoons are active at night, which makes shooting them more challenging. 

Use Loud Noises & Lights To Your Advantage

Raccoons are extremely intelligent and persistent animals. If you have raccoons in your attic, it is unlikely that they will leave without a fight. While only sometimes effective, installing motion sensor lights and stereos playing loud music can help get raccoons out of your attic. The goal is to make the environment less suitable, and encourage them to leave and find a new den.

‍While wildlife removal professionals will be able to seal the house and get the raccoons to leave your attic through a one-way door, you may get lucky with some loud noises and bright lights!

Take Safety Precautions 

Unfortunately many raccoons in Texas carry parasites and roundworms, which can expose you, your family, and your domestic pets to many contagious diseases. Therefore, it is usually advisable to consult with a professional that offers raccoon removal services. If you are in the Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex, Critter Stop can help you deal with a raccoon infestation. We will not only humanely remove them but also clean up your property afterwards to ensure your home is sanitary.

‍However, if you try handling it yourself, it is very dangerous to hold a raccoon with bare hands. Furthermore, you should wear gloves while disposing of their droppings or cleaning up the traps due to the number of diseases that they can carry. 

Conclusion

Critter Stop is one of the effective and best-reviewed raccoon removal companies in Texas. We provide a wide range of animal removal services for residential and commercial properties.  If you see raccoons around your property, call us for at  (214) 234-2616 for free inspection and estimate!