Raccoons In The Attic

Most cases where a raccoon enters an attic involve a litter. The first step is to determine how the raccoon got in. The usual entry point is corners of the roof where the rooftop meets the soffit of a dormer. Search the eave carefully!

The next step is to determine if a litter is present. This involves going up in the attic and listening for their characteristic vocal sounds. If a litter of babies is around, they should be removed by hand from the attic. Customers sometimes hear the characteristic raccoon baby vocalizations, but sometimes they do not.

Click here to listen to the characteristic raccoon baby vocal noise

The raccoon litter is removed by hand once located in the attic. This step is dangerous as the mother raccoon is likely in the attic and will defend her young. Also, traveling the attic for the extraction means carefully distributing one's weight across the foundation beams so as not to puncture the ceiling dry wall.
This step involves quite a bit of skill. If yo cannot safely enter the attic, get professional help.

Raccoon babies in attic photo

The litter will usually be together. Most commonly the mother will birth 3-5 babies.

Catching a raccoon image

The babies are used as bait to catch the mother. The babies are secured into the back of the trap with hardware cloth.

Trapping a raccoon family photo

Mother is caught when she tries to rescue her babies.

Raccoon mess in attic photo

Raccoons leave behind a large mess in the attic. Decontamination servies are strongly recommended.