![Curious_Raccoon[1]](https://aaxiswildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Curious_Raccoon1-300x200.jpg)
Raccoons and Their Curious Danger
Having been in the wildlife control business for a while now, I have seen my fair share of crazy situations that raccoons can get themselves into. Raccoons are very opportunistic animals and their constant search for food and shelter can lead to unwanted contact with humans and pets. The curiousness of raccoons can, in many cases, also lead to property damage. If raccoons find a potential entry point into your home they will take advantage of it by pulling apart gable vents, pushing in soffits, ripping open rotten wood, climbing through weakly protected attic vents and chimneys without protective covers. Once inside your warm comfy attic their mission of fun and destruction begins. Those curious raccoons will go through everything, and I mean everything that may be stored in an attic. They will tear open boxes and pull stuff out, scattering it about. If there are flexible air conditioning ducts running through the attic it is a good bet the raccoons will shred them apart. The result will be a costly replacement for the homeowner. The biggest problem with letting raccoons roam free in your attic for an extended period of time is the vast amount of feces and urine they will leave behind. They will go to the bathroom on anything in the attic including any items stored up there, as well as the insulation. Once the insulation has been contaminated it will need to be removed and replaced, costing the homeowner. Raccoon feces are a dangerous biohazard for humans and pets. The feces contain pathogens that are potentially fatal if ingested. Airborne particles from the feces could also enter the living space of the home through the air conditioning ductwork. If left unchecked, raccoons will cause a considerable amount of damage as well as the high probability that a female will give birth. Once there are young in the attic we are talking about a whole new ballgame. We will save female raccoons and their young for a future blog.
Now back to the crazy situations that raccoons can find themselves in. The following links are to articles that can be filed under hard to believe. A raccoon going for a ride on a train? It looks like it is nice and relaxed, just enjoying the ride. I think it is just escaping the city to visit some family in the country. What do you think? The second article just left my jaw hanging open. I could not believe that it was actually real. It turns out that it is a fake article, but it is funny to read anyway.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/raccoon-go-train-1.3355372