Update on the Raccoon Issue

@Imogene, I remember when I used to board horses back in the 80s that no one other than me gave their horse a rabies shot. My vet said he had them & I said okay since the farm back up to a huge county park with riding trails. When one of the other boarders asked what my shots cost that year I let her look at the slip. When she seen rabies she laughed & said I threw my money away. That shot is one I haven't ever thought was ever a waste of money. Rabies is a very bad disease for any living thing to come down with.

I agree shooting that animal was best for it & everyone else. I don't like to see anything suffer & I don't want other animals to get infected.

It's the same in my area that no one from the state wildlife division will come out & pick up a carcass of a sick animal. Years ago they told us to drop it off at the health department if we thought it was rabid & it's probably the same today. The last case of rabies I heard of in my area was several years ago in the county north of mine. Not very many animals involved, but mainly it was foxes at that time.

For any removal of live animals in Ohio, you have to call a licensed professional to remove the offending varmint from your property since it's illegal for you to catch & release yourself. Not sure since where they take them to release them, but I hate of someone else inheriting a nuisance wild animal.

I remember one call in dispatch where the entire raccoon family had taken up residence in the fireplace. The owner kept hearing noises & when he opened up the damper & looked up he seen mamma with her babies looking back. He slammed it shut & called us. He insisted on an officer to come out who could do nothing but tell him the same thing I told him ... look in the phone book for an animal removal service. I did feel bad for him because he had little kids in the house.

@Trish, they like to come out at dusk & during night so if you see a raccoon out during the day be suspicious & keep an eye on them from a safe place. Distempered raccoons will wander around unsteady & can become lethargic & end up with seizures. Sometimes people mistake the mucus discharge from their nose & eyes for rabies since some of the other symptoms are the same.

Rabid raccoons will be drooling saliva & foam around the mouth besides walking unsteady & confused & can be very aggressive.
 
Oven/pot roasted raccoon tastes similar to roast pork.

It also tastes better if you don’t know it’s pot roasted raccoon. 😉🤭😂
imagebymichaelpendley-cooking-raccoon-6
 
Trish said:
Are they safe to eat? How do people know if the raccoon has rabies or distemper or some other disease?
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Rabies and distemper are easy to identify once the disease has advanced, but in a newly infected animal I'm not sure you could tell. We ate coons, muskrat, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, water fowl, fish, I guess any of those could be carrying something, yet I never knew of anyone getting sick from wild game, but imagine it happens.
 
seadoug said:
Sorry for the long story, but the exterminator visited today. He was the guy who assesses the damage. He went into the attic, and all I could hear him say was "Wow!" He saw damage, poop and urine. He sent me pics of the poop and urine steams (won't share those). He seems to think they got into the attic via a loose hanging wire they accessed from our elevated back yard, which is actually even with the second story of our house.

He said one must have been really angry because he not only tore out the screen in the dormer but tore out the wood surrounding it as well. They got caught in some wires on exit because there were wires hanging outside that should have been in the attic. They also chewed into the wood on some of the eaves in various corners.

He had another guy come out today and seal any possible openings. He said the insulation could now carry disease because of the excrement so tomorrow another guy will be removing the old insulation and installing new. It is super expensive. Their handyman will be coming out tomorrow to repair and paint all the wood trim and install a plexiglass window in the dormer that will be impenetrable. There will be a small hole in it for wires that go to the dish on the roof.

He told me I was lucky that we identified it early because he'd just left a house that had much more damage. Even so, I watched him as he calculated the costs. Suffice to say, I just paid our property taxes and homeowners insurance and was looking forward to catching up financially. This work will cost more than the two combined. He offered a payment plan. :( Here is some of the damage caused by the raccoons.:oops:

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The little varmints.!!!!! Let's hope you've seen the last of them.
 
I had a raccoon den under my concrete front porch several years ago. A trapper caught them and transported them to a state park 20 miles away. He said other raccoons will attempt to reuse the den, so he sprayed ammonia in the opening and then I filled the area in with rock. Lucky others didn't inhabit it later.
 
Sorry to hear about your raccoon problem, @seadoug ! The important thing is that you know the damage, and now you can fix it. Like some others here said, I think you should pass it by your insurance company. Also, pour some repellent around there so they don't return. Animals also need water to live. I wonder where they were getting their water source from (maybe you already mentioned it, but just a thought).
 
The house was sealed off yesterday. Today, they came out and sucked all the old insulation out and blew in new insulation. It was a 4-hour process. The foreman had 3 guys working on it. They found a raccoon in there, put him in a cage and carted him off. We went into the attic tonight and it smells brand new. You can now smell the wood like it is a newly built house. Prior to that, it just smelled musty. No telling what was in the old insulation. :oops:

They will continue to do inspections, then when they are certain all is well the handyman will visit and repair all the damage.

It was expensive, but the company was fantastic. Each team had a "leader" and each explained to me what they were doing and did a thorough clean-up afterward. There is an overall contact that I can call with any questions/concerns. So far, so good!

As some have recommended, I will check with my insurance company and see if they can cover some of the cost. Thanks, everyone, for your comments/input!
 
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