It鈥檚 raccoon birthing season and B.C. homeowners should be mindful the animals may try to seek refuge where they shouldn鈥檛.
Lorinne Anderson, who runs Wildaid, a Vancouver Island wildlife rescue operation, said raccoons are known to breed between January and March, with a majority of babies born between March and May.
Damage to insulation is among the problems raccoons are known to cause.
鈥淣ine times out of 10, what they do is they actually follow rats in,鈥� said Anderson. 鈥淭hey will get rid of the rats, because rats are a threat to their babies. They will take an opening that a rat鈥檚 been using, enlarge that and then use that to access a crawl space or a shed or an abandoned vehicle, parked boat or whatever.鈥�
According to Anderson, raccoons can use space as a 鈥渘ursery den鈥� for a finite period of time and almost always vacate the area by July. People may not even know raccoons have taken up residence.
鈥淲hen the babies are little, they make little chirping noises, so people think they have a bird nest up there,鈥� said Anderson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not until they鈥檙e older that you actually hear normal raccoon noises 鈥� we call it a 鈥榯rill.鈥� They鈥檒l also make almost like a guinea pig sound: 鈥楴eet!鈥� If the babies feel like they鈥檙e lost or separated, they鈥檒l make that sort of a noise.鈥�
Mothers can move babies and often, they will 鈥減ark them somewhere鈥� halfway between old and new locations. People may mistake the young ones as abandoned, but the mother often returns for the baby the following night, said Anderson.
She hesitates to refer to them as problematic, however.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure some people view it as a problem,鈥� said Anderson. 鈥淭o me, they are not a problem at all. After raptors, they鈥檙e our No. 1 predator against rats. They鈥檙e not dangerous. They don鈥檛 kill cats 鈥� they鈥檙e one of the few animals that does much better in an urban environment than in a 鈥榝orest environment.鈥� They are very prolific, but they鈥檙e prolific based on food source.鈥�
Ken Gunderson, owner of Island Wildlife and Pest Control, recommends against leaving out food that attracts raccoons.
鈥淭he biggest thing is not feeding birds, not feeding other wildlife. A lot of people in the city here definitely do that,鈥� said Gunderson. 鈥淭he next biggest one is just making sure your roof is in good condition. In almost all cases we see, they鈥檙e accessing the attic through a weak soffit vent somewhere. It鈥檚 just a matter of getting up there and making sure everything鈥檚 sealed on the exterior.鈥�
Both experts warn health concerns could arise from inhalation of particles from excrement.
鈥淚n most cases there鈥檚 not going to be any health concerns if you鈥檙e just living in the house,鈥� said Gunderson. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e actually going up in the attic and you鈥檙e breathing in the dust from the insulation and the droppings, they鈥檙e definitely health concerns. Ring worm is one of them. Leptospirosis (causing organ damage, meningitis and even death) is another one. All that stuff is very rare unless you鈥檙e doing a big cleanup and there鈥檚 a very large amount of droppings in a small area.鈥�
Anderson said there are misconceptions about raccoons. People generally worry about three things in relation to raccoons, she said.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e worried that the raccoon is going to attack them, or their child, or their pet 鈥� do all sorts of damage and then there鈥檚 the ones that just don鈥檛 think they belong in the city and they need to be moved back to the wilderness,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淪adly, all of those things are false. The only time you鈥檙e going to have a problem with a raccoon is if you corner it. And frankly, I don鈥檛 care what you are, if anything corners me in an alley, I鈥檓 coming with teeth and claws.鈥�
For more information on what to do if you suspect you have raccoons, click .
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