Raccoon Capture - Catching Raccoons

04.25.2003 - Baby raccoons are cute.  Attics are hot.  That's what I figured out during this job.  A husband and wife called me with suspicion of raccoons in the attic.  When I asked why they suspected they had raccoons living in the attic, they said, "Well, we've heard some scratching and clawing up there at nighttime, and we hear a sort of chattering that seems like it's raccoon sound, there's a scent that we think is raccoon poop, and every night we watch a fat raccoon climb the downspout and into a vent hole leading into the attic".  The evidence sounded good enough to me, so I headed over ready to catch some raccoons. I entered the attic, and I noticed that it was hot!  Like at least 130 and 1/2 degrees.  I prowled around, trying to think like a raccoon.  The only thing I could think was, "How can they possibly live up here with those thick fur coats they wear?"  I began to grow delirious with fever and heat exhaustion, when finally, in the darkest corner (I should have searched there first!), I spotted a nest of three plump baby raccoons.  Paydirt! I used my snare pole to grab and remove the little raccoons from the remote corner, and put them in a bucket.  Then I set some traps outside to catch the mother, and I used the scent of the baby raccoons, rubbed on paper towels, to help lure her in.  Sure enough, I caught her within a few hours, and I relocated all of the animals together, out to the woods about 20 miles from the attic where I caught them.  I also got myself an icy drink and a towel when I got out of the attic. If you want to capture raccons, you should know that it's not at all easy.  It may be pest to hire a professional such as myself to do the job.  Unless you want to crawl through an attic and find and remove them yourself, with the threat of an angry mother raccoon nearby. The raccoon (Procyon lotor), is a unique animal native to North America. It's not closely related to any other animals, with distant relatives such as bears and weasels. Coons are easy to recognize, with a black mask and ringed tail. Raccoons tend to weigh between 10-20 pounds as adults. They are mostly nocturnal, and are omnivores. Racoons average a lifespan of about 5 years in the wild, and have a litter of 3-6 young each spring. They are very strong, excellent climbers, very intelligent, and they are very skilled with their hands. Raccoons have learned to thrive in urban areas, and live in very high densities in cities, where they eat garbage and pet food. They commonly break into homes and attics, where they cause considerable damage, and they also destroy other property, and thus racoons are considered pest animals by many people. Raccoon control and removal, especially from inside homes, is best left to a professional.

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