The original habitats of the raccoon are forests, but due to their adaptability they have extended their habitat to human settlements, where some house owners consider them to be pests. Raccoons are seen in the neighborhood and one own house. This wild life tends to damage the property of the individual while looking for food in different place within the house hold. Although they are cute and furry, raccoons can be an annoyance and dangerous to some extent in specific cases.

1. Identifying Raccoon Problems
Raccoons tend to develop a habit. Once they consider some house hold as a source for their food they will keep visiting if or might reside in it. Verification of raccoon activity includes most commonly, if a tip of garbage can is not in its place or removed or garbage is scattered. Dead birds are also signs of a raccoon presence, as are raccoon droppings. While residing in the attic of a house of roofs raccoons end up damaging the property. To determine if an opening is being used, block the hole loosely with a newspaper. Leave in place for two to three days. If the newspaper goes undisturbed, and there was no harsh weather for instance stormy, no one is using it as a way to enter the place. But if one sees that newspaper is not in its place one can assume that a raccoon has residing in the house. Rabies is a common disease that is carried by raccoons including some others thus putting people of the house at risk with them by his presence there.



2. Raccoon Prevention Tips
The best deterrent to raccoon activity is to prevent them from residing in one’s place. Raccoons tend to look for houses where food is easily available, so the following measurements should be taken to keep them away from your house:

1. Seal garbage cans tight. Raccoons can remove any loose lids. A good garbage can would have locked lids which are not easily removed.
2. Don't feed them. While providing food to one’s own pet one should make it a point that there are no left over of it so that one is not unintentionally feeding the raccoon who is residing there.
3. Control access. Blocking off access is the best raccoon prevention measurement for a house. Inspect your house thoroughly to find any holes from where raccoons may enter; they can get through surprisingly small gaps. These gaps can be the chimneys, or attic vents. The seams of roofs wall can also be consider for entrance. Do a complete inspection of house to find areas where there is an entrance for raccoons to get in.

Convincing the raccoon to leave is not a complete solution. The second step is to make sure that raccoons do not reside again by entering through any gap or hole. Never close an entryway until you’re absolutely certain that there is no more raccoon residing there. In order to keep one self and even the wild life safe don’t trap wildlife or its babies within the house. One is done with the complete inspection of the house than start cleaning the places where raccoon were residing. Decontaminate the place and then fill it with proper material such as sheets made up of metals.

3. Solutions for raccoons in yards and birdfeeders.
Raccoons can damage lawns, especially recently sodden ones, by digging for earthworms and grubs. And this is what they are mostly attracted to. Solution On small areas lights can be left on to confuse the raccoons or tip you off to their presence, and a scaring device such as the "Scarecrows" sprinkler can be set up to frighten any approaching raccoons. One quick and easy solution to keep raccoons from eating seed intended for your backyard birds is to put out only as much seed as the birds will eat. Since raccoons hunt for food at night, they will not find it there. Another equally simple solution is to bring your birdfeeders in at night and put them back out when it’s time for the next feed. Thus you are providing food to your birds but not to the raccoons in the area.

Here are some other options
Crash Diet — One can either change the place where you feed the birds or decrease food in the container. When there is no sufficient food the wild animal would hunt for other places to get his or her fill. Hanging the food container is another remedy. Keep it high enough from raccoons reach by using thin poles so that one is not feeding raccoons. The clothesline trick — set up a clothesline for hanging the birdfeeder, isolated from tree branches or other structures that might provide access for raccoons. Keep a lid on it — finally; store your birdseed supplies in metal cans with tight-fitting lids.

To learn more about our services, visit the Minneapolis wildlife removal home page.