The warmth and shelter offer them superior protection. If you are hearing thumping and/or what may sound like stomping, almost certainly there is a raccoon in your attic.

Once attracted, a raccoon will make their own entrance into your home to find a den. Over time, raccoons have adapted to living with humans and have learned how habitable houses are and what they provide as food sources i.e. garbage cans and dumpsters.

While in your attic, raccoons will cause substantial damage in short periods of time. They often rip open ducts, chew on electrical wiring, contaminate, tear and even destroy insulation.

Raccoons are strong animals and a mother raccoon will become very combative if she feels that her babies are in danger.

How to Remove Raccoons From the Attic

We don't recommend that homeowners attempt this due to the potential danger of a face to face encounter or exposure to a wild animal and that attics can by themselves be a hostile and dangerous environment. In these circumstances, we recommend that a Licensed and Insured company specializing in Wildlife Removal be contracted to do this.

The best practices for removing a raccoon from an attic are:

• Remove any and all wildlife through trapping, harassment, physical onsite capture, and or installation of one-way exits.
• Once it's confirmed that all wildlife has been removed, all current and potential entry areas should be sealed permanently with professional, animal proof materials such as steel screen and sheet metal and installed in a way that animals cannot remove or chew through the repairs. This can be very specialized and detailed due to the strong capabilities of raccoons.
• Clean up and restore the damaged areas inside. You want to do this last, so that all this hard work isn't subsequently compromised by a raccoon that was left in the attic or crawl space. If there are feces present, there are a number of preventions that should be taken so that inhabitants of the home or business are not exposed to disease causing organisms that could be present in raccoon feces and urine. Any damaged wiring can now be fixed, damaged drywall, and insulation etc.

Will Animal Control Remove Raccoons From the Attic?

Your local municipal/county/city Animal Control will remove a raccoon under certain circumstances:

• If the animal is displaying unusual behavior such as disorientation, daytime activity (raccoons are usually nocturnal or active at night)
• Being aggressive towards humans and being unafraid of humans
• If the animal is in the living space of your home or business

They will NOT come to remove an animal from your attic, chimney, crawl space, ones living on your property or showing up to raid garbage cans.

How Much Does it Cost to Get Rid of a Raccoon?

Cost for removal such as trapping or harassment can vary depending on the situation but on average ranges from $350 to $500. Repairs such as sealing out areas for exclusion of wildlife can be a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Restoration and clean up from damage by raccoons such as urine, feces, chewed wires, and damaged insulation in attics and crawl spaces can be quite costly rising well into the thousands of dollars if the damage is extensive. In some cases, homeowners insurance will cover some of this damage done by the raccoons.

Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote.

Call Your Local Wildlife Removal Experts, Summit Wildlife Removal, For Raccoon Removal in Fairfax, Alexandria and Arlington, VA!

Contact us online or give us a call at 703-884-2124 when you need our services. For dog or cat issues, contact your local municipal animal control office.