Do It Yourself Pest Control Supply for Raccoon

Raccoon
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See axp.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74116.html

Raccoons are usually grayish-brown or oranges-brown on top and grayish below. Their face is a black mask outlined in white. They have a bushy tail with 4-6 alternating black and brown or brownish-gray rings. It has relatively small ears. Length is usually 2-3 feet. They are about 7-16 inches high and weigh around 12-48 lbs.

Raccoons have a high rate of being carriers of rabies. Rabies is a serious viral disease that results in death if untreated. Infected animals may be agitated and aggressive, or fearless and lethargic; normally nocturnal animals that are diseased may roam about fearlessly in daylight. Stay away from any animal that is acting strangely and report it to an animal control agency in your area. If a possibly rabid animal bites you, you must immediately consult a doctor for a series of injections; there is no cure once symptoms emerge. Because of the danger of rabies, raccoons should not be encouraged to feed on porches, and their excrement should not be left around buildings where humans and pets can come into contact with it. Raccoons also harbor a nematode (or roundworm) that, although harmless to the raccoon, is very dangerous and often fatal to wood rats and probably too many other mammals, including humans. Transmission is through the organism’s very tiny eggs, found in soil and dung, which become much more infective with time.

A couple of interesting facts about them include their ability to ascend a tree of any diameter and then come back down forward or backward. Not many animals can do this. The raccoon does this by rotating the hind foot 180 degrees. They do not hibernate, however during very cold weather they may sleep from several days up to a month or more at a time. They can go the entire winter without feeding due to the amount of stored fat they accumulate leading to winter.

They are nocturnal. During the day in non-winter months they may simply sleep on top of a log, in a nest, or on a clump of vegetation. Favorite habitat areas include wooded and wetland areas, wooded streams, tree or brush line areas. Any type of constructed structure in these areas will also make a handy den area. Group dens are not uncommon and may contain up to 20-25 members, however, usually only one male is present.

Their typical diet is very diverse it includes nuts, berries, grubs, insects, small mammals, and bird eggs. They will also scavenge in trashcans, dumpsters, and even feed on road-kill. During non-winter months it spends most of its time foraging around lakes and streams. They like to swim in streams and other types of waterways searching for food items such as crayfish, frogs, worms, clams, turtles, and turtle eggs. They will also climb trees to cut or knockdown acorns.

When they enter a structure unwanted, tip over garbage cans, or tear up property this is when they become a nuisance and have to be controlled in some manner. Cage type traps would be the most convenient way of controlling them in a humane manner. We carry Safeguard brand traps for their ease of removing a captured animal. This brand of trap has a rear release door that simply pulls up to allow release minimizing the possibility of them scratching when released. The traps we carry include the following: Safeguard Std Rear Release Trap M52830 30x11x12, Safeguard Pro Rear Release Trap M54130 30x11x12, Safeguard Std Rear Release Trap M52836, and Safeguard Pro Rear Release Trap M54136. Cat food in the small cans serves as a good bait. The bigger situation is to determine if they are still inside the structure. This takes a little bit of timing. Plug the hole with paper towels, newspaper, or some other light weight similar material and place it in the hole. Look to see if the obstruction has been removed. This will let you know if the animal has left or returned back in depending on when it was placed and when it was checked.

One of the main reason that makes them a nuisance is them tearing up yard and landscape areas in search of earthworms or grubs. Raccoons tend to roll or shred the soil in their search of food. Skunks tend to dig 1-3 inch deep holes only where a grub is located. We carry a product called Whole Control Burrowing Animal Repellent 1 qt Btl and Whole Control Burrowing Animal Repellent 1 gal Jug that contains castor oil in a concentrate container that attaches to the end of a garden hose and is applied over the lawn and landscape areas in the damaged areas. The next time they dig for worms they get a bad taste of castor oil and leave that area alone.

Raccoons have very nimble fingers and can manipulate them almost as well as a monkey. You may sometimes see them appear to be washing their food. Actually what they are doing is kneading and tearing at it, feeling for inedible parts that should be discarded. They make many different sounds including purrs, whimpers, snarls, growls, hisses, screams, and whines. Males are territorial and when they meet they lower their heads, bear their teeth, and flatten their ears and the hair on the back of their necks and shoulders stand on end. Males may travel miles in search of a mate. Normal mating occurs between January – March. Gestation is 9 weeks. Birth weight of the pups is around 2 oz. A normal litter contains 1-8 young. They are born with their eyes closed and open them about 3 weeks after birth. Soon after this she leads them on foraging ventures where they learn the ways of their behavior. They are typically weaned by late summer. Some of the young may leave the nest in autumn, while others stay until the mother kicks them out when she is expecting a new litter. After mating, the male usually stays around only a week or so then goes in search of other females. Upon pregnancy, the female is very lethargic. She makes a leaf nest in some protected area such as a large hollow tree but will build nests in a cave, culvert, or similar type of structure for birthing.

Natural predators such as Foxes, Bobcats, Coyotes, and Owls are responsible for many deaths. Since they are nocturnal a lot of times vehicles will hit them at night. This will kill or injure them. If they find their way into an occupied house or building they could possibly fall in an inaccessible area and die creating a bad smell. We carry odor neutralizer and deodorizer materials such as: Epolean N7C ½ gal Btl, X-O 16 oz Btl 12 bottles/case, and X-O 16 oz Btl, or Rat Sorb 1 oz Btl.

Raccoons are also hunted in a way in which dogs track them to a tree where they climb up to escape the dogs then are shot by hunters. Their fur at one time back in the 1920’s was valuable as people were making coats out of it. Today they are still-hunted for sport but not as much for their fur.

For additional information or purchases we can be reached at 972-562-9999, 903-891-8818, 866-562-8999 or www.expresspest.com