If the is a raccoon (or raccoons) inside your house or building there are a couple of recommended solutions to get rid of raccoons. First it is important to know that there could be dependent young inside between late February and September and trying to kick a momma raccoon out during this time may result in some damage to your house as mom’s strong maternal instincts compel her to get back to her babies. It is also important that you don’t leave the young behind in your house or separate her from them. They are dependent on mom and if she is has been removed or somehow separated from them they will be unable to nurse and will die in your attic or void space.
One-way doors allow raccoons to leave but not return. Once they’re gone, make the necessary repairs to keep them out for good. J. Griffin
A 1-way door – the most effective method for getting a raccoon out of a building
- Locate the main entry that the raccoon is using and all of the other entry points and openings that she could use. Close up or seal all of the openings except the main entry to make them weather and raccoon proof. Remember a raccoon might look big with that big fluffy haired coat, but they can fit into holes and openings as small as 4 inches in diameter.
- Install a one-way door over the main entry to evict them. The 1-way doors for raccoons are 6” X 6” X 12” and they are available at some of the same companies that sell Tomahawk cage-style box traps. The good thing about a 1-way door is that it can let all of the raccoons out, but not back in.
- Once he, she or they have exited, seal up the entry point so that your house is wildlife proof and you won’t have to worry about this problem again!
Wait till raccoon babies are old enough to leave and once you know that mom and the kids have left, cap the chimney. J. Griffin
Waiting them out
The other option is to wait until they leave and then seal the opening or in the case of a chimney — cap it. They will eventually leave; you just have to time it right! In the case of babies in your attic, shed, or chimney you will likely have to rely on this “wait-it-out” method.
- Locate all of the real and potential entry points and seal all but the main entry. Loosely stuff the main opening with newspaper or cloth to monitor for activity.
- It is possible to add some repellents to the stuffing or around that material to help encourage them to move on, but make sure you use non-toxic repellents that are used according to the label.
- Once the stuffing material has remained undisturbed for a few days and nights- which should coincide with a drop-off in noise or activity that alerted you to their presence in the first place -it is time to seal the main entry up!
- For raccoons or a raccoon in the chimney encouraging them to move on by employing some harassment techniques could help speed their departure. Try a radio and or banging on the flue door with something metallic to let them know they don’t belong.
- Don’t ever try to smoke raccoons out of your chimney. This method does not work and can leave you with a very big and expensive mess on your hands. It is difficult for an adult raccoon to climb up the flue if it is filled with smoke. As you can imagine it is very disorienting and the smoke may overcome the raccoon as he or she tries to frantically exit. If there are dependent young present this method will ensure that the young die on the smoke shelf either from smoke inhalation or from the heat of the fire as the mom would have to carry them up one by one before being overcome from the smoke or heat herself. Either way this approach can result in having to remove a dead raccoon or raccoons from your smoke shelf – an expensive and gruesome ordeal.
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