Many animals have a specific mating season. Bears tend to mate over the summer, for instance. Skunks and other small mammals typically prefer to mate during spring. 

Raccoons, a common pest, start mating in January. This date is important because raccoons often seek shelter during this season. Their search can lead them to particular areas in your home. As it’s far easier and more humane to use a raccoon removal service before they give birth, it’s essential to understand the mating habits of the raccoon and how to prevent them from treating your home as their new nursery.

The Basics of Raccoon Mating Season 

The mating season for raccoons starts in January and can last until June. Raccoons usually prefer the spring months, though, with a significant portion of new litters being conceived in February and March. In rare situations, the mating season can start as early as December.

Baby raccoons are called kits. A litter usually contains three or four kits, but some may have up to seven babies. Due to their long mating season and the nine-week gestational period, it’s possible to find kits well into autumn.

Kits are born deaf and blind. This means they are fully dependent on their mother for food and survival. It takes around two to four months for raccoons to become independent enough and begin exploring outside the nest. For the first year, though, kits will rely on their mothers to teach them how to find food and safely engage in their environment.

Why Raccoons May Choose Your Home 

Since raccoon mothers play such an essential role in the first year of their newborn’s life, they seek safe, secure, and warm places to set up their den. This means they choose places that predators aren’t likely to visit.

Your attic is such a place. Even though it may be dark and dingy, it offers an ideal place to get out of the cold and the path of animals with harmful intentions. If your attic is filled with boxes and other places to hide, it can be even more enticing to a pregnant raccoon.

Humane Raccoon Removal Services 

Raccoons typically make their presence known through their nocturnal noises. Their claws may clatter on your attic floor or you may hear their quiet chirps.

If you think you have raccoons in your attic, it is essential to take prompt action to remove them with the help of professional wildlife control experts. Mother raccoons are extremely protective of their young. If the raccoon family is removed post-birth, it can be difficult to find all the kits hidden in your attic. If this happens, the mother raccoon will engage in destructive behavior to try and find their missing child.

Raccoons are crafty. They have strong paws capable of twisting door handles and opening doors. They can tear through vents or other insulation to gain access to their former den and rescue their children.

So, it’s best to have professionals remove any residing raccoons before they give birth. It’s less time-consuming, less expensive, and more humane.

Should you not take steps for their removal until a litter has been born, our Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control team in Coquitlam can still help. We use a tool called a “baby box” that can make it easier for the mother raccoon to find her litter after removal. While this tool is a humane option for post-birth raccoon removal, it’s still better for everyone involved to reach out to us before it’s needed.

At Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, we use humane tools and methods for our raccoon removal. We also handle animals of all types, including bats, birds, rodents, and raccoons. Call us today to see how we can keep your home pest-free with our humane methods.