Raccoons are a very frustrating infestation. They are nocturnal so they sleep during the day and leave the attic during the night to hunt for food. They are highly destructive creatures with hands that can manipulate objects almost as a human can, and they are some of the strongest urban animals. They can peel away aluminum siding and breakthrough soffits and fascia like it is tissue paper. Raccoons enter your attic for two main reasons. They are cold, which is one of the more common reasons you would have a male in your attic, and a female in the mating season, which lasts a long time, living in the attic for safety so she can raise her pups in peace without male raccoons trying to murder them. This is because male raccoons have a behavioural directive to kill other children of other male raccoons to further their bloodline. If you think you have raccoons in the attic there are some things you can look and listen for that will tell you for sure.
If you can look up at your roof or if you have experience climbing up to a roof then you can look for patches of the roof with no snow. This is where raccoons have been, they urinate on the roof creating a warm patch. You should not need to go on your roof to do this type of inspection. This can also be a sign of a hole in your roof that has caused uneven heat distribution in the attic. Melting snow in odd places. It may simply mean your attic needs remediation and repair or it could mean you have a wildlife invader.
One of the most common events you may experience with a raccoon in your attic is electrical disturbances. Raccoons are very inquisitive and love exploring and tearing things apart. They are especially fond of wires and chewing on wires. This can cause electrical issues in the house or worse, a fire in the attic. This is a severe and dangerous situation where firefighters would have a great deal of difficulty putting the fire out with little access to the attic from outside. You will want to inspect your roof very well if you experience strange electrical issues. Going into the attic, however, can be dangerous and something only a professional should do as the raccoon may have rabies.
You will also likely notice a smell. Raccoons have a diet of mostly garbage and already dead animals they drag into your attic and eat. They have feces that is incredibly dangerous, containing dozens of dangerous viruses and bacteria but not so severe as raccoon roundworm. This parasite can become airborne when the feces gets dry and can enter your lungs and grow, it passes into your bloodstream and travels to your brain causing damage slowly. If untreated the person will show Alzheimer-like symptoms followed by brain death. This is why it is so important to wear the right equipment when removing raccoon feces and disposing of the clothing and tools after the fact.
If you have a raccoon in your attic you can get it out either on your own if you have experience going up on the roof or by hiring a professional wildlife technician who can do all the work in a short time. Either way, you will need lots of steel mesh and a one-way door which is a device used for humanely removing a raccoon. The raccoon leaves the attic through the one-way door and minds they can not get back in because of a steel-framed spring locked door that only opens from one side.
