Raccoon Control in SWFL: How to Identify and Remove Nuisance Raccoons from Your Property
January 24th, 2020
Raccoons are one of the top wildlife complaints in Southwest Florida, and we receive several calls each week about raccoon removal. While they tend to roam in the nighttime outside of homes, you may be one of the unlucky ones to eventually have raccoons get into your home.
Here, we’ll dig into more about raccoons and how to safely remove them from your home.
How to Identify Raccoons
Most people have seen a raccoon or have an idea of what one looks like. But like bugs or other animals, there are multiple species of raccoons, and a handful of breeds you could find in your house. Common physical characteristics you will see with a raccoon are:
- Grizzled-gray fur with a bushy tail that features dark rings
- Around 2-3 feet long, weighing 10-30 pounds (for a full-grown adult)
- Distinctive black area around the eyes
Raccoons eat both plants and animals. They are not picky eaters, which is why you can often find them raiding your trash cans for food. They do not hibernate but tend to be less active in the winter. They can be found throughout most of the US and are very common in Southwest Florida. They can run up to 15 miles per hour and also swim.
Signs of A Raccoon in Your Home
Now you know how to identify a raccoon if you see one, but there are signs of a raccoon in your home beyond seeing one. As previously mentioned, raccoons are more active at night, so you may hear distinctive vocal sounds at night like growling, chirping, and whining in the evening hours. Raccoons often hide in the attic, so you may hear thumping and scurrying noises. You can also look for their tracks, droppings, and entry holes as signs a raccoon is in your home.
Risks of Raccoons in Your Home
Having an adult raccoon take up residence in your home can be very dangerous. There are some serious illnesses that can be transmitted by raccoons, the most common being a lethal strain of rabies.
They can also carry infected fleas, ticks, and lice. Raccoon droppings can also carry a roundworm egg called Baylisacaris procyonis. If a child makes contact with the raccoon feces, the larvae can transfer a dangerous illness to children and cause blindness or even death.
Although raccoons can appear to be bold or aggressive, they are usually more scared of you than you are of them, and they are rarely known to chase or attack humans.
However, the risk of disease to you or your family is a large risk, not to mention the damage they can do to your property when they take up residence in your home.
How to Get Rid of Raccoons
If all signs point to yes for you having raccoons in your home, you should act fast to get raccoons removed from your property.
Live trapping and relocation are the best ways to safely and humanely remove raccoons from your property. This is not something that you should try to handle on your own. Working with a professional wildlife removal company that is licensed and highly trained in how to capture and remove wild animals from your home will ensure you get the best service possible.
A professional wildlife company will also ensure that any entry holes are closed, and that your home is decontaminated from any mess the animal leaves behind.
Work with A Professional Wildlife Removal Company in Southwest Florida
If you’re located in Southwest Florida and are looking for a professional wildlife removal company to help you with raccoon control, Alford Wildlife can help!
Based in Fort Myers, we provide professional wildlife removal and relocation, exclusion, and decontamination services from Collier to Hillsborough Counties. We also provide full-service pest control so we can handle all your nuisance wildlife and pest management needs.
To get started, contact us online or call us at (239) 245-7482 today!
