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Huntsville Alabama Raccoon Control Situation: Hi David: I wanted to express my opinion on your trapping of raccoons. I agree that most times, using fox urine on tennis balls and throwing them in the attic will fix the problem. The loud radio's etc. works well as long as the owners give the mother raccoon about three days to find a new home and relocate her young. I did have two concerns on when you have to trap the mothers. I've seen people use the babies as bait and saw horrific results. Mothers pulled the babies from the inside of the cage and shredded the babies trying to pull them out. I've also seen the mother fight the trap so hard that she trampled her baby to death fighting to get out of the trap. The other concern I have is relocating the mother to an area where she is not familiar. As you say in the article, she will bolt. She may come back, though it's not as likely as when she has the opportunity to move them on her own. Additionally, raccoons that are relocated have a minimal chance of survival. When a mother and babies are dumped in the woods, she has not picked a new home for them, she doesn't know where to find water or food and she is now in a new territory and may have to fight more. It significantly reduces her and the babies chance of survival. She is already in a weak condition due to having recently given birth. I would ask you to reconsider this suggestion on your web site so that folks that aren't familiar with trapping don't cause more harm than good. I've found that the loud radios and especially the tennis balls with fox urine do great. With the tennis balls, you don't have to walk through the attic, just throw them up there to get into hard to reach areas. I truly appreciate you having a web site to try to help homeowners learn to live and work around wildlife. Best regards, Evelyn
Evelyn, Thanks for the input. I guess I should stress repellents even more. I've never had the slightest issue with babies being injured in a trap. But I guess an amateur could have that problem. In truth, I don't expect any amateur to even try it. I understand that relocation is very hard on the animals and that they probably don't survive. I wonder if this is also the case for raccoons raised by a rehabber and released with no survival skills. It's a difficult situation.
David, It is difficult. No getting around it. We have a lot of people in our area that trap the raccoons on their own. I'm not sure what state you are in, I'm in Huntsville Alabama. As far as rehabilitated raccoons, I agree with the question. I know the ones I raise are offered every type of native food possible. I used to have 58 acres and released my raccoons there. I did back up feeding for a couple of weeks and that was it. I was lucky enough to see one of them a couple of months later and she looked good. I was leery to get near her since they were now wild, but she got close enough and looked at me so I knew it was her. I like to believe that the rest I've released over the years have done as well. There are certainly no guarantees. Take care, Evylyn
If you wish to learn more, click on the How to Get Rid of Raccoons in the Attic home page. For raccoon control in Madison County, Alabama, call us at 256-517-7870, and ask to talk about raccoons in the attic in Huntsville, AL.