QUESTION:

I have a racoon in an attic with several young she just gave birth to. This part of the attic is very tight to get into and set a trap. Is there any way to get them out of the area without harming them? I've heard suggestions with using ammonia, moth balls, and even loud music was suggested. Are there any ultrasonic devices I can use? The babies are about the size of a small cat. Once the mother is caught how do I trap or remove the young racoons?

ANSWER:

If the babies are already as big as you say then at least they are mobile, and possibly could be lured into a live trap set at close to them as possible. The best hope might be to try to make life so uncomfortable in that attic that the mother herself removes all her babies. I remember an episode on TV not long ago where a similar situation existed, except that in that case the babies could be accessed. Ultimately the trapper waited until the mother left the attic and then he gathered all the babies and put them into a box that he set outside (on the roof actually). This allowed the mother to return and take her babies one at a time to a different location. Killing all of the babies was out of the question for them, and in your case also not acceptable since you cannot currently access them.

Ultrasonic devices are unlikely to bother them sufficiently to make them move out. I suppose it is possible that these animals could detect "ultrasonic sound" and be annoyed by it, but the claims made by manufacturers or ultrasonic repellers of ALL kinds simply do not hold up to unbiased testing by universities. The unanimous conclusion by universities continues to be that ultrasonic boxes are scams. Moth balls probably would work if you could use so much that the concentration of vapors built up high enough, but there are two problems with this. First, many states tell us flat out that the use of moth balls for repelling vertebrate animals is illegal. They are not labeled for that use. Second, you probably would have to use so much that it would be a health hazard to occupants of the house as well.

Loud music, especially if it is of the proper genre (and I won't anger anyone by naming some that I don't care for) could make things unsettling for the raccoons, but I have never heard of anyone doing this so I couldn't offer suggestions on how. It most likely also would keep humans awake or going batty for however long it took to get the raccoons to relocate. You might try locating the entry point of the female and closing it, and then for a day or two trying to trap the young by enticing them into a trap with various foods. Since you would want this to be done quickly to avoid harm to the babies it could require a number of traps and a lot of your time monitoring them. Fish, bacon, fruits - there are a lot of food items that are very attractive to raccoons that could draw the young into the trap quickly.

At this time obviously the mother is coming and going at will, and bringing food back to the babies daily. Breaking that cycle is needed. There is another possible device that could repel her into taking the babies out, and that is strobe lights. Univar may still have a couple of these "Evictor" devices, but look on line for "squirrel evictor" and see if you can find them. They were a little pricey, so did not sell quickly, but for this kind of situation it might work. Placing the strobe light where it fires off that annoying, flashing bright light directly into their nesting area could make it so uncomfortable that they will move out, and it would not be detectable to human occupants below.

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