General Information

The raccoon or Procyon lotor (scientific name meaning “before-dog washer”) is a medium sized mammal native to both North and Middle America. In the wild, they can live in a multitude of different environments such as swamps, deserts, tundras, forests, and more. Shelters can range from fallen logs to brush piles and even cohabitation in other animals’ burrows.

In more urban environments, raccoons can even attempt to cohabitate with humans. This does not mean they make good roommates however, and they can cause severe damage to chimneys, attics, crawlspaces, and other structures. In addition, they often carry many diseases and parasites such as rabies, leptospirosis, fleas, raccoon roundworm, salmonella, and more.

While invasions by raccoons can happen at any time throughout the year, most customers will start to hear/ see signs of them starting February/ March and ending in June. This coincides perfectly with when the females are starting to give birth. Raccoon litters on average consist of 2-5 “kits” as they are called. It is also not uncommon for groups of fully-grown adult raccoons to live in the same space as well.

Being nocturnal critters, you are also very unlikely to see them but rather hear them. Oftentimes they will leave in the evenings right before or after sunset and return in the morning around dawn.

Description

Raccoons are the largest member of the Procyonid family which includes many animals native to Central and Southern America like ring-tailed cats, kinkajous, coatis, and olingos. Their dark fur and unique patterns help keep them hidden from predators like feral dogs, coyotes, and even people. Adult raccoons can weigh anywhere from 11 to 55 pounds!

Raccoons also have excellent senses of hearing, sight, smell, and especially touch. These are all extremely beneficial of course when searching for food, avoiding predators, and finding new ways to break into human spaces.

Interesting Facts

• Raccoons get their scientific name from the observed behavior of “washing” their paws. Theory number 1 says they do this to wash dirt and germs off their hands before eating or grooming. Theory 2 says they do this in order to warm up nerve endings on their hands. This would give them a better sense of touch and therefore able to fish better in murky waters or scrounge for food in dumpsters.

• They can run upwards of 15 miles per hour!

• Scientists have recorded them making over 200 different sounds/ vocalizations. These include: chirping, purring, hissing, growling, whining, crying, screeching, and more! This makes it extremely easy for them to communicate among each other and even other animals. Learn and take a listen here: https://youtu.be/oO66krz2iBM

• Raccoons are often very highly ranked on IQ scales when it comes to animals. Even trailing not far behind humans in similar tests involving memory and problem solving.

• Some believe that the raccoon’s black mask serves to reduce glare to better see in the dark.

Raccoon Inspection

It’s very important that we’re able to determine not only the correct species, but also how they’re getting in, and if possible, how many of them there are. This makes an inspection the first critical step to removing raccoons. You’ll hear a lot of questions from us like “When are you hearing them?” and “What does it sound like?”

From there, we go into the actual search for them. Looking for hair, paw prints, feces, scratch marks, openings, and whatever else we can find.

Raccoon Trapping and Removal

Using live traps is not only the most humane way to remove raccoons, but also the most effective. Direct capture is often difficult and very dangerous, and other methods like poison or deterrents are cruel and ineffective.

If requested, we can even relocate animals on private land. Sometimes, especially in rare cases of abandoned or injured kits, we can take them to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

So, to sum up, we hope that some of this information provided was able to answer most, if not all your questions. If your nuisance raccoon problem persists or has just become apparent, it’s time to call the professionals. At S-Tier Wildlife Control we can remove nuisance raccoons and their kits using humane methods. If you have any more questions about our services, these animals or any others, or to request an inspection get in touch with us over the phone at 859-492-6284 or email us at S-TierWildlifeControl@outlook.com.