There is no situation when a raccoon would willingly leave an attic. Especially if it is during the baby season as the raccoon female has young in the attic and needs to keep them safe from predators, like humans. Raccoons are one of the most common frustrations for people of all levels of wealth and all forms of geography from downtown to the suburbs to the rural areas where raccoons are even more free to infest.
The first question you should ask yourself why the raccoon chose your attic. Is your roof very old? Has it been repaired in the last few years? Has it been replaced more than ten years ago? Is your attic functioning correctly, are there enough or too many vents, have you ever had the roof inspected for wildlife entryways? Sadly the answer to all of these questions is almost always no. Many people think their roof will last them a century but that is not the case. Rooves need to be fully replaced every one or two decades based on where you live. If you live in a place with blizzards and ice storms you may want to have the roof redone every ten years. If you live in a sunny climate with no winter a roof can last for a very long time but that does not prevent infestation. A sealed properly ventilated and excluded roof will function properly in the winter to keep your home warm and in the summer to keep it cool, it will be resistant to wildlife invasion and will last a lot longer than a hack job you will get when you hire roofers based on price and not quality. Your roof is the most important part of your home along with the foundation. Both these sites are common entryways for wildlife and pests and they need to be kept in good order at all times or you will get infestations.
If you have a large animal like a raccoon in your attic then you will likely feel very uncomfortable, and you should because every single day that animal is up there it is destroying ductwork, pipes, wires and insulation, it is defecating and urinating in your insulation and destroying the attic in every way that could be imagined. This is why you need to get the raccoon out right away, no time to waste. The raccoon could rip down or chew through a wire at any time and burn your home down from inside the attic which is not an easy place for firefighters to access.
Getting rid of a raccoon in your attic is a massive job that most untrained and unlicensed people cannot accomplish. Especially if there are raccoon babies in the attic as well. They need to be removed and place in a small box by the exit of the attic that was created by the raccoon. If you want to try this on your own then you will need a tall ladder to get on your roof. You will need to inspect the roof for damage and openings. Every opening must be sealed with steel mesh and then the main entranceway must have an appropriately sized one-way door attached to it. Most of the high-quality doors will have a spring-loaded door that slaps shut onto a steel frame and is impossible to open back up, even for a raccoon. Do not purchase the spiked one-way door that does not have a door but simply pointy steel mesh, this can easily be opened by a raccoon and will have little effect even on a squirrel.
