Why Raccoons Should Stay Wild?

Raccoons can look soft, snuggly, and downright adorable. They can also seem almost human, thanks to their intelligence, manual dexterity, and curiosity. With those charming characteristics and irresistible faces, raccoons may be fascinating, but they are very much wild animals with unpredictable habits and reactions. They may also unintentionally wreak havoc on your home and put you and your family at risk in the process. Learn more about these woodland bandits and why you should leave them alone if you meet them, instead of relying on Niagara wildlife control to remove them responsibly.

Getting To Know Raccoons

Cute videos on social media paint a skewed picture of what raccoons are truly like. These nocturnal mammals may be on the same size scale as cats and dogs, but they are actually distant cousins of bears, weasels, and walruses. Raccoons can become aggressive if frightened, and they have a powerful bite. They are not very social and prefer to live in small family groups or even alone, especially in the case of adult males. Raccoons are nimble little creatures as well; they are excellent climbers and escape artists, finding their way inside chimneys and attics in search of safe shelter or opening garbage cans for an easy meal. Their striped tails and masked eyes are to help camouflage the animals in the wild, even if these same features are lovable to most people.

Detecting the Downside

What makes raccoons efficient scavengers is also what makes them destructive. They may sneak inside your home to find a nursery for their babies, and make a huge mess in the process. Once they have moved in, they can also be difficult to remove, which is why you should leave wrangling and removal to professional wildlife control in Niagara. In addition to their messy habits, raccoons can carry diseases, parasites, and bacteria, including roundworm, E. coli, salmonella, and rabies. In fact, rabies can be more common in raccoons than in other animals, even if its spread to humans is rare. Between their fickle behaviour and potential to spread germs, it should not come as a surprise that raccoons are illegal to keep as pets in Canada and many parts of the United States as a matter of public safety. As recently as May 2020, a Niagara Falls resident was arrested for giving away baby raccoons outside of a convenience store. Law enforcement had a difficult time tracking the kits down, and the local health department required any person who encountered one of the babies to be treated for rabies as a precaution. Rabies treatment may not be painful but it is inconvenient and time-consuming, taking up to 14 days to complete.

Handling Raccoon Removal With Wildlife Control in Niagara

If you suspect that raccoons have moved in without your consent, you may be tempted to try to evict them yourself. Resist that urge; raccoons can pack a nasty bite, and worse, by disturbing their nests or droppings, you may accidentally stir up bacteria and parasites that can hurt you and your family. Although moving them seems like the obvious solution, this prospect can also endanger the raccoons, so you should not attempt it on your own. By working with ethical and professional wildlife services in Niagara, you can be confident that the raccoons are relocated with minimal harm or trauma for you or the animals. Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control can not only remove the trespassing mammals from your home, but we can also take care of cleaning and sanitizing to prevent you and your family from being exposed to infection-causing particles or organisms. What’s more, our team works to identify and seal points of entry to prevent these masked intruders from planning another unexpected visit. Contact our team or visit us online to learn more about our services.