It's official... we have raccoons in our attic

seadoug

seadoug

Well-known Member
Location
Texas
I posted a while back about how our "heat" switch was turned off in our attic and neither of us had been up there in months. Hubs sleeps in the upstairs bedroom and swears he hears raccoons in the attic. Tonight we were watching TV and heard loud thuds like boxes being moved upstairs. Both cats were with us. Later I could hear the raccoons screaming in our courtyard. We have a loose screen in a portion of the attic. I thought it was due to strong winds but now I think those sneaky creatures broke in. @bobcat you were right!

I know they can do more damage than just turning off switches, like chewing through wiring, so I'm calling pest control on Monday to raccoon-proof the house. :(
 
seadoug said:
I posted a while back about how our "heat" switch was turned off in our attic and neither of us had been up there in months. Hubs sleeps in the upstairs bedroom and swears he hears raccoons in the attic. Tonight we were watching TV and heard loud thuds like boxes being moved upstairs. Both cats were with us. Later I could hear the raccoons screaming in our courtyard. We have a loose screen in a portion of the attic. I thought it was due to strong winds but now I think those sneaky creatures broke in. @bobcat you were right!

I know they can do more damage than just turning off switches, like chewing through wiring, so I'm calling pest control on Monday to raccoon-proof the house. :(
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yes I remember you posting that a week or 2 back.... well at least now you know preicsely what it is and can deal with it.... thankfully no ghosties or Hobo's..lol
 
Never realised they were a pest, they are so cute.
When I was living in Sydney, we had a possum in the roof, at first I was convinced we were being haunted by an old man who breathed very loudly and very laboured.

It scared the holy $hit out of me.
The husband went up into the attic and discovered it was a possum. It never harmed anything or anyone, so we learned to ignore it.

Occasionally, I would fill a small plate with bread soaked in milk and honey and put it up there for it.
 
seadoug said:
I posted a while back about how our "heat" switch was turned off in our attic and neither of us had been up there in months. Hubs sleeps in the upstairs bedroom and swears he hears raccoons in the attic. Tonight we were watching TV and heard loud thuds like boxes being moved upstairs. Both cats were with us. Later I could hear the raccoons screaming in our courtyard. We have a loose screen in a portion of the attic. I thought it was due to strong winds but now I think those sneaky creatures broke in. @bobcat you were right!

I know they can do more damage than just turning off switches, like chewing through wiring, so I'm calling pest control on Monday to raccoon-proof the house. :(
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Glad you found the culprits Doug. I sure wouldn't want to be the one going in after them without a chainmail suit like the ones used for shark diving. Maybe they tranquilizer dart them and wait, I dunno.
 
No raccoons in our house, but had one season they invaded our small farm. They had their instincts set on either our chickens our their eggs. They are smart enough to figure out deterrents. They are amazing. I live trapped about 7 and relocated them to huge state parks.

We have occasional scratching in our ceiling, that moves very slowly. It is a black snake. We have one or two per year. :)
 
oscash said:
We used to have mice in the roof, and they made a terrible noise. Husband bought a few boxes of Rat Sack and after a couple of weeks all was quiet. I was told that once they take the bait, they go looking for water and usually leave the roof.
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I use that poison all the time, and never ended up with one of the dead mice in my woodshed. I wanted them gone, because when I left them alone, I had copperhead snakes move in. But once I had something in there that was gobbling up the poison. And also chewing up gloves, both rubber and leather. It went on for weeks. So I went out and bought a live trap and put some of the poison bait in it. The next morning I had the little devil in my trap, but it wasn't one of those ugly Norwegian Rats.

It was a large, but rather elegant looking critter. Slim and trim and longer legs. I sent a picture to a knowledgeable friend who identified it as a wood rat, a type of rodent that didn't require human garbage to live on. I took him out the woods a mile from my house and released him into the wild. I hope he was OK, because that rat poison is nasty stuff. Hence the rubber gloves in my woodshed I used to handle it.
 
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seadoug said:
I posted a while back about how our "heat" switch was turned off in our attic and neither of us had been up there in months. Hubs sleeps in the upstairs bedroom and swears he hears raccoons in the attic. Tonight we were watching TV and heard loud thuds like boxes being moved upstairs. Both cats were with us. Later I could hear the raccoons screaming in our courtyard. We have a loose screen in a portion of the attic. I thought it was due to strong winds but now I think those sneaky creatures broke in. @bobcat you were right!

I know they can do more damage than just turning off switches, like chewing through wiring, so I'm calling pest control on Monday to raccoon-proof the house. :(
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We don't have racoons here @seadog.

A friend of ours once told us that when she was little, they could hear noise in the attic so, one night her dad went up to investigate and he found a neighbour camping up there.

Apparently the terraced houses they lived in all had attics with adjoining doors so they could access their neighbours attic space. The neighbours' wife had told him to leave so, while she was out, he packed his bags and hid up in the attic before moving along to hide in the neighbouring attics, I guess he didn't want his wife to find him!

Hope you get rid of those racoons before they do any more damage :)
 
We had squirrels in two apartments in the attic. We moved from one because they wouldn't do anything. The next one the pest control removed them and put wire around the attic part of the building. They sounded so loud scouring around.

@seadoug sorry to hear about the raccoons, hope that gets solved soon.
 
Almost every summer, something dies in this attic. The rotting smell seeps through one particular light switch. It takes over a month for that smell to dissipate. I cover the switch with several layers of heavy duty plastic and tape it down with packing tape. I'm pretty sure it's mice.

Country living at its finest.
 
Raccoons are a major nuisance for me, I have been fighting them for years, mainly in my barn. When I had horses they would crawl into the feed buckets to scronge for food and then pee or poop as payment, always mucking up the water buckets as well. Now I have an automatic cat feeder in the barn and it has been torn off the wall several times, I had to put a metal latch on the lid and surround it with carpet tack strips to coon proof it. I also always have to flip the seats up on my tractor or mowers, they like to climb onto the seat and take a nice poop.

Dirty buggers, I hate them.
 
So many years ago when I still worked in Respiratory Therapy I worked in an old hospital. Loved that place. I usually had a book with me to read during quiet times. I was reading my first Stephen King novel when above my head I heard a couple of thumps and a squeak. Oh yeah, Stephen King and hearing things that shouldn't be got my attention.

Turns out we had a raccoon family inhabiting the attic.
 
My encounter with a racoon was spendy, but short lived and hasn't recurred. My husband and I bring in professionals when we're in over our heads, and are especially glad to have done so immediately in this case. Raccoons are strong, smart and can be extremely destructive.

My saga is here: Help! Have a critter under the house!
Please keep us posted on yours, @seadoug. Wishing you well on this.
 
GoodEnuff said:
Almost every summer, something dies in this attic. The rotting smell seeps through one particular light switch. It takes over a month for that smell to dissipate. I cover the switch with several layers of heavy duty plastic and tape it down with packing tape. I'm pretty sure it's mice.

Country living at its finest.
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My sister had mice. They took a mouse friendly trap and cought one, drove miles away to a field, so he wouldn't walk back, let him out and immediately a hawk ate him. Unbelievable. All the effort for nothing.
 
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