The only people who think raccoons are cute are those who
have never had to deal with them. In case you want to give them their due,
their scientific name is Procyon lotor. If they have infested your house, you
will have other names for them.
Although they prefer wooded areas near water and natural
habitats, they are not averse to living in urban areas and often become pests
of the first order. They are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and
animals. Animal foods include crayfish,
clams, fish, frogs, snails, insects, turtles, rabbits, muskrats, and the eggs
and young of ground-nesting birds, including waterfowl. In urban settings, in
addition to feeding on backyard fruits, nuts, and vegetables, they scavenge
from garbage cans and compost piles.
The young are generally born in April or May and the usual ‘family’
is 4 kits. They stay together as a family unit for the first year,
after which they begin to assert their independence.
Their little black-masked faces are adorable, making you
think of kittens. But sweet little critters they are not. When looking for a
nesting site, they will easily tear off soffits, roofing, gutters, air
conditioning ducts and rooftop ventilators. They are amazingly strong and only
the strongest measures will foil their attempts to get into your house, garage
or barn. Good climbers, they will shinny up downspouts and jump from nearby
trees. They will also make a den under a porch or patio.
As a child you learned that raccoons were clean animals,
because they ‘wash their food’ before they eat it. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. They wash what they eat to moisten it. Human ideas of cleanliness
have no part in their make-up. If they get into your house, you may not notice
at first because they are nocturnal. But eventually you will be shocked to see
the damage they have done to insulation, wiring, roofing, wallboard, and ceilings
of the rooms below. They use their ‘den’ (your attic) as a latrine, and the
odor is simply awful and almost impossible to get rid of. You thought cat smell was bad! Wait till you smell raccoon stink!
They are also destructive in the garden. Sweet corn is a
favorite food. They will climb the stalks, peel down the husks and eat every
last kernel on the ear. Usually they harvest the corn when it is ripe, the night before you intended to do it. They are
also fond of melons and other fruits and vegetables.
Raccoons
are known to carry a number of diseases and internal parasites. The raccoon
roundworm, an infection spread to people by the accidental ingestion or
inhalation of roundworm eggs from raccoon feces, has caused increased concern
in recent years. Roundworm infection can cause serious disabilities, and young
children are thought to be most susceptible. Raccoons are also carriers of
rabies and distemper. Be sure pets are properly vaccinated to mitigate this
threat. Occasionally a whole colony of raccoons becomes rabid, and that is
serious indeed.
The best
way to handle raccoons is to keep them from entering your spaces in the first place. Chimneys need
a firmly-attached, strong roof cap; tree limbs must be cut back at least 5 feet
from the roof; shrubs and bushes must be kept thinned out; holes dug under
patios must be dealt with immediately. Garbage must be kept in tightly-lidded
cans. Bungee cords can be used to keep cans firmly upright. Bird feeders are
the candy shop of the critters, and their Subway is the pet food left out
for pet cats.
They are
not bothered by moth balls, blood meal or any of the other smelly things that
you might think would keep them at bay. Noise makers, flashing lights, shrill
sound makers: none of them work. Fences won’t keep them out either, unless you
add some DC current. Electricity is one thing that they respect, and strands of
electrified wire like those used to contain cattle is often the only solution
to keeping them out of a garden.
Live traps
are the best way to catch them, and the best baits are marshmallows, peanut
butter or sweet rolls. They like fishy smelling food, too, but so do cats, and
you don’t want to catch cats. Once they are caught, they need to be killed. Don’t
fall for the old ‘trap and release’ thing. They will return to your house
before you do.
If you
have a ‘raccoon problem,’ it’s probably best to call in professional
exterminators. Make sure they are not proponents of ‘trap and release’ or you
will be wasting your money.
Does this
sound like experience speaking? It is.
Resource: ucdavis.edu - Integrated Pest Management Program
