Any pest control expert will let you know that the colder seasons are one of the most important times to be wary of the risk of raccoon invasion. During the colder seasons, all kinds of creatures are prone to seek refuge from the elements in residential buildings. It is highly common for a raccoon to opportunistically take advantage of any of the accessible pet food or open garbage cans that might’ve been left outside. Commonly, a raccoon will usually find the open space in the attic to be a very cozy wintertime hotel.
Signs of Indoor Damage
In the event that a raccoon does manage to infiltrate your home, then it might be there to stay until the spring. A raccoon is far from being a considerate guest; they can be extremely adept at doing great amount of damage to the electrical wires and insulation. As if the physical damage weren’t already bad enough, raccoons may also produce an incredibly offensive odor from their droppings.
Signs of Outdoor Damage
In the event that you have a raccoon infestation in your yard, then one of the first signs that might become apparent to you is damage to your landscaping. Your bird feeders, flowerbeds, and turf may all show signs of damage from a curious raccoon trying to find its bearings.
Raccoons, being the foragers that they are, are always on the lookout for insects, worms, birds and any other snacks that might be available just a few centimeters beneath the ground. There have been far too many occasions when homeowners come out just to get the newspaper in the morning and find that their entire garden looks like it’s been turned inside out.
Raccoon prints
One of the important things to keep in mind is that a raccoon walks on the entire surface of the foot, unlike a dog, which walks on its toes. To identify raccoon tracks, look for a print that has five toes that are all just about the same size.
Signs of garbage tampering
Raccoons will generally also leave evidence that they have been tampering with your trashcan. The high dexterity that a raccoon has makes it perfect at knocking over cans and digging through all of the garbage swiftly. The raccoon can completely remove can lids, tear open the garbage bag, and sort through every single object until it finds something that it wants.
Vocalizations
Oftentimes, raccoon will be very vocal about their intrusion onto the homeowner’s property. Raccoons will commonly yelp, hiss, growl, and make all different manners of loud and unique sounds in their foraging escapades. The sound of scraping the wrestling in the ceiling is generally a dead giveaway that you have managed to attract a brand new bandit houseguest.
