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Help! Raccoon in my wall!!!

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
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In my apartment there's blocked off door-like thing on the back wall that leads to an attic-like crawl space on the back of the building. I can hear a raccoon in there scratching and chirping and it's freaking me out. I checked outside for how it got in and there's a small gnawed hole in the side of the external structure. What do I do???:eek::mad::(
 
PrimitiveMan said:
I think the answer is obvious.
Click to expand...

If it was obvious then I wouldn't be asking, now would I.:rolleyes:

I just don't know what the best course of action is to make sure it can't get into the apartment until the landlord sends someone out. I sent him an email, but he won't get that until tomorrow.
 
Just kidding bud

Depends on the area.

If legal, bait him out and shoot him with a .22 then repair the hole.

If not legal, Humane trap, of course that is not legal in some areas (considered transporting a game animal)

Carl-
 
I actually have yet to purchase a .22, (going to next summer. I'm a poor college student) and I don't have the money to buy a humane trap. Even if I had a gun I wouldn't be able to shoot it on account of being in an apartment building. :(
 
We got one with a fishing net out of my parents attic one time. Actually it was my sister that got it because we were all too chicken sh!t to get it :)
 
Ahh! Now I see your dilemma.

Well, off the top of my head, If the attic is semi finished, I would borrow a friends dog and put it up there.

Other than that, poison, but that may be illegal depending on the area, so check first.

Any other suggestion would be one that would be VERY effective, but would violate forum rules.

If you are sure he is out of there, you could patch the hole while he is not home as a temp fix, but that might not work long term. They are pretty industrious.
 
There is a fumigant that you may be able to buy at home depot or ag supply, like a smoke bomb. It kills the crap out of any mammal. We use them on groundhogs in the cow pasture when I don't feel like waiting all day with the .22....kills mamma and her babies!
 
Get yourself something like a pitchfork for when he comes out and something heavy to put in front of the hole. You want someone with nerve working with you. Get yourself some nice pungent shrimp. Put a trail of them leading away from the hole. Fan some of the smell up into the hole. Position yourself to get between it and the hole. Let it get a long way outside before you try anything. If it is a mother with young you may want to forget the whole thing and get traps. When it gets outside force it away and cover the hole. Don't expect it to be cooperative.
 
First of all, he's looking for reassurance that the raccoon won't break into his apartment tonight. By tomorrow he should have his landlord's attention, and a professional exterminator's services.

Most of the suggestions here are either illegal, ineffective, or couldn't be implemented tonight anyway. And a dog ??? Way to get the poor pooch chewed up, if it is a raccoon!

Bats are ubiquitous.
My daughter had flying squirrels in her attic.
My dad had regular gray squirrels in his attic.
We have birds nesting in the porch roof crawlspace.
The little guys get in wherever they can, especially with cooler weather coming.
 
PrimitiveMan said:
Ahh! Now I see your dilemma.

Well, off the top of my head, If the attic is semi finished, I would borrow a friends dog and put it up there.

Other than that, poison, but that may be illegal depending on the area, so check first.

Any other suggestion would be one that would be VERY effective, but would violate forum rules.

If you are sure he is out of there, you could patch the hole while he is not home as a temp fix, but that might not work long term. They are pretty industrious.
Click to expand...
Did I mention there's a railroad track behind the apartment with some nice heavy things lying around? ;) It would be best to avoid using those things in an inappropriate manner if at all possible. I'd prefer to avoid lethal measures if at all possible, as I don't believe in killing something unless I either have to or plan on eating it.

hollowdweller said:
chirping? Sure it's not a bat???????????
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Definitely. It's the chirping/mewing kind of noise we all know and hate. Also, bats don't claw at your wall.

Joezilla said:
There is a fumigant that you may be able to buy at home depot or ag supply, like a smoke bomb. It kills the crap out of any mammal. We use them on groundhogs in the cow pasture when I don't feel like waiting all day with the .22....kills mamma and her babies!
Click to expand...

I can feel a slight draft where the door-like thing is, and with all of the pets we have (2 cats, a rabbit, a guinea pig and a ball python) I'd worry about the fumes getting through. Also, with a pregnant fiancee I wouldn't want those chemicals getting all over our stuff. The door thing is right behind our couch. :o
 
Oh come on Esav, I've watched a few Disney movies, so I have experience. All he has to do is whisper, come here little guy, come here, and he will walk out and he can pet the raccoon and carry him to the nearest wood to live happily ever after.:D:D
But really, A full grow coon will put a world of hurt on a dog or you if you get to near. If you use dogs you'd better bring a couple, preferably trained Walkers or a pair of Plotts.
 
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I was thinking more of putting the dog up there while the critter was not in the attic. Not sending it in to destroy it.

Of course the right dog.........

You are going to have to give on some front.

Esav probably has the best suggestion. It's an apartment, let the landlord deal with it.

Carl-
 
PrimitiveMan said:
I was thinking more of putting the dog up there while the critter was not in the attic. Not sending it in to destroy it.

Of course the right dog.........

You are going to have to give on some front.

Esav probably has the best suggestion. It's an apartment, let the landlord deal with it.

Carl-
Click to expand...

That's what I hope to be able to do, but he never sent a maintenance guy to come out and deal with a repair job that needed doing a month ago. Ended up having to fix it myself. He's a real space cadet. :grumpy:
 
Put it in writing, if he doesn't take care of it, call an exterminator and submit the bill to him.

As far as not killing soemthing you don't eat, I think you are going to have to give up that ethical ideal temporarily.
 
PrimitiveMan said:
As far as not killing soemthing you don't eat, I think you are going to have to give up that ethical ideal temporarily.
Click to expand...

Like I said, that's just what I'd prefer to do. I'll do what I have to do, but I'd like to try some alternatives first. Little bastard has to be the 'coon that keeps on knocking over our trash, too, so his disappearance wouldn't make me lose any sleep. ;)
 
You are from Maine and you are freaking out because of a raccoon? Forty put some earplugs in, drink an adult beverage, and as Esav said call your landlord in the morning.
 
Whoa whoa....

You ask this in W&SS and nobody has yet suggested building a figure 4 deadfall or some other sort of trap? jeebus!
 
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