Butter Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 A few weeks ago we started hearing weird noises that seemed to come from between the dining room ceiling and my oldest son's bedroom floor. We joked that it must be velociraptors because every so often we'd hear a sound that sounded like velociraptors (or rather what we thing velociraptors must've sounded like). We thought maybe there was a bird nesting out there. Then the noises got more frequent and a little googling told us the velociraptors were almost certainly baby raccoons. So the wildlife guys came today to check things out. Yup, baby raccoons. What's frustrating, though, is in the part of the attic that is only accessible from the garage, they discovered raccoon traps. And in one of those traps was a recently dead raccoon. That explains the increase in noise. The momma raccoon got trapped and died so the babies are stuck and crying. We had no idea there were raccoon traps up there. This means the previous owners had raccoon problems and instead of getting someone to come out and seal up entry points and treat the scent (pregnant raccoons are attracted to places where other mothers have had babies), they put traps up there. We have no idea when they had problems. They did not disclose to us when we bought the house 3 1/2 years ago that there had been raccoons or that they put traps up there. As far as we know this is the first time we've had raccoons since we moved here. The first year our dog trapped an obviously pregnant raccoon under the lower deck. We had to pull up some boards and spray her with water to get her to run. Because we don't use the end of our house where the traps were (my parents are moving here and it's their bedroom/bathroom) we may just not have heard raccoons until this group of babies. The wildlife people removed the dead raccoon and traps this morning and put in three of their humane traps. They'll come back tomorrow to sanitize and then every other day for the next few weeks until the raccoons have been caught and removed. They'll be sealing up all the entry points (against all wildlife, not just raccoons), treating the attic to neutralize everything, etc. I noted that the pictures of where they'll seal up holes just are how the house was built and he said the way they build houses keeps him in business. Raccoons apparently really like to move into attics. We are lucky, though. It doesn't look like they've damaged much except one area where they clawed a hole to make an easy entry/exit point at a corner of our roof. Apparently raccoons can cause serious damage. Home ownership is such an adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 (edited) nm Edited October 5, 2016 by Cathi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnwife Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 If you think they're bad here, look up what they do in Germany and Japan where they're exotic invasives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Aww, raccoons are so much fun to raise. We raised 2 of them. A guy my dh worked with found a Mama and 4 babies in his shed. We got 2 of them and raised them until they took off back out into the woods. Was the mother raccoon dead or alive? If she was alive, I imagine it wasn't much fun for her, having her babies taken away. :( Butter, so sorry for your problems and so sorry for the baby raccoons! I hope they're being relocated to a wildlife rehabilitator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 A coworker I worked with had raccoon problems for several years, in fact I don't know if they ever really got rid of the problem. They had people come out and try to catch them, but they still had ongoing problems over several years. I do know that they did eventually break through the brick in their chimney. I hope you have better luck getting rid of them than he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 (edited) dp Edited September 20, 2016 by Mama Geek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 They also carry a variety of bugs in their coats, so you may want to spray something up there to kill any leftover bugs, too. And, once you chase those out of the attic, be thinking about where they might 'relocate' on your property. Sheds and woodsheds are likely spots. That is included in the wildlife people's service. Luckily there isn't anywhere for them to relocate on our property, and they'll be taken far away. We live in a very urban area in the city of San Antonio in a neighborhood surrounded by other neighborhoods on less than 1/4 of an acre. Butter, so sorry for your problems and so sorry for the baby raccoons! I hope they're being relocated to a wildlife rehabilitator? Yes, they will be. My 8 year old has been very adamant that they be treated humanely. We are not telling him the momma had already been trapped in a cage we didn't know was up there and died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Yes, they will be. My 8 year old has been very adamant that they be treated humanely. Good for your 8-year-old! So glad to hear that the raccoons will be cared for. :thumbup1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 I'm sorry! We have raccoons,too. They come up from the river. Although we haven't had them invade our house. They used to eat our cat food until we started bringing that in at night. Now they eat our grapes off the vines and the rose hips. And they're huge suckers, too. A couple of years ago we had a whole family of raccoons visiting - a mom and 3 youngish coons. Our cats just sit there and watch them. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 (edited) nm Edited October 5, 2016 by Cathi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Raccoons are very clever, too! When I was growing up, we had one that ate dog food, so Dad got a big metal trash can to hold the bag of dog food. It just opened the can! Then Dad tied the lid, through the side handles plus the one on the lid. It worked that lid up and spun it right off! We have a photo of its huge self on top of the open can, glaring at us! I have no idea what happened to it, but Dad is of the heavily-armed persuasion, so who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 (edited) Just be careful because raccoons can be aggressive and they can rip your face off. My DH works with a plastic surgeon and has seen what they can do. ETA: One was from a raccoon that was being raised by someone for a long time since it was young. Edited September 21, 2016 by 1GirlTwinBoys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 I assume she was alive, but I don't remember what dh told me at the time. My dh just brought two of them home one day when the guy showed up at work with a little box with 2 raccoons in it. The guy seemed more concerned about getting all of them out of his shed than he was with taking babies away from the mother. Ah, that's too bad. At least you were able to successfully raise them to adulthood. Amazingly intelligent creatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 We have a big pear tree in our back yard and once a mama raccoon climbed up the tree with her litter of babies following right behind her. They sat in the tree and ate pears the whole afternoon. It was so cute (but I definitely would NOT want them in my house!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted September 21, 2016 Author Share Posted September 21, 2016 Just be careful because raccoons can be aggressive and they can rip your face off. My DH works with a plastic surgeon and has seen what they can do. ETA: One was from a raccoon that was being raised by someone for a long time since it was young. That's why we hired the professionals :) No way are we actually going near them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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