I have a raccoons my house, what do I do?

How To Remove a Raccoon Inside Your House – Raccoons are smart animals that will explore their surroundings, and occasionally they can enter a home and decide to take up residence. 

Raccoons are common throughout Connecticut.  Homeowners provide Raccoons plenty of access to food sources, such as garbage, gardens, and bird feeders. Raccoons are adaptable, thriving in a large variety of habitat types. They can live in any setting – urban, suburban, and rural areas.

Here are some things that may help Connecticut raccoons find their way out of your home.

Don’t Jump

The first thing many people will do is yell, scream or attempt to go after the raccoon.   This can cause the racoon to attack and find it’s way further into the house.

Close the room

Cut off the path to escape into other areas of the house.  As you close the room, you limit its space to move around your home and think about ways to show it the door out.

Open the windows or doors if applicable

A raccoon will also look ways to get out of your house so be sure that the windows are open so it can lead itself to the way out.

Don’t forget about your pets

It’s important to put away your cats or dogs so they don’t attack the raccoon and might likely to get hurt confronting the animals. What’s more, if your house is quiet, the San Jose animal would likely to leave.

Be Patient

Racoons have a tendency to stay till late at night before they wander around your house.  This will be the same if they are leaving your home. 

The Flour Trick

You can try spreading the flour near the door or where you think it may be hiding. This helps you to see their footprints and point out their exact location.   This will help you narrow down any possible hideouts. 

Pet Food and kids

Make sure there are no open food containers, in bedrooms or even dog food left out on the floor.  This will encourage the racoon to stay if they have a good food source.

If there are only adult racoons in your home, here are some things you can try to get them out on their own.

• The Basics – Try bright lights, loud noises (a radio or Bluetooth speaker would work best to play music).    Strong scents like peppermint oil and apple cider vinegar can be unpleasant for raccoons and help drive them out of the house.
• The combination – Trying all three above can be beneficial where one thing might not be enough to get them to leave. 
• It’s about timing – dusk is the best time of the day.  Don’t drive raccoons out during the daytime hours. Raccoons are primarily nocturnal, so they may be confused in daylight, and they are certainly more vulnerable.

Safety First – Avoiding Confrontation With The Raccoon

Like most animals, raccoons do not actively seek out confrontation with people unless they feel that they are cornered, and there is no other escape route available for them.

If a racoon is stuck in a room, try not to go directly into the room if possible, and make sure you put on some heavy clothing with long sleeves that will protect you if it tries to scratch or bite.

Try to open the window or door from the outside if possible to give the raccoon the path to escape without being too close.  

I have tried everything and no luck

Do you need professional help with a raccoon problem? We have wildlife experts that have been serving Connecticut for over 30 years.  

In some cases, the raccoon simply won’t understand what you are trying to do and how you are trying to help it, and it may either become scared or agitated that it cannot find a way out of property.

Trapping The Animal

When it comes to getting the raccoon into a trap so that it can be relocated, it can be quite a difficult task and is definitely a last resort after trying other methods of getting the raccoon out.  Given the raccoons nature and possibility of rabies, we strongly recommend that you hire a professional at this point instead of attempting to trap the racoon on your own.

What happens after I call ?

Having tried all the other option, or if you simply want the problem solved as soon as possible, calling Gray Brother’s Wildlife be the simplest way to get the problem of the raccoon out of your home. Once you have called them in, they will usually arrive fairly quickly, and once you have pointed them to the right room, they have the experience to catch the raccoon very quickly.

Cleaning Up After A Raccoon Has Been Removed

Once the raccoon, you can start on the work to clean up after the animal, and particularly if you have raccoon feces to deal with, it is well worth wearing a breathing mask and goggles to do this work. If the carpet or furnishings have been soiled you may be able to clean it, or in some cases it may need to be replaced if it is heavily soiled. Once you have finished cleaning, make sure any areas where the raccoon was busy are disinfected, to make sure that those in the house aren’t exposed to any of the diseases that can be transmitted by raccoons.   

Gray Brother’s Wildlife can also provide cleanup services after a Racoon visit.   They are the one size fits all solution for any racoon or wildlife issue you may encounter.  If you have racoon in your home, give us a call today and we will take care of the problem.