Really hot weather saved me from raccoons

16 years ago

Recently, a really large raccoon managed to break into my attic. It appeared to have had babies, so it would have been difficult to evict. I contacted a animal control guy and he set up a trap, which the raccoon avoided. He thought that the raccoon may have been trapped in the past and released, so she is wised to the trap.

Fortunately for me, the past couple of days have resulted in really hot weather. It's like 90F+ outside and probably like 100F+ in the attic. As a result, it appeared that the mom relocated all of the kids. The animal control guy said they can't stand that much heat.

I went up and there are no raccoon to be found and I can barely stand it for more than a few min. I did have to brave the really hot attic to try to close up the entrance area with some bricks. I also spray some coyote urine around the area just in case. May be when it gets cooler, I'll try to make some permanent reinforcements.

In the future, one way to get rid of a raccoon in the summer may be to tape up all of the vents and hang out in the basement for a few days :-)

Unfortunately, I still see the Raccoon wandering around into my yard during the daytime. Any idea how to deter him from coming back? My neighbor has the same problem, he complains that the raccoon eat the fish in his pond. May be he needs to have electric catfish :-)

Paul

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Comments (4)

User
16 years ago
If your attic was that hot sounds like you need to add some vents or get another kind.

Being next to the water you probably will not be able to get rid of raccoons. She should be starting to move her babies from place to place as they grow. Try not to put any food source out for her and the family. Take any bird feed in at night.
paulsiu
Original Author
16 years ago
Yes, I need an attic fan. Keep in mind that I don't really use the AC all that much even when temperature is at 90F. I only switch it on when my wife is around.

I tried not to put out any food source and take it all of the feeders at night, but lately the raccoon has been showing up mostly during the day time. I chase him off but he keeps coming back.

Paul
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User
16 years ago
The vents I was talking about go from the attic to the outside. One of the problems with having a hot attic is it will be just as cold as it is hot in the winter. Rapid changes of temps can cause condensation inside underneath the outside roof which can lead to all kinds of problems. Try to find ones that have an overhang on them to prevent water from blowing in during heavy rain. Ours do not have the overhang, never thought of it, but one vent is over where there was an old attic fan. When we have the 1-3 inch rains it drips though the vent then though the attic fan cover.

As far as your racoon you might try a squirt bottle of water while yelling at him. Some will get the message some will not.
paulsiu
Original Author
16 years ago
I notice all of the vents in the attic are along the side of the house in the form of soffits.

I have been battling the raccoon all week. It keeps coming back to my yard to shake the feeder for food during the daytime. This usually lead me to chase him around the yard. This is the way squirrels behave too, but the raccoon is bigger and more annoying.

Eventually, it got caught in one of the trap set by the animal people, so now he is dead. I feel bad, but I did tried hard to discourage him from coming back.

Paul