Tag Archives: get rid of raccoons

Coon Con-artist

As most people know, raccoons are some the smartest, most cunning animals in the world. Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say smart I suppose, but they are extremely determined and it takes a lot to throw them off their prize. A good example of this is what happened to me in the spring of 2012, the beginning of the summer was fairly uneventful. But once the days got hotter and longer things began to take a turn for the worst. It started with just a few mishaps. In fact, I hardly would have noticed them at all if my visiting daughter hadn’t brought it up.
It all started when my daughter came down to stay with us a few days. After the first night she came downstairs in the morning complaining about the scratching and sounds she had heard in the walls all night. I was confused, I’d never heard any sounds like that. I assured her that I would spend the night in the upstairs room to make sure that there weren’t any sounds. Well needless to say, I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night! You could hear the little buggers crawling all over the place! The first thing I did the next morning was call up a professional trapper to come take care of our problem.
Well, after thoroughly checking out our house, the coon connoisseur found several entrances that the raccoons could be using. He set up cameras that would tell us which entrances the raccoons were using so that we could get them sealed. We had to endure another couple days of those dirty fur balls running around in our walls before we could check the entrances. When the day finally came for us to unveil the secret entrances those little bandits were using I could hardly contain my excitement! I was beyond ready to get rid of this problem. When the trapper got there, we crowded around his little video camera to see what the verdict was. And you’ll never believe it…
Not a single raccoon went in or out any of the entrances that we had been surveying. We were all in awe. How did the raccoons get in the house? It wasn’t like they could just walk in the front door! We sat around and talked for a while trying to brainstorm ideas of how the raccoons were getting in. We were onto the idea of them tunneling underneath the house when we heard a large crash coming from the upstairs bedroom. We rushed up the stairs to see what had caused the commotion, and there frantically running around the room was one of the raccoons!
After several minutes of frantic screaming and chasing, we finally had the raccoon subdued. The exterminator laughed when he realized that the raccoons had been getting in through the window that my daughter opened at night. Once they had entered the house, they found their way to the attic where they begun to wreak their havoc.

You Shall Not Pass

We have a psycho raccoon on our deck, and I mean absolutely bonkers.  I guess technically it’s not my house, it’s my 90 year old aunts; but I am there at least 3 days a week while her caretaker is at home.  The fact that the home belongs to my sweet, elderly aunt is the reason that I’m so concerned about this raccoon, how do I know it won’t hurt her while I or her caretaker isn’t watching?  This thing is territorial and protective, and I don’t even know what of! All I know, is that if my auntie opens the back door without checking the porch first, it could be a disaster.

So the story of this wild raccoon on the deck goes like this: about 2 weeks ago we started to notice a raccoon lingering around in the backyard.  We really didn’t think much of it at first, living in a slightly more rural area it’s not uncommon for us to see wildlife around when the sun starts to set.  What clued us in to the problem, was when it started to get closer and closer at night, until eventually it was practically at our feet with no fear.  After that it started to live under the deck and would spend the nights lounging outside the door like a cat.  We became alarmed, when we tried to go inside the house one night after a bonfire, and the raccoon hissed and growled and wouldn’t let us in the back door, and when we finally got back inside we couldn’t go out the back door again!

My concern is that my Aunt will open the back door to let some fresh air in when we have our backs turned and will let this crazy thing into the house.  Having a raccoon on the deck is bad enough, I don’t even want to get a taste of having a raccoon in the house.  I don’t know what we could do to make it leave? We walk across the deck, we’re loud, we have music playing – it just stays put!  I’m a little worried because what if it has babies under the deck and that’s why it’s so territorial? What do you do with raccoons, PLURAL? We need some help, and we need it before my aunt makes things worse.

Major Reaction

There are raccoons in the cellar of our home, and they are going to kill me.  I know I sound dramatic, but I’m not!  I have never had pets so I’ve never experienced any animal related allergies until now and they are more awful than I ever could have pictured.  It’s a mother and I’m pretty sure she has babies down there, if I can get close enough to listen at the vent I can usually here soft animal sounds coming from inside.  I think she tore the vent cover off and that’s how she got in there because I have looked around for any other entrances to the cellar and they’re all only from the inside of the house; it was completely sealed off from the outside except for that one vent.

I don’t necessarily have a problem with the raccoons in the cellar, I never go down there; truthfully if I wasn’t having major allergies because of them, I’d just let them stay until they were grown and gone before I reinstalled the vent.  The problem is that our air conditioning system is down there along with our water heater and electrical boxes and such.  Basically, these raccoons aren’t just in the cellar, they’re being blown all through my house by way of the vents.  I can’t go anywhere without my eyes puffing up and my nose running uncontrollably!  Not to mention the hives on my skin, it looks like I’ve been stung by hundreds of bees!

I tried scaring them out myself just by making loud noises from upstairs and I turned off the air system so it’s not blowing through the house, but now I’m either sweating or freezing along with slowly dying from these allergies!  I need help getting these raccoons out of the cellar and I need it fast. I’ve practically drained my pharmacy of Benadryl and Claritin D but I just lay awake at night, miserable!  They have got to go, and they have to leave YESTERDAY!  I don’t know how much longer my body can take of this before either I move out or I suffocate! PLEASE HELP!

Raccoon Family in the Cabin

Raccoon (2)When we went cheap on our vacation, we did not plan on having to share a summer with a family of raccoons.

The economy might be improving, as reported on the news, but it has yet to get better for most of my friends and me.  So, summer months are filled with inexpensive “stay-cations.”  We avoid the theme parks, the costly water parks, and even long, gas-guzzling drives.  Instead, we do splash pads, camping at free sites, fishing at the local pond, and plenty of hikes in the mountains.  We skip the high priced tickets of the zoo and museums and opt for a day at a friend’s farm or science projects around the house.

So, when an elderly neighbor couple told us we could use their mountain cabin for several weeks, we were elated!  In return, we were going to do some repairs around the place and spruce it up for their trip up there later that summer.  It was a win-win deal for all of us.  We packed up the truck, threw in the kids’ toys and sleeping bags, and off we went!  The four of us chatted and sang and watched the beautiful mountain scenery go by as we drove deeper and deeper up the canyon and into a side canyon where the cabin sat.  This was better than a theme park, because we’d be able to enjoy it for weeks, spend lots of time with each other and fish and hike and swim to our heart’s content.  This was going to be the best family vacation ever.

Following the directions, we finally headed down the dirt and gravel road that led to the cabin.  It wasn’t a mountain resort, by any means, but it was going to be all ours for the next several weeks.  We stopped in front, the kids spilled out of the truck’s cab, and my husband couldn’t stop grinning.  I was ready already planning where we were going to set up the hammock as soon as lunch was ready.

My husband unlocked the front door and we all brought our heavy loads in, arms full of bags of food, coolers, camp chairs and other mountain living necessities.  The cabin had obviously not been occupied in a while, at least not by humans.  The bright windows illuminated the clouds of dust we stirred up, and the place smelled dank and foul.  “Ewwww!” my six year old said, plugging her nose.  I exchanged an uh-oh look with my husband.

My son, oblivious to the possible gross-ness of his surroundings, kicked open a bedroom door and stomped on in, plopping his load down on the nearest cot.  I carefully placed my load on the small table in the tiny kitchen and followed my son, a vague warning dying on my lips.  He was silent and still, staring at a large raccoon baring its teeth at him and standing in between my son and three raccoon babies.  I could tell by the look on my son’s face he thought this was the coolest moment of his nine years on earth.

The frozen moment passed and I blew into action, grabbing my son and backing quickly out of the room, slamming the door as I passed the threshold.  I then picked up my bewildered daughter and charged out the front door of the cabin back into the relative safety of the outdoors.  At least there, we were not confronted with raccoons who might feel cornered or bite or scratch us, necessitating a trip back down the mountain to the nearest hospital.

My husband figured it out quickly enough when he bravely opened up the bedroom door to see what had caused all the fuss.  We shared the cabin with a family of raccoons.  We had to re-think this whole mountain resort situation if we were to deal with raccoons in the cabin.

We discussed all the possible ways of dealing with the situation while our children threw rocks into the nearby creek.  It was imperative to get the family of raccoons out of the cabin before we could even begin to clean up the mess and start on repairs.  We certainly weren’t going to enjoy our mountain retreat until we got those raccoons out of the cabin.

Finally, we realized we should just handle the situation the same way we would handle it at home.  We wouldn’t try to remove the family of raccoons by ourselves like some bad 80’s cartoon.  I would drive back down the mountain to the nearest town with cell reception and contact our neighbors, the cabin’s owners.  I would suggest to them that they call Allstate Animal Control.  Allstate Animal Control could easily remove the family of raccoons out of the cabin, and I knew they’d also take care of some of the cleanup and repair.  Then, my family would finally be able to move into the cabin from the tent we staked, and we could get back to the business of fixing up the cabin and enjoying the heck out of our mountain vacation.  Lucky for us, our neighbors agreed and we were quickly back on track with one of the best family vacations we have ever enjoyed!

Raccoon Control

I knew I had a raccoon control problem, but it wasn’t until I actually witnessed my cat versus the raccoon that I finally decided to do something about it.

My house has felt pretty empty since my husband passed away three years ago.  My children all live out of state with their families, and although they all visit at least once a year, I miss them terribly.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not one of those old fogies that sits around in her house all day, dusting a dustless house and watching reruns of “Matlock” and “Murder, She Wrote”.  I’m on a bowling team, I volunteer at an elementary school teaching children how to read, I swim laps every day, and I run the neighborhood watch program.  As busy as I am, there are times when the house seems pretty empty.  So, I have become somewhat of a cliché, the old woman with a house full of cats.  Okay, it’s only two cats, but, still.

My cats are both indoor and outdoor cats.  I let them spend a few hours outside each day and then call them in at night.  Their food bowls are outside on my back deck, and I enjoy watching them play and hunt and climb.  A few weeks ago, I started noticing that their food bowls got empty faster than normal.  Instead of refilling their food dishes once every couple of days, I was replenishing their food supply twice a day.  At first, I thought we had feral cats in the neighborhood that were taking advantage of free food.  Then, I realized I had a raccoon control problem.

Raccoons carry all kinds of diseases that can infect my cats, so I was really worried.  Then, one day, in broad daylight, I saw a raccoon on my deck, about three feet from one of my cats and her food dish.  I was sure it was a rabid raccoon, and called a raccoon control service immediately.  But, after watching it interact with my cat, I realized it probably wasn’t rabid, it was just hungry.

My cat would jab and bat its head anytime the raccoon got near its food dish, but the raccoon just dodged the blows and scooped up tiny handfuls.  It would then retreat back down a couple of steps, eat the cat food, and go back for more, dodging even more cat jabs.  If it was rabid, it would have attacked my cat, but instead it avoided the swipes my cat took at its head and helped itself to the cat food.  No wonder I was buying more cat food than normal these days.  I was feeding at least one raccoon in addition to my two pets, and there were probably more raccoons that came under cover of darkness.

So, when the man arrived from the raccoon control company, I told him what was going on and let him trap the raccoon.  He even set out a couple of other traps, in case there were more in the area.  While I was fairly certain my cats weren’t going to get rabies, I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t get roundworm or any of the other nasty diseases raccoons carry.  Now, I could go off to bowling practice reassured that my cats would be much safer now that I’d handled the raccoon control problem.

Get Rid of Raccoons

raccoon traps too small

Tears drip from my eyes, and I can not stop laughing as my roommate, Joe, stammers on about getting rid of raccoons.  The memory of his little-girl scream, the shocked look on his face, and the way he wind-milled back out of our fireplace makes me laugh harder every time I think about it.

“I’m serious, we have to get rid of the raccoon in our chimney!”

I know he’s serious, and I know we have to get rid of raccoons, but my laughing fit is making me hiccup out of control, and I can’t breathe, I’m convulsing so hard.  What makes it worse is our other roommate, Todd, is laughing, too.  I have to stop looking at him, or I’ll laugh myself into a coma.

Joe is kind of the macho man out of our group.  He’s the guy who spends at least two hours at the gym every day, bragging about his arms, even though most of the time is spent texting his girlfriend, drinking water, or looking in the mirror in between a couple of sets of grunting and lifting.  Hey, I don’t make fun of him, because neither Todd nor I can handle tools other than the occasional hammer or wrench, so it’s up to Joe to fix our toilet, install the new dishwasher, and, as of tonight, investigate whatever was making that noise up in our chimney.

We heard it at the end of our weekly game night.  We all have different gaming consoles, and we hook them all up in our living room, so we can rotate from game to game, trying to beat each other’s scores.  Some of our other friends were invited, too, but only on the condition they brought chips and drinks.  The raccoon in the chimney must have been making noise for a while, but we didn’t hear it until most of the guys had gone home.  Joe and Todd were picking up some of the empty cans while I finished up a game, and we heard a little scratch and a kind of chittering sound come out of our fireplace.

I didn’t bother to stop the game, until we heard it again, and Joe told me to shut up the game or he’d turn it off for me.  The three of us sat there, staring at the fireplace, waiting for the noise again.  When we heard it, a little rustling sound, we jumped up and ran around doing random things.  Todd ran for the phone.  He was going to call 9-1-1 until we yelled at him to stop dialing and hang up.  It couldn’t be that serious.  I grabbed a broom from the kitchen, although I’m still not quite sure what I planned on doing with it.  Joe ran for the fireplace, and banged on a spot just over the mantle.  He says he was trying to scare whatever it was, so it’d run back out and get out of the chimney.

None of that worked, and when we heard a noise again, Joe decided he was going to grab a flashlight and have a look for himself.

Flashlight in hand, he pulled the grate back, got on his back, and squirmed his way back into the unused fireplace.  At first, he didn’t see anything, but we sure knew when he did.   Raccoon eyes gleamed down at him from the dark, paws outstretched, and Joe screamed a scream that would have made a six year-old girl proud.  He’s still babbling about “getting rid of raccoons,” and Todd and I are still laughing hysterically.

How To Get Rid of Raccoons

Raccoon climbing chimney
Raccoon climbing a chimney to get inside a home.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

If you want to know how to get rid of raccoons, I suggest you do NOT do what we did!

Our backyard is absolutely lovely.  It’s spacious, half of it is wooded and, at the back, it abuts a small creek.  We have a shed with a woodpile next to it, a garden area, a lot of green lawn and even enough room to have a swing set with a slide for the kids to play on.  We have a dog, so we keep the dog food outside for him.  In short, it’s an idyllic backyard . . . for us and apparently for raccoons.

It didn’t occur to us we’d have to figure out how to get rid of raccoons when we moved in, but now it’s something I think about all the time.  I worry about our dog outside at night; I worry about my children when they’re outside playing.  What if there is a rabid raccoon?  I worry about my house.  What if they decide to claw a hole and get in?  What if they build a raccoon nest in my attic?

Raccoons are opportunistic and will eat almost anything.  So, our backyard provides a literal smorgasbord for the family of raccoons that live in the woods out behind our house, and I’m afraid they’ll start seeing my home as their home.  The woodpile apparently houses little rodents, which raccoons eat.  Our dog has a big bowl of dog food, which raccoons eat.  Our garden vegetables are just ripening, which raccoons eat.  The birds are nesting and laying their eggs, which raccoons eat.  The creek out back provides a perfect water source for them, and lets them wash their food, as they like to do.

We’ve seen them clawing and tearing at our storage shed, and it’s just a matter of time before they get in.  I dread the day they decide to tear into our home and have babies in our attic.  The holes they make are a pain to repair, but we have to get them repaired or they’ll just let other animals in, like squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rats or snakes.

So, if you want to know how to get rid of raccoons, call a professional to have them removed off of your property and out of your home, and then don’t provide them free board and lodging like we did.

Of course, there is a little bit of entertainment value.  I caught the family of raccoons out back one night, playing on the swing set.  They had climbed to the very top, were jumping up to move the swings, and one of them even slid down the slide.  They had a great time and the kids and I laughed watching them.  They’re really cute, from a distance, but a real nuisance to your home and property.

Get Rid of Raccoons

get rid of raccoons
I’ve been working to come up with the best way to get rid of raccoons so my cat Nikita Kitty can eat her food in peace.  My second-grade teacher says that I’m “spunky” and “extremely creative”, even though I think sometimes she doesn’t mean that in a good way.  So, I’m sure I can come up with some great master plan to keep Nikita safe.

            The first thing I thought of was I’d build a big rocket, and then I’d put the bestest cat food in there.  That greedy raccoon wouldn’t be able to resist, and would come right over to steal the food.  Blast off!  I’d shoot the rocket ship right up into space, all the way to the moon!  That raccoon would be like, “Oh, no!  I don’t have my space helmet!” Then, it’d just steal one from another space ship, because they’re good at stealing stuff, and it would just live the rest of its life on the moon.  And every night, Nikita and I would just look up at the sky and laugh and laugh, thinking of that raccoon stealing food from the space animals that live on the moon.

            But, then I realized I didn’t know how to build a rocket ship, so I thought I’d dig a booby trap in the backyard instead.  That’d be a great way to get rid of raccoons.  I’d dig and dig a huge hole, all the way down to the center of the earth.  And then, I’d take pieces of the cat food and make a trail all the way from our porch to the hole and throw the rest of the food in, so the raccoon could smell it and want to go in the hole.  It’d go in the hole thinking it wasn’t that deep, that it could get back out again, but nope!  It’d just fall right on through to the center of the whole earth, and it wouldn’t be able to climb back out ever again.

            I had to throw that plan away, just because Mom doesn’t even like it when I dig holes to bury my broccoli, so I doubt she’d be okay with a hole that big.

            Guns and super missiles wouldn’t work either.  If I blew up the raccoon, I’d probably end up blowing up the house n’ stuff, and I KNOW Mom would be mad then.

            Do raccoons swim?  Because I could throw a big net down on top of it, and then throw it onto an island in the middle of the ocean.  Course, I’d have to get a helicopter to take me out there, just so I could make sure it landed on the island and didn’t drown.  But, I’m kind of afraid of being up too high, so I don’t think I’d be real happy way up high in a helicopter over the ocean.

            Sigh.  I think I’m going to have to turn this problem over to Mom and Dad.  I’m sure they’ll need me to consult with them, though, on how to get rid of raccoons.  I’m too little to do some of that stuff, but maybe Mom or Dad would be willing to fly on a helicopter, or maybe they could build a rocket ship.