Although we offer wildlife consultation we do not provide raccoon removal services. We recommend that homeowners let nature take its course in the spring when there are most likely young in attics or crawl spaces. The family will soon move along.

As per our Basil and Dusty slideshow above, our personal rehabbing experiences with these intelligent creatures informs our positive opinions about them. 

If raccoons set up house inside your house or cottage, we offer consultation and recommendations based on wildlife rehabilitation organizations' guidelines to encourage them to move out. 

Wildlife organizations recommend the following tactics and tips:

Like squirrels, raccoons most frequently seek out attics, garage rafters or chimneys as isolated safe places to have their young. If they are already nesting in any of these areas of your home, we urge you to provide a temporary restraint period from mid-March to late-May as the offspring are too young to leave the nest at this time. Never light a fire to force them from a chimney because not only will you asphyxiate the young, the nesting materials could start a fire.

Your keen observation is required to determine how many babies there are and when they are moving about on their own with their mother. When the young are old enough to climb, the family will often of their own accord move away to a wooded site. If they don't, you can board up their point of entry when the whole family is out foraging late in the day or early evening -- about 1/2 hour before dusk to 1/2 hour after dark. Have the chimney cleaned, capped and add a spark arrestor screen to avoid future problems. Also, if their access point was a hole in the roof or eaves, ensure it is professionally repaired asap.

The simple answer to raccoons tearing open your garbage is to NEVER put it out until the morning of pick up. If you must keep it outside, get animal proof lids and containers or build a secure garbage shed.

The most effective way to keep raccoons out of a garden is with electric fencing: two strands, six inches and 12 inches off the ground. Clothing with a strong human scent or hair clippings (from a hair salon) strung in an open mesh onion bag and nailed to stakes in a few locations in the garden may also work.