I had a severe racoon problem 2 years ago. I was alerted to the problem at
3am one morning when 3 of them starting fighting under the house and ended
up taking their brawl into the front yard! It sounded worse than a cat
fight and dog fight combined! I ended up trapping and carrying off 6 of
them that had taken residence under my house and in the ceiling. They had
entered the crawlspace by tearing apart a metal vent cover and entered the
ceiling by clawing through the eaves of the roof. I also had a professional
come out and remove a female and 3 babies from inside my walls, and there
were 2 more that couldn't be reached. Over a year's period of time, they
had clawed through the ceiling in 2 places, chewed up enough wires under
the house that I lost 2 phones, the securty system, and the theromostat.
Imagine my surprise when I came home one night in the middle of winter and
my AC was running! They had pulled down most all the insulation under the
house, causing my pipes to freeze in the winter, and had chewed up the
flexible ductwork. One raccoon actually got into the house by entering
through the ductwork and knocking the vent out of the wall. The final tally
by the insurance adjuster was just over $7,000 in damages! Since then, I
haven't had anymore get under, over, or into the house, but I got a dog
shortly after and he's killed 3 more in the backyard!
So beware. Those critters can be nasty!
Jeff W.
Belleville, MI
/// triumphs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|