Here's the second installment of the Raccoon Saga. It got pretty interesting,
but I think it turned out well.
The first night, she bunked between the A/C and the wall, and later slept in thesunshine out back.
The kits kept her pretty busy, so she couldn't really do a good job of attackingthe problem of getting back in. BUT, after that first night, after the kits
had been fed and cared for all night, and then she got them to sleep, and it was
time for her daily foraging trip -- then she had time to figure out re-entry.
First, she couldn't just walk onto the gate and then reach up and grab the eavestrough and haul herself up (I'd nailed the gate open, away from the house), so
she stood on hind legs, carefully calculated the distance, and then leapt off thefence, across the gap, grabbed the eavestrough and was up on the roof. I
watched her do all this.
She then went over to the hole that I'd covered over and tried to dig it free.
The boards wouldn't come up. She started to re-excavate a hole immediately
adjacent. I made noises to put her off. Then she paced all over the roof of the garage and entrance, and finally stopped directly over where her nest had been
, and began ripping up shingles right there. This was after she'd made a few passes by my second floor office window, stood up paws on the windowsill
and stared right at me. She was bold, and I felt as if she'd declared war. It
was terrifying to see this animal start out to excavate a virgin spot in the middle of the roof, and knowing that she could do it, and one night would be enough
. By the way, that's one good argument against building with chipboard, and using a good grade of plywood instead. I doubt a raccoon could get through a good
grade of plywood, but they can penetrate chipboard. The counter-argument is cost
.
So... I chased her off the roof. She jumped onto the fence and I made noises
to get her to go some distance. Then, after awhile, I think she decided to go
feeding and resume her attacks later, after I might have gone away.
I ran straight out to Home Depot and bought several rolls of aluminum stripsheeting for roofing work, and a bunch of drywall ring-nails. Not the right kind, but I wanted strong, not long lasting, as we have to re-roof this season anyway.
I came home and covered the entire roof section that overhangs the entry, and
the nest area, and I added a strip that covers the roof valley, cause I'd often
seen her walk down that valley. Then I set up spot lights over the roof to
discourage her (though I doubted she'd care). I topped it with a strip covering
the eavestrough at her landing zone, so maybe she couldn't grab on after a leap
. I figured she'd climb the downspouts eventually anyway. Finally I went to bed.
In the morning, there she was nursing her kits in the neighbour's back yard. No
sign of drama. But on the roof, I noticed long scratches all running downhill
on every sheet of aluminum I'd installed, and maybe slight ripples that looked
like she'd tried to pull it up at the end. It looks as if she can't get any good grip, because of her claws, and so she slides down the roof, like on a playground slide. No signs of a bad impact on the ground though, so she either catches
herself at the eavestrough, or she can land like a cat. I've read that raccoons
can fall 30' out of trees without too much concern.
She basked in the sun all morning, nursing the kits, and seemingly enjoying the
sunshine and the improving weather. The kits were all accounted for and moving
properly. Around 2:30 in the afternoon, she started carrying them off,
one-by-one, through the adjacent backyards, until I couldn't see her anymore. After about an hour, she had moved all her kits and was gone.
Since then, till now, no more appearances from her. To be safe, I've turned theroof lights on again tonight. I felt optimistic enough to take back all the
unused aluminum and nails. I'd bought 550 sq ft of aluminum, and used 100 of it. And I had 2400 nails in two sizes, but only used about half of a tub of 400 that I already had open at home, so all the nails and most of the aluminum went
back.
Actually, at 5:30 AM I woke up, imagined I heard a thump, or maybe I did.
Checked the roof and yard from upstairs, but didn't see her. Then I went back to bed, said a prayer for her, and was struck with an inspiration of how to build her a replacement house. When I got up at 7am, I built it. I took a wooden pallet I store in our garage and put it out back to get the box off the ground, then I put a large double-wall garment box (from moving) on it's side, on top of
the pallet, and I put the box inside a huge, tough plastic bag that a mattress came in. Inside the box I put some sheets of styrofoam insulation. So that makes a somewhat insulated, dark, rain-proof hut.
She didn't use it though, and I doubt she ever will.
All in all, it was a successful eviction, that kept mother and kids united, and
un-harmed. I hope they find a good new place to live. The weather is getting afew degrees warmer every day, and gets short-sleeve comfortable in the daytime.
There are showers predicted for the weekend. All in all, I think the kits arebig enough, and the weather has gotten good enough, that the raccoon family arein no danger, and not much discomfort either. On the one hand, I miss her. Onthe other, I'll be glad if she doesn't come around, because I know that if
she's determined, she WILL get inside.
I was very impressed with what a good mother that raccoon is. She takes
phenomenally good care of those kits.
Subsequently a neighbour told me that she'd had a raccoon problem with her
garage. She called an animal specialist and they raccoon-proofed the house garage for $700. She said when you tell them what street you live on, they come running on the double. Our area generally has a lot of raccoons, but apparently our street is especially well known to them. There are supposed to be 50 of them
within a mile of here. According to info on the net, that's a pretty typical urban density.
What the official said was, do not trap her in a live trap and then release her
with her kits. The trapping is so traumatic that she will abandon the kits.
That's the way the companies for hire do it, so I took care of the situation
more safely for them myself.
Well... that's a lot to read. Hopefully that's the end and there is no episode
three.
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