What To Do When You Find a Raccoon Stuck in A Dumpster

Raccoons are notorious for loving garbage and dumpster-diving. They are usually clever enough to get out of the dumpster, but occasionally the walls are too deep or slick and they cannot climb out. If you see a stuck raccoon, it may be tempting to try to help it get out. They are cute and seemingly helpless. Trying to do this yourself, however, may backfire and result in your calling a professional for raccoon removal anyway. Better to start with the experts who know how to handle the extraction without hurting the raccoon, making a mess, or scaring the animal such that it escapes or attacks. 

Why Call a Professional for Help With Raccoon Removal?

There are so many variables and unpredictable dangers that can occur when you try to handle a wild animal yourself. Raccoons especially are prone to attack, clawing, and biting when they feel threatened. Without the proper tools and training, you could seriously put yourself at risk, or harm the raccoon. Think about questions such as...

• How are you going to keep yourself safe from bites, scratches, and diseases (rabies)? 
• What will you do if the raccoon charges at you? 
• Are you sure that you won't fall into the dumpster yourself?
• Even if you successfully immobilize the raccoon, where will you put it? 
• Assuming that you find a suitable place to put it, are you sure that it won't come back to the same dumpster tomorrow night? 

Professionals have already found the answers to these questions, and successfully remove raccoons from dumpsters on a regular basis. 

Doing It Yourself Is Possible, but Not Recommended

Some common strategies for at-home raccoon removal seem easy, but do not usually end well. You could try to use a professional snare pole and guide the animal into a cage. You would then take the cage to a remote area away from houses and people. This is ill-advised, however, because handling a wild animal without a license may be illegal. You may also not realize where it is safe for the raccoon to be placed, and its new home may not be conducive to its habitat.  You could also try to put more trash in the dumpster. Raccoons can usually get in and out of garbage cans easily, but when a raccoon is attracted to the smells in a dumpster, it will not realize how deep the receptacle is. A remedy for this may be to add more bags of garbage to allow the raccoon to climb up and escape. This could be counter-productive, though, because the raccoon may simply eat the food within and destroy the bags, defeating the whole purpose of your solution. Another clear downside of this method is that if the raccoon likes what you give it in the dumpster, even if it gets out, it will probably come back again. You'll find yourself right back where you started. 

Your Best Solution is Professional Wildlife Control in Niagara

It is so tempting to try to fix a problem that seems to have a do-it-yourself solution. We all have a budget to think about, and calling a removal service may seem like an unnecessary expense. You can trust us, though. Many of our calls come after a homeowner has tried to remedy the problem themselves, resulting in a more expensive bill. Call us first, and we can help you avoid high costs, legal risks, and nosy neighbours. We are also well-qualified in humane removal techniques. We know how to reunite mothers with their young and locate alternate dens so that the raccoon family is not endangered by other predators.