• Identify entry points and seal them
• Live trapping and removal of raccoons from your home or yard
• Eviction through fluid treatment or barriers
• Dead animal removal
• Attic/crawlspace cleanout and restoration
• Raccoon-proofing your home via vent cover installation, chimney cap installation, or animal-proof trash containers

HOW MID-ATLANTIC HELPS OUR CUSTOMERS

“The technician also took photos of all the damage so we could see it for ourselves and so the photos could be e-mailed to our homeowner’s insurance company. The raccoons were gone the very next day and the technicians came back and repaired the holes where the raccoons were getting into the attic.”
–Samantha Reich, Silver Spring, MD

Removing Raccoons from the Attic

Most Maryland raccoons choose the attic as their preferred nesting spot in our homes.

An attic is warm, safe and provides plenty of space for raccoons’ needs. While raccoons don’t have big teeth like squirrels, they have excellent use of their hands and can pry open whatever damaged piece of soffit or vent you have hanging loose. They are also incredibly strong for their size, and if a raccoon is determined to get in, it can make a hole in a wall. In Montgomery County, where there are many old homes with rotten soffits, we often see raccoons ripping them open with little effort.

Once they establish a way in, raccoons settle in your attic and turn it into a giant litter box. In a matter of days, they can flatten and rip up your insulation, tear open air ducts, chew on wires, and make your attic a biohazard zone. In most cases, there will be a mama raccoon with her 3-5 pups, so it’s essential to remove and relocate all of them at once. Pups left without a mother are helpless and won’t survive for long.

Thankfully, raccoons are rather large and loud, so it’s easy to notice their presence. If you hear loud noises in your attic, it could be a sign of raccoon infestation. The sooner you contact Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Control, the less damage your nuisance raccoons will have time to cause.

Removing Raccoons from Your Trash

If you leave any pet food, bird seed, or trash outside, raccoons can take it as an invitation to dine.

Raccoons don’t have to settle in your attic to cause a disturbance. When they are not your “roommates,” they can be rather annoying neighbors. Raccoons nesting in your yard or on a nearby property can come to your doorsteps searching for food. They will knock over trash cans and rummage through trash or break into your screened porch to steal dog or cat food. Raccoons, while not aggressive by nature, can startle your pets and infect them with rabies or raccoon roundworm. Raccoons are typically responsible for 60% of rabies cases in Maryland.

Removing Raccoons from the Chimney

If raccoons are in your chimney, don’t light a fire—you will let them in through the damper.

A chimney might not be as favored by raccoons as your attic, but it’s the second-best option. Female raccoons often settle in uncapped chimneys to give birth to their kits. If you are hearing noises above your fireplace, this could be a family of raccoons making themselves comfortable in your chimney. Don’t light a fire—you won’t smoke them out. While the momma raccoon is a good climber, babies can’t leave on their own and need to be professionally removed. If you suspect raccoons in your chimney call Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Control and don’t open the damper—you could end up with an angry animal in your living room.

Removing Raccoons from Crawl Spaces

Even if raccoons are nesting underneath your home rather than inside, they still mean trouble.

Raccoons prefer to nest off the ground. In the wild, they live in hollow trees, and in the urban areas, they would opt for an attic or a chimney. However, male raccoons and female raccoons not carrying babies have lower comfort and safety standards and can choose to nest in your crawlspace. If you have anything important in your crawlspace, like insulation, wires, or plumbing, or even some times items that you store, they may end up shredded and chewed. Although a crawlspace is technically underneath your home and not inside, raccoons can still cause a lot of trouble, not to mention the awful odor from their urine and feces.

Our Raccoon Removal Services in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Besides their destructive tendencies, raccoon in an open fieldBesides their destructive tendencies, raccoons can also be carriers of various diseases and parasites. We’ve mentioned earlier that rabies is common in raccoons, along with another disease—raccoon roundworm. This parasite lays thousands of microscopic eggs inside a raccoon’s body that get expelled with raccoon’s feces.

A one-time direct or indirect contact with infected feces may be enough for an average person to get the roundworm. As the ingested eggs develop into larvae and adult worms, they can cause permanent damage to your body, including blindness, developmental delays in children, and even death. It’s important to understand that you don’t have to be touching raccoon’s feces to get the roundworm—the eggs can be carried in by your pets or spread by pests like mice or cockroaches. That’s why the proximity of the raccoon’s den alone can pose danger to your health.

At Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Control, we’re proud to provide expert-level services for all your wildlife control needs. Our expertise includes:

• Rodent removal services
• Snake removal services
• Bird removal services
• Fox removal services
• Opossum removal services

To learn more about our raccoon removal services, contact us at (443) 417-3137 today or click the button below to get help with your pest raccoon problem right away.

Raccoon Removal FAQs

How do raccoons get into my home?

Here are the most common ways raccoons can get into your house:

• Roof vents
• Roof edges
• Chimneys
• Plumbing mats

How can I keep raccoons out of my trash?

Here are some ways to keep raccoons from getting into your trash:

• Pour a small amount of ammonia on your garbage
• Spread mothballs around the outside of your trash
• Keep your trash in a brightly lit area (since raccoons are nocturnal)

Will raccoons leave my house on their own?

In most cases, a family of raccoons living in your home is less likely to leave on their own than a single one. That’s why our wildlife control services are most efficient—we are able to safely and quickly remove all raccoons from your property.