There is never a dull moment at Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control. Every day we take on new challenges to help ensure our customers’ properties are free of wildlife. During 2019, we had a few particularly memorable jobs. From new baby animals to some very creative dens, these are some of our best stories from the past year.
Flowerpot Family
During the summer, the Burlington Lowe’s Home Improvement store called us about a family of raccoons they had discovered inside a flowerpot. When we arrived at the garden centre, we found a mother and her litter living inside a large, black pot high on one of the store’s shelves.
After assessing the situation, our team decided to secure the family inside the flowerpot and remove the whole thing from the garden centre. We achieved this by attaching a wire screen to the top of the pot. Once the family was nice and safe inside the pot, we brought the whole thing down on a lift before wheeling the flowerpot outside.
In a wooded area near the store, we laid down the pot near a tree. Our hope was that the tree would make it easier for the mother raccoon to climb out then retrieve her young. After removing the screws holding the screen in place, we left the family overnight. Upon returning in the morning, we found the flowerpot was knocked over, and the family had gone off to find a new, more appropriate den. This was a rewarding and unusual job for us. The technician who performed the removal said, “this is a pretty unique job. You never get mom and the babies together that are this close and contained in one spot. It’s pretty wild.”
13 Baby Raccoons in One Shed
Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control has been helping people with wild animal removal for over 30 years. Despite that long history, we still experience unique and memorable jobs every year. During 2019, we were called in to help remove three families of raccoons, all living in a shed. There were three mothers, three litters and 13 babies, more than we have ever seen on a single job site before.
The litters were all around three weeks old when we found them. The youngest group still had their eyes closed. The middle group had just opened their eyes, and the oldest group was a little larger. Raccoon babies typically stay in their original den for about eight weeks before leaving with their mothers to find a new location. They continue nursing until 12 weeks.
Our technicians used a thermal camera to check for where the litters were living. We discovered them inside the wall cavities of the shed in multiple locations. Our team successfully removed the babies and placed them in safe, heated containers near the shed. We then installed a one-way door to let the mothers out to their babies so they could go and find a more suitable den. The insulation had to be torn out and replaced due to damage from the raccoons. However, we were able to successfully remove all 13 babies and three mothers.
Earliest Babies in 30 Years of Animal Control
In February of 2019, we had another unusual experience with raccoons. We were called to a house in Mississauga where a family of raccoons had taken up residence. A mother had given birth to five kits recently. This is the earliest we have ever seen raccoon babies.
Bill Dowd, our president and CEO, said, “We’ve been around for 30 years, and we have over 70 service trucks on the roads, and we go to over 150 homes [in Canada and the U.S.] a day, and this is the earliest we’ve found baby raccoons.” He guessed that the warm weather during the winter resulted in the early births.
We gently persuaded the mother to leave then removed the babies to a heated, reunion box outside the home. This box was placed in an easy to access location, and we sealed up the house to stop them from going back inside. Protecting the house against re-entry is the most effective way to solve a wild-animal problem for the long-term.
When we returned to the reunion box, it was empty, and the family had relocated to another den. Raccoon mothers have up to 10 den sites at any given time. Their propensity to move around helps us get them out of the house without harming them.
Learn More
If you have a wildlife problem, whether it is a memorable job or a completely routine one, we are happy to help. At Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, we specialize in safely and humanely removing animals from homes and other property. Our 30 years of experience has helped us develop effective solutions that provide lasting results for our customers. Contact us today to learn more and schedule a consultation with our team.
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