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I like Raccoons. Growing up in Southeast Texas, we saved time and syllables, by just calling them, Coons. Now the term has been hijacked by the verbal police that their feelings get hurt. Back to Raccoons. They are very interesting to watch. If you've never held a baby Raccoon in your hands, you can't understand how cool they are..... well, until they try to tear your home apart.
My first roofing encounter with the furry, lonestar ranger, bandit was in the ealy 90's. I climbed to the 2nd story of a home located in The Woodlands Texas. The home sat on the lake, which meant the wind was whipping that day. After using the 32ft extension ladder to get to the roof, my information told me the chimney was leaking after the last rain. As I carefully made my way across the steep pitched shingle roof, I found a valley, that I could navigate with the roofer walk. The walk means not standing in the bottom of the valley, but rather placing each step, about 2 ft out of the valley and shifting your weight, like walking rocks across a stream. I fnally get to the area where I can see the 2 chimneys. Great, 2 chimneys. Which one is it. I can see the one closest to me, on the water's side. I don't see any siding damage or anything unusual, so I move over the ridge to see the other. Ah!!. I see rotted siding, on the roof. I slide down to the chimney, and notice a big pile of Scat. Scat: Animal #2. I realize it's Raccoon Scat. As I look around the wooden chimney, I dont see any other damage. The roof is fairly steep, so I'm moving very slow and careful. I stoop down, behind the chimney and look into the hole to check the framing. That's when I came face to face with the new squatter. I had flash backs of Jerry Clower, telling the story of Marcel Ledbetter and the wildcat. I wasn't expecting to have eye contact with the bandit. It was one of those times when you look at someone across the room and you realize, you made eye contact. Me and the bandit, had that connection. I jumped back, but realized, I have no place to run. The roof is too steep and it's at least 28ft to the landing site if I slip. My heart is racing, hoping I'm not going to have to be involved in combat with this animal. I managed to back peddle up the slope and return to the ladder. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be on a ladder.
I tell you this story, to get to this point. Once you realize you have an animal in your home, you need to get them out. Don't close the hole up, before you get them out. I can tell you horror stories of people doing that and ending up with Raccoons dropping through the sheetrock and tearing up their home.
You'll read online, all kinds of remedies to get mom to leave her new nest. Here is a few I've heard. Put on talk radio, in the attic. Place a light in the attic and leave it on all the time. Get a light that flashes and leave it in the attic. Mothballs. Now I don't know if any of these work, but I will tell you most guys I have talked with, tell me the best thing to do is trap mom and the kids and give them a ride to a new home. Remove them.
The gestation time for mother Raccoons is around February. She will start looking in January for that nice den for the family to be raised. Why she will pick your home? Not sure. Usually they find a place on your roof that the decking or siding is soft and they will dig their way in.
I was looking at a home in a local neighborhood and noticed a roofer on the house next door. When he left, the lady ask me if I could give her an estimate on the roof. She said 2 roofers had looked at it and she wanted another estimate. She told me the 1st roofer told her the home had been hit by lightning. Roofer number 2, said he had no idea, what had happened. The minute I could see the dozen spots on the roof, I looked down at her and said, you have a Raccoon.
It's amazing the damage that a Raccoon will do to your home. I had a call to look at a roof that I had replaced, just a year before, during a realestate sale. The new owner said she had several leaks in the house. I thought it was odd to have leaks on a new home. When I got there, I noticed 2 ft circles on the ceiling in 3 rooms. They looked like water leaks on the sheetrock. When I climbed in the attic, it looked like someone had taken a wheelbarrow and dumped piles of Coon Scat in several areas. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Never have I ever seen something like that. I don't know how you go about removing all that. I say all of that to tell you, they aren't something to just wait till the babies are of age and they move out. They do real damage.
I've had some good success with at product called , RAT MAGIC
It keeps squirrels, rats and evidently Raccoons away. I've had several customers use it with great success. You might try it. Throw it in the attic.
