Raccoons are present throughout Alabama. Raccoon habitats include bottomland hardwoods, swamps, pine/hardwood forests, farmlands, wooded residential areas, and other areas that have a supply of den trees, food, and water.
When they can't find a den tree, your attic can make an adequate substitute. Raccoons will enter your home for a variety of reasons. A safe place to give birth is one of the most common. Raccoons begin to mate as early as December to as late as August, with a peak in the mating season around February and March.The gestation period is 63 days and most young are born between April and August.Females can have one to seven young per year with an average of three to four.
If you hear strange noises at night like loud thumping, mewing, whining, or screaming between April to August, you might have a family of raccoons in your attic.
Raccoon Inspection in Gulf Shores
Raccoons are not discriminating when it comes to home choices.
We inspect the exterior and interior of the home looking for signs of raccoons. Raccoons are strong and their claws can tear through most materials on a home. We check on the roof for missing shingles and holes in the plywood. Soffits, gable vents, and roof returns are common entry points for a raccoon.
Once in the attic, raccoons leave plenty of evidence. They flatten and compress insluation simply by walking on it (they can weigh 10 to 30 pounds). Raccoons create separate latrine sites. They consistently return to these locations, which are commonly found on roofs, in attics, woodpiles, haylofts, and on or under decks. Their accumulated feces and urine quickly destroys insulation and saturates woodwork.
Other signs of raccoons we look for include raccoon tracks, damage duct work, and frayed or shredded wire.
Raccoon Removal in South Alabama
Live trapping is the most effective and humane way to remove a raccoon. Direct capture is not commonly used because raccoons are a rabies vector species. If young are present, we remove them and attempt to reunite with the mother.
Raccoon Control
In general, repellents and deterrents have limited effectiveness for raccoon control. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Rather than deal with a problem after it happens, do what you can to prevent it.
Exclusions are the prevention methods for deterring raccoon activity. They work by creating a physical barrier to stop raccoons from accessing resources. In your home, exclusions seal any potential raccoon entry points. Typical entry points are fascia boards, soffits, and vents. For the garden, they protected specific areas.
Testimonials
Raymond was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He paid attention to detail. Good Job!! Thankyou!!
I am so glad I had Critter Control come and inspect my house! The problem was located and fixed immediately and since then I have not had any more problems with bats. Money well spent!!!
I connected Critter Control Orlando and was surprised, though elated that an actual person quickly answered. She was pleasant and efficiently scheduled a visit to my house to solve my varmit problem. The appointment was the next day. As arranged, I got a call from Ryan the next morning to tell me his eta. He arrived right on time and after explaining the procedure, got right to work. After a survey of our attic, he told us the problem and gave us a price to fix it. He explained exactly what would be done and an approximate number of visits it would take. I found Ryan to be easy to communicate with and an excellent customer relations person. I will be recommending Critter Control to my friends and neighbors.
We had a raccoon in the attic and this team of professional workers caught him after days of detective work. It was a pleasure working with them and having them at my house. I especially want to thank John and Kenzie!
After months of fighting moles in our yard ourselves and with the help of a landscaper, with no success, Critter Control caught a mole within a week. Very reasonably priced and very thorough. They’re the experts! We should have called them a lot sooner.
Justin was very professional and he and his team did the work quickly and thoroughly. This is a nice company to work with.
I have had Critter Control for years and they are excellent. Recently I had a new roof which made many things need to be resealed. They worked with me since my insurance would not cover it.
Ricky was fantastic and he made sure the critters were gone which we so appreciated.
After having a corner of our home’s foundation dug up by a family of groundhogs, I called Critter Control and met with Bryan. We tried traps but those darned groundhogs were too smart (they even passed up marshmallows—who does that?!). Bryan suggested fencing the area to keep them out, and it was expertly installed today by Dave. Looks neat, very secure and (hopefully) impenetrable! Bryan was always responsive to my calls and I’m a very satisfied customer; I highly recommend Critter Control!
Tom was really helpful and helped me out first thing in the morning to do the inspection and quote.