Raccoon family in my attic

[carwashguy]

My neighbor has an outbuilding that had a raccoon living in the attic. He had the roof replaced a couple of weeks ago and the noise from the workers must have convinced the raccoon to move out.  Problem is that it appears that the raccoon and very likely a few babies have taken up residence in MY attic.  I am going to borrow a Hav-a-heart trap from my other neighbor but.....how do I make sure I get them all?  If I go up into the attic there isn't a real good escape route.  I do know that they are getting  in thru a missing piece of vinyl soffit.  I will replace it as soon as I know they are out!

[opticsguy]

Use your shotgun.  Keep shooting up towards the ceiling until they are all gone.   :-)
Secret to traps is really reading and understanding the instructions. Traps are not as easy as you think and raccoons are smarter than we know.  
Also, keep in mind, raccoons come out to find food, so a good alternative or in addition to your attic traps are a trap or two set up outside.
Good luck.

[Cecil]

Coons are very family oriented.  One time when I caught a coon a trap, when I went out to check the trap, another coon was sitting by the trap, keeping the first company.  I was able to prevent the first coon from escaping when I opened the trap, the the second coon went in to visit the first, while I was standing right there.  Both coons were smaller, younger coons.  I have caught larger male coons that are actually quite nasty.

It would be easier if you could borrow two traps and set one beside the other.  Always leave one trap with a coon in it.  I bait the traps with bird seed.  They love it, I can leave a trail into the trap, and at the end of the trail they have to dig past the trigger to get the bird seed out.

I caught a cat using bird seed too.  I am sure the cat went in after the bird, but the bird went out through the holes!

[Duane N]

If the babies are still nursing it may be difficult to catch the entire family. The bonus is if they are still nursing you can catch Mom and climb into the attic and get the babies easily (just wear thick gloves if you have to handle them). Peanut Butter is a good bait to place in the trap but you will probably need more than one trap to catch the entire family at one time if the youngsters are old enough to feed on their own. Place the traps in either the attic or near where they're going in.

[gMike]

A suggestion from my days as a Conservation Officer in a metropolitan area is to soak a towel in ammonia and place it in the vicinity of the raccoons.  Moth balls work too but it usually takes longer and requires renewing the moth balls if they don't move out right away. They have a very good sense of smell and the ammonia/moth balls burn their nasal passages.  If they are in an enclosed space where the fumes won't dissipate readily, it doesn't take too long.  Raccoons are nocturnal so you will need to plug their access opening once the female has moved her brood, probably at night is the best bet.  It is doubtful you'll be able to live trap all of them on a one-at-a-time basis.

Under no circumstances get into close proximity to a mother raccoon in an enclosed space!!!  I made that mistake once and the outcome is not something I would ever want to repeat!

When you close off the opening use metal or fairly stout chicken wire as they will gnaw through a wood patch in short order.

[Duane N]

   

I've had great results getting rid of Squirrels, rats and mice in my shed by soaking cotton balls with this stuff and putting them in the shed.

[Dusty Workshop]

You could try driving them out with kiud music and light.
Tgis is a known technique

[fredhargis]

I wish you luck. I had a family of 5 under some deck work last year. I killed mom and 2 young'ens, then bought a havahart for the rest. Never did catch any, they seemed to be able to get the bait and not trip the trap. I did wind up getting them all, but it took about 6 weeks. Someone above mentioned it...the adults can be really nasty.

[Cooler]

I spotted two raccoons entering a storage area of my home that gains access to my attic.  I called a pest control company.  The tech went into the attic and determined that they had very definitely been in the attic but they were not there currently.  

I paid him $200.00 to seal off all the access points.  He used a combination of aluminum flashing and chicken wire mesh.  He spent about 2½ hours in the attic doing this.  He also told me to get a screen for the window in the garage and to keep the garage access doors closed at all times.  (I used to leave the access door from the deck to the garage open as there was no access to that door except through the house or the garage doors.)

It was done just this last Saturday and I won't know for sure if this works for a while.  But I did not have to pay for him to trap and relocate the raccoons.

I knew a guy who did this same work for a living.  He trapped the raccoon and was in the process of letting it out of the cage when the raccoon spittle splashed into his eye.  The raccoon has run off.  

Because they did not know for certain if the raccoon was rabid or not they had to administer the rabies vaccine to him--a painful ordeal.

Rabies has the highest mortality rate of any known disease.  Only one girl has been known to survive rabies.

[dav]

I've had 100% success using dog proof traps like this. You have to place them outdoors in the area(s) the raccoon is known to frequent. You can bait them with dried cranberries (I also put a large marshmallow right at the opening to initially attract them to the trap. There are many Youtube videos out that explain the proper way to secure the traps and bait them. Don't use this trap unless you are willing to kill the raccoon.