Yikes! Call animal control! And try to get a latch and a lock for your deck box so that it can't be easily opened!
I would give him the night. I bet he will be gone tomorrow. But tomorrow, when you check, use a big stick to open the box so you aren't right there, racoons can be really mean!
He got in pulling the bottom open. It's just one of those boxes like this one, so the latch is just on the top. We'll have to figure something out for the bottom.
You could bait him out too. Put some cat food outside the box and maybe that will lure him out!
@Rosie Girl: He seemed actually pretty friendly, LOL! He came right up to the window nose to nose with the cats. The cats were confused as all heck like "Who is this weird looking tabby cat?!?!?!" but they didn't hiss at all.
ETA: If I feed him he'll come back. As much as I love raccoons I don't want to encourage them to hang out on our back deck as that's the only outdoor space our cats get to enjoy.
According the city I live in, this is what I should do:
HOW TO EVICT A RACCOON FROM YOUR HOME, ATTIC OR CHIMNEY Without a proper Home Inspection Program in place and a home that may need some repairs you may be inviting a raccoon to be your guest. If you think you have an animal in your home, check to find the entrance area. Sprinkle flour near this area and look for footprints or try stuffing a rag or a ball of paper in the opening to see if it is removed. Encourage the animal to leave on its own, if it is a mother she should re-locate her young too. Raccoons prefer dark quiet places. Try placing a loud radio turned onto a talk station in the area. Enter the area and bang pots and pans every hour or so. Illuminate the attic, keeping fire safety in mind. Try odour repellents such as Naphtha Flakes in stockings or placing a dirty cat litter box in the area can be used as an ammonia repellent. If the raccoon can escape the noise, smell or light these methods will not work effectively. Be persistent, leave the deterrents in effect for 48-72 hours. The raccoon should become annoyed and leave. You must be more determined than they are. Before you enclose the area, make sure the animal is out. Check and make sure there are no young left behind. May through July are peak months for young. If you trap young in the nest, you will have a mother who will do more damage trying to get back in to your home. If the young die, not only is this inhumane but you will be left with the smelly decomposing carcasses. To check an area for activity, try sealing the entrance area temporarily with a light window screen or a scrunched up rag. Leave this in place for 48-72 hours if it is undisturbed, check the area yourself and seal properly. Block all holes with galvanized sheet metal or 16 gauge screen. Repair all other areas to home to prevent a further occurrence. Follow invasion/prevention methods listed for home. Note: Humane wildlife deterrents are available at many hardware stores and garden centres. Used kitty litter has a natural ammonia content that may deter wildlife. Blood Meal fertilizer can also be used as an effective repellent on lawns and gardens.
Commencing raccoon harrassment..... now.
@Rosie Girl: I also forgot to clean the cat litter the other day, so I have plenty of stinky cat pee litter for him :) If only he wasn't so cute it would be easier for me to evict him!
Aww! I bet he's cute! But I totally understand not wanting him living in your deck box.
Hopefully Operation Racoon Harassment is successful!
Sorry, this thread reminds me of this pic.
Don't worry, I heard this pic is fake and that the kitten was photoshopped in. It's stiil a cute pic!
@yrret107: LOL! Awesome!
I currently have a radio blaring beside the deck box. I should likely call my neighbours and apologize... I'm going to go gather the dirty litter in a few minutes. Yum.
As long as you do not think it is rabid, I would just leave it alone til night time when it goes to feed, because like you said they are nocturnal animals, maybe it already got kicked out of its sleeping area once today. I would def scare it away at night time though (if it doesn;t leave on it's own) and make sure it can't get back in there. If it is a female it is that time of year where she will be thinking babies! lol and you certainly don't want babies in your deck box!
The title of your post made me giggle. Good luck serving the little bugger with that eviction notice!
@Winter2013: I've put a bag of dirty cat litter next to the box and turned the radio on. I'm trying to encourage it to go NOW since chances are we won't notice if/when it leaves tonight since the deck box isn't really within eyeline of our livingroom. I'll send DH out to investigate further tonight. I just don't want the thing to ruin our patio cushions!! I have no reason to believe it's rabid or sick in any way. No frothing at the mouth, no clumsiness, nothing usual. Just a raccoon looking for a place to sleep ;)
@Bostongrl25: Raccoons are only scary if they're frothing at the mouth ;) Otherwise they're pretty cute and entertaining (although somewhat pesky) animals. We used to have a family of them that lived near my parents house and we'd feed them every night. They'd bring their babies to show us every year, so cute.
@Amaryllis: Should the next line be "And I know how to use it"? LOL!
I would be worried about leaving it for the night--what if it is looking for a place to have babies? That's not something you want to wake up to. Hope the cat litter works!
Yes, they can be very mean and very destructive so be careful!
@Georgia Bee: DH came home from work to me coming up the stairs with a bag of dirty cat litter. I started walking towards the bedroom with it (the deck box is right outside our bedroom door onto the deck) and he was a little worried about what the heck I was doing... LOL! Hopefully it works! I left a message on the neighbour's machine to apologize for the racket of the radio. So far no movement...
I agree with making it uncomfortable enought that it wants to leave. They can be extremely agressive and of course, carry rabies. They will also get into everything. If it doesn't leave over night, I would definetly call animal control. They will likely just relocate it.
With that said, we had a pet racoon growing up. It slept in bed with me and thought it was a dog. Yeah, I grew up in total redneck-land. :)
I think raccoons are adorable, but we've had nothing but problems with them over the last few years. 1) They love to try to go through our garbage on our back deck. If it isn't secure in the big trash can, they will get it and spew trash everywhere. So gross to clean up. 2) We had a rabid raccoon in our neighborhood about 3 years ago. It actually DID bite two people. I saw it once near my car and freaked out. For that reason, I would be very careful. As you mentioned, they don't generally come out during the day, so that can be a warning sign. Good luck!
hmmm i hope it leaves.... we had a problem with a possum in our backyard... i was scared to even let my dogs out :(
I hope you get it out! Racoons are smart little critters. We've been out camping and had them get into latched totes (you know the big rubbermate kind with handles that flip up to hold the top on) to get to food, open ice chests, bags of chips...once they ate half our watermelon that was in a ice chest with a rock on top in attempts to keep them out. Annoying but usually harmless though!
This is what I would do... (mind you, I might be a little crazy)
1. Put on a pair of jeans, long sleeved shirt and sweatshirt and grab some over mits.
2. Grab a broom.
3. Open up the box and shooo the racoon out and make him scared enough to run away.
4. If he lunges at you, swat him with the broom.
@bakerella: OMG! I wouldn't have a clue what to do. Do you remember this fella from a TV program in the 80s called 'The Racoons' (oddly ha ha)?
**UPDATE** DH poked around in the box with a broom and lo and behold, it's a momma and a bunch of babies!!! Oh no!!! So we're having a humane service come in tomorrow and trap them. They'll be re-released within a kilometer but apparently she won't likely come back to our house. I'll try to snap some photos if I can ;)
Awe I've been following this thread all day, and even though it sucks that the cute little raccoon family has to be evicted, at least they had a nice little home for a bit.
Does this mean you have to go and buy new patio cushions and stuff now too?
! On our farm in Wisconsin (we just lived there, it was not a working farm) we had raccoons in our walls! It was freaky! You could hear the babies squeak squeak squeaking away behind my sister's dresser! They went in an old chimney and made babies. Yeah.
My mom and her husband set live traps outside with marshmallows, and all they ever caught was my dog! (Repeatedly- poor "Ducky.")
@Koala Bear: I'm going to have to come up with some way to treat the cushions to clean them. That's if she hasn't torn them to shreds. From what I can see it all looks fine so far though. DH wanted to feed them dinner but I said no ;)
@cbee: In the walls??!?!? Freaky!!! Uhhh so your dog was cute and not so S-M-R-T is what you're saying ;)
Oh my gosh! Babies, how cute! But I understand you can't have them stay. haha Good luck! I hope they are all OK once released!
@bakerella: ok, for the record, they DO come out during the day, but they are TYPICALLY nocturnal. It depends on the food supply. (I know this for a fact because I called the va wildlife rescue center a while back talking about animals that come out at night. Even did a cutesy kiddy story that got no where, lol).
SOOOO CUTE!!!! I'd be doing the same thing!
And yes, they do frequently carry rabies. They are one of the main carriers, which is why I own a rifle and did "pest control" when I lived with my parents. My mom has dogs and I have two kids and if they didn't run from us, they didn't live too long. Especially since we KNOW there are rabid animals where my parents live.
Usually, it was the oppossoms that were the main problems, not the 'coons. :)
good luck!!! and hopefully you can get a few good, cute photos, too!!!!
So we woke up this morning and momma and her babies had left during the night. I cancelled the removal service (thank goodness, I didn't really want to spend $225!!!). I guess the bag of dirty cat litter worked. We also had left the doors to the shed wide open so it wasn't as protected for her and the babies, so I think it all worked together to create a less hospitable environment. So sorry, but no photos! I tried to get one yesterday but I didn't want to get too close and piss her off or freak her out!
@Zinzerena: We're starting to get oppossums up here now. I hate those ugly buggers!!!!
So today I get to disinfect the patio cushions in case she had fleas or any kind of parasite. Fun fun! I'll have to ask DH to pick up some Borax or something I guess?!
@bakerella: bleach. And use it straight or with VERY little dilution. If you want, I can call the wildlife center and see what they suggest. :)
here's the link to the place: http://www.wildlifecenter.org/ they've been featured on Animal Planet, too.
I've taken baby bunnies and a bird there and they also do programs around the area using the animals that can not be returned to the wild because of injuries or they're just too familiar with humans (because they were raised as pets by people...).
@Zinzerena: The cushions are green.... I'm a little scared of ruining them! And I'm also a lot scared of bleach, LOL!
@bakerella: hmmmmm.... I know Clorox has a color-friendly one out, but bleach really IS the best thing to get rid of germs.
let me get back to you in a few ;)
@bakerella: ummmm.... I gots bad news for you. :(
I called the wildlife center (LOOVE them! I actually have gone there several times, including a field trip in high school).
They said that raccoons carry a nasty roundworm that is VERY dangerous to humans and pets. Especially humans.
They use a soldering iron to clean the cages whenever they get one in because HEAT is the only thing that kills the parasite. She suggested that if you wanted to try cleaning them (she's heard people doing this) use BOILING HOT WATER (the hotter the better, would be my guess) to clean it. Otherwise, you'll be better off tossing them.
Sorry!!!!! But it's better to know this than to regret it later, right? So, appearantly, rabies isn't the only thing to worry about with raccoons. :(
The roundworm is actually a natural part of a raccoon's digestive system. go figure.
here are two links on it:
@Zinzerena: ACK!!!!!! Oh my gosh! Thanks for that info! You are too sweet to call! Man oh man!!!! Well. I'll leave it for now and talk to DH about it tonight. Maybe we can bag them up and take them to a high intensity professional laundromat or something! We spend SO much time out on our deck and patio furniture I'd hate to throw it out! Thanks so much hon! I'll clean out the deck box with boiling water after we get the cushions sorted out. The cats are going to be MAD they can't go outside for a couple days!
@bakerella: No problem! I love calling them! LOL! I'm such an animal nut.
The people there are just awesome and loooove it when people call them! The lady I talked to was so happy to hear you used the dirty cat litter. :) She was also happy the mommy left with her babies, too, lol.
She said to tell you that if you want to talk more about it, to feel free to give them a call! LOL! I mentioned you lived in Canada (I had told her that a friend had emailed me...well, I consider the bees "friends" and it's kinda like email, right? ;) ) and she was a bit disappointed that you wouldn't be calling but was still glad that I called.
If you have any other animal questions, send me a PM! :) I'll take any excuse I can get to call the center and talk to the people there!!!
Hopefully you can save 'em, but if you can clean them with really hot water, then it WOULD be better to just get new cushions. And be sure to handle them with gloves!!!!
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Beekeeper
So I'm sitting here, checking out WB, thinking about lunch and whatnot, and out of the corner of my eye, I see something brown and fuzzy and vaguely "tabby"-like walk past the window on the back deck. Both cats (black and tabby) are inside. Our other tabby cat we had to put down in December. Weird. All of a sudden I realize, OMG it's a raccoon!!! I live on the river, so it's not like raccoon's are unusual around here, but our deck is 2 storeys off the ground!!!! Plus you don't really see them during the day, they're nocturnal animals. So he kind of wanders around a bit, comes nose to nose on the other side of the window with the cats, and then walks to the far end of the deck, pulls open the door to our deck box with the patio cushions inside and disappears. What in the world am I supposed to do?!?!?!?! He's not a HUGE raccoon, but he's not a baby either. And what if he's a she and thinking about baby raccoons?!?! I took a photo but somehow it's disappeared off my camera.
So.... What do I do about said raccoon? Give him a night and see if he leaves and then make sure the deck box is somehow sealed up tight? I don't want to send DH out there to check later if Mr Raccoon is still home. Call animal control? I feel sort of sad about that...