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A Florida raccoon in a humane trap. |
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Customer Raccoon Email:
Hey David, Found your web site & enjoyed your great photos. I have an interesting situation & wondered if you might offer some advice. Last night I was awoken by a raccoon at 3am, hovering right besides me
(3 feet) above on my deck railing. When I sat up, yelled & hissed, it ran off quickly & knocked some candle holders off my deck. Now I am trying to sleep outside again tonight.
I love to camp, so much so that I gave up my 3D animation career, & started a web site on camping/outdoors 14 years ago. I left my city apartment dwellings 7 years ago & now live in the mountains of
Southern California at 5000' elevation. I've been sleeping outside every summer for at least 5 years & JUST NOW I am starting to have a problem with raccoons visiting me at night. They used to just
mosey on thru, but now they are starting to come in way too close. While I am sleeping on the air bed on the deck they climb on up, or if I am in the house awake, they have come in to my office & tip
over the trash can (to find nothing). I have chased one outta my doorway several times. I have no pets, nor pet food or bird food around. My garbage is secure in the closed garage. I don't leave
any dirty dishes laying around outside on the patios or deck. The Los Padres National Forest that surrounds my home is huge & Wilderness is literally next door, so trapping them is really not an option,
as there are hundreds living down near the creek bed. Should I install spikes on my deck railing to keep them off? I want to deter them some how. Any insiders suggestions for a camper girl who loves to sleep outside? Dana
My Answer: Spikes might not be a bad idea. Squirt gun is good defense. But I can't really imagine they'd attack. That would be extremely rare. If you continue to leave no food sources or scents, they should get bored with the area. But yes, many of them are totally fearless. I guess if I actually felt threatened, I'd resort to pepper spray. Never done it myself, but it could be a good way to encourage them to leave you alone.
If you need wildlife control services in your hometown, click for the National Directory of Wildlife Trappers that I've carefully compiled in every US city.
The raccoon (Procyon lotor), is a common urban animal, and native to North America. Raccoons are easy to recognize, with a black mask and ringed tail, as seen in the above photo.
Raccoons tend to weigh between 10-20 pounds as adults, and live an average of 5 years. They are mostly nocturnal, and are omnivores, and will often eat pet food or garbage. They have
become very acclimated to living in cities and urban areas. They are very strong, excellent climbers, very intelligent, and they are very skilled with their hands, which causes them to
commonly break into homes and attics, where they cause considerable damage, and they also destroy other property, and thus raccoons
are considered pest animals by many people, which is why I remove them. If you want to learn more, please read my How To Get Rid of Raccoons page.
AAAnimal Control is a privately owned wildlife removal and pest control business, located in Orlando Florida. I deal strictly with wild animals. I am not an extermination company, but a critter removal
and control specialist. The above photos are some of the many that I've taken in the field over my years of work. Please email me if
you have any questions about the above photographs, or any questions about
wildlife problems or animal control issues.
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