Keep Raccoons from Becoming Unwanted Tenants in Your House

Various raccoon problems can arise once they nest inside your home or place of business. Some of these problems are easily addressed while some can cause harmful effects on both the structures they inhabit as well as the people that live and/or work there. Here are a few of the more common issues that raccoon removal experts often see along with the warning signs to look for:

Damage to Property

Raccoons can produce a great deal of damage both internally and externally of homes and businesses once they figure out how to gain access. Sometimes they discover an opening into a particular building and other times they’ll literally rip apart a weaker area while creating a good amount of damage in doing so.

Rips and Tears

Raccoons are notorious for their manipulative and powerful paws. They are capable of opening doors, door latches, garbage cans, and even jars. Even worse, they’re known for ripping up soffits, shingles, aluminum siding, and flashings just to gain entry into a safe area in order to create a new den and ultimately nest.

Electrical

since raccoons have such strong, agile paws, they can tear and expose electrical wires rather easily. Damage to property is an obvious worry, but endangering the occupants of a building is an even greater concern.

Drywall

Raccoons are somewhat large animals. Therefore, if they decide to repeatedly urinate within a building’s structure, all that expelled urine equates to a significant amount of liquid and will eventually damage the drywall. Once drywall has been thoroughly soaked, it will inevitably become completely saturated and then rot to the point where the raccoon’s weight will break it down and perhaps cause the entire raccoon family to come crashing down into the room below.

Insulation

Raccoons love dry, quiet, warm spaces to create their den. And so, the insulation in an attic can become quickly damaged once its trampled on or plagued with raccoon feces and urine, even though in most cases it’s rare for raccoons to defecate in their own den site with the exception of baby season. It’s also common for raccoons to dislodge areas of attic insulation that can produce spots where heat can escape main living areas in the home. Plus, in places such as crawlspaces it’s quite typical for raccoons to try and pull insulation down from the space above in the floor in an attempt to discover easy access leading out of the crawlspace itself.

Safety and Health Risks

Rabies

Rabies in raccoons has been a long time concern since it was originally reported in Ontario back in 1999. Since that time, researchers have learned that rabies-infected raccoons are virtually the same in appearance as healthy raccoons and cannot be distinguished. A person typically contracts rabies through a raccoon bite.

Roundworm

Raccoon feces are generally infected with a nasty roundworm referred to as Baylisascaris. Once ingested, they can produce a variety of symptoms including nausea, loss of muscle control, blindness, and in some cases – death. Furthermore, the eggs of roundworms are super-resilient and can be transmitted through various building materials, dirt, and water runoff.

When To Get Professional Help

Raccoons belong in the wild, not in homes and businesses where they can cost the owners a great deal of money in damage repair. Once you spot the signs of raccoons in your home it is important to get professional assistance before any problems get further out of control. With over 25 years of keeping Northern New Jersey safe from wild animals and pests, we offer quality and trusted animal control services in New JerseyFor professional animal control assistance in NJ, contact Precise Termite & Pest Control at (866) 971-2847 to schedule a free home inspection.