If you hear a scampering, scraping sound in your attic, basement or even in your living area, you may have a wild visitor in your home. Discover why it’s essential to work with a wildlife technician for safe and humane raccoon removal. Learn more about the cunning and sneaky ways raccoons enter homes and the dangers of trying to snare one on your own.

Identify Common Raccoon Entrances

Raccoons have been known to enter homes in a number of ways. These cunning animals are experts at breaking and entering your home. Here are some common ways a raccoon may find a way to build a warm den in your building:

• Climbing a downspout
• Pushing through a soffit
• Entering through a pet door
• Clawing through roof boards or roof vents
• Removing a chimney damper

Inspect Your Home for Signs of Other Wildlife

Part of the difficulty of raccoon removal is finding all the raccoons that have made a home in your building. Many homeowners mistakenly think a single raccoon must be the only intruder. In fact, pregnant raccoons often seek shelter to have a litter of babies, so your attic may be home to far more than one wild animal. Be sure to work with a professional wildlife technician who not only can safely remove a raccoon and seal your home but can also carefully inspect your property for signs of other wildlife.

Avoid Coming in Contact With Raccoons

Raccoons may seem cute and friendly, but remember that these are wild animals, not household pets. These creatures come with a number of dangers:

• Spreading of distemper, rabies and other diseases
• Aggression
• Property damage
• Ticks and fleas

Some diseases that raccoons may carry can only infect animals, such as distemper. Other diseases put you and your family at risk, so it’s important to thoroughly and professionally clean your home after removal.

Cornered raccoons can act aggressively. When cornered, they may react by biting, clawing, and otherwise defending themselves. Never approach a raccoon on your own but work with a technician with the professional tools to safely and humanely remove a raccoon.

Raccoon entrances are rarely neat and clean, so expect property damage from a raccoon finding a way into your home. Chewed wood, flattened insulation, and other issues are common. Ticks and fleas carry their own diseases and are uncomfortable pests to deal with. Prompt removal of raccoons can prevent these pests from setting up a home in your house.

Call in Equipped Professionals for Hassle-Free Removal

Snare poles and live traps are common tools used by professionals. Improper use of these comes with risks for both the user and the wild animal, so don’t attempt to snare a raccoon on your own or trap it by another means. Some traps can injure or strangle a raccoon without the proper setup, and it’s easy for a snare-pole user to become scratched or bit while attempting to handle a raccoon.

Interview With Bill Dowd, Skedaddle President & CEO on Snare Poles

What Is a Snare Pole?

A snare pole is a long pole with a cord running through the centre to a lasso at the end, that can be pulled tight for the purpose of removing animals. Older snares used to range from 8 ft – 15 ft, but more modern ones are around 4 ft long, extendable to 6 ft. The lasso is wrapped around an animal’s torso or front paws (never ever wrapped around their necks) and the animal is then safely removed as quickly as possible, or placed in a cage until a humane release can take place.

Describe some situations in which you would use a snare pole and why?

• When adult raccoons enter a homeowner’s living space and need to be removed immediately
• When baby raccoons or other animals are nesting in enclosed or hard to reach areas, like wall cavities or elevator shafts
• When skunks fall into window wells or other hard to reach areas since skunks are not good climbers they can be removed at a safe distance from techs, which also prevents them from spraying too close to humans. Last spring (2019), we found 3-4 young skunks that had fallen into a window well, likely following one another in.  Our Skedaddle techs used a snare pole to remove them and allow them to scurry away to their den

How Do You Safely Use a Snare Pole?

For the safety of the animals, snares are never ever wrapped around their necks. This would essentially strangle the animal once the snare is pulled tight. The snare lasso is always wrapped around the torso of the animal and as gently as possible, the animal is led into a temporary cage or directly outdoors to an area where they are able to run away freely. Our techs are trained to balance heavyweights with snare poles, as raccoons are often 30-35 lbs.

What Are the Risks of Using a Snare Pole for a Raccoon Removal?

There is a risk of potentially grabbing a raccoon at the wrong angle and hurting it, which is why we do a rigorous job of training techs how to properly use snare poles. With skunks, there is a chance of them spraying out of fear or as a defense. Raccoons are pretty heavy, and since the weight bears down on the length of the snare pole, if a tech slides his hand down to combat the weight, there is a chance they could be scratched or bitten.

Professionals should always wear protective gear when handling raccoons. In the tight attic or basement crawl spaces, raccoons can be cornered, and since they are small enough they are able to move freely in small spaces while our techs are confined, leaving them susceptible to attacks or raccoons escapes.

Understand the Importance of Professional Expertise

DIY raccoon removal solutions can result in injury and further damage to your property. Young raccoons in particular can be seriously harmed when attempting removal. Some homeowners don’t realize there is a litter of babies or another raccoon in their attic and accidentally seal them in. At Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, we use tested inspection, removal, cleaning, and prevention strategies that are safe and humane.

Contact Skedaddle Today

Contact us today to schedule an inspection or learn more about our professional raccoon removal techniques. Work with a local team of wildlife experts who are committed to humane wildlife control and don’t resort to harmful chemicals that could put you and your family at risk.