A cold wind moans past your open window, rattling the blinds and scattering leaves down the deserted street. You shiver, tug your sleeves tighter, and move to shut out the chill. But before you can, a sudden crash echoes through the night—and a dark blur darts across your yard. The wind stills, and the world goes silent. Peering through the glass, you scan the dim glow of a single streetlight, its weak amber halo swallowed by the surrounding shadows. Then—rustling. The bushes below your window tremble. Heart pounding, you slam the window shut and bolt it tight, hoping whatever’s out there stays out.
With the window locked tight, the chill slowly lifts from the room, though a lingering shiver continues to dance across your skin. Convinced it’s just the patio door still standing open, you make your way through the quiet house. The faint rustle of the evening air grows louder as you near the screen door. Your fingers barely brush the handle when a sudden sense of something close—just beyond the mesh—makes your breath catch. You slam the door shut and twist the latch, the metallic click loud in the stillness. When you flip on the porch light, it floods the yard in pale gold, just in time to glimpse what looks like a small hand slipping back from the garden gate as it creaks slowly in the breeze.
You shake your head, brushing off the unease as nothing more than exhaustion. It’s been a long day, after all. Climbing into bed, you pull the blankets close and let the warmth settle over you. The house is still—almost peaceful—until a faint scraping drift down from somewhere overhead. You hold your breath, listening, telling yourself it’s just the house settling… or at least, you hope it is.
Sleep doesn’t come easily. Shadows flicker behind your eyelids, chasing through restless dreams until you wake just before dawn. The pale gray light seeps through the curtains as you glance at your phone—no alerts, no reason to be awake. You’re about to settle back into bed when a heavy thump echoes overhead, followed by the unmistakable sound of movement. Heart pounding, you toss aside the covers and stare at the ceiling, waiting. Silence. Seconds stretch into minutes. Just when you convince yourself it was nothing, another thump lands—this time, directly above where you’re standing.
Heart hammering, you throw on a coat over your pajamas and grab a flashlight, convincing yourself it’s just something that fell onto the roof—anything but what your mind is imagining. The narrow beam of light cuts a small, weak circle through the gray predawn gloom, barely piercing the mist. Nothing seems large enough up there to make the kind of noise that woke you. As you circle toward the back of the house, you freeze. The soil glistens with what look like dozens of tiny hand-prints pressed into the damp earth. That chill you thought you’d shaken returns in full, crawling down your spine as you pull your coat tighter. You swing the flashlight toward the yard just in time to find your trash can toppled over, a bag ripped open and its contents scattered across the driveway. Each crunch and clatter underfoot makes you wince as you step carefully through the mess, the trembling beam of light stretching into the thick morning haze ahead.
Rounding the back of the house, you hear the garden gate groaning softly on its hinges. A shiver slips through you as you cast the flashlight in wide, sweeping arcs across the yard. Nothing moves. Stepping closer, you spot more of those tiny hand-prints stamped in the dirt—and the shredded remains of your garden, stalks snapped and flowers stripped bare. You push the gate closed with a sharp click just as a sudden rustling sounds above you. Spinning around, you catch sight of a dark shape shifting along the edge of the roof. Your chest tightens as the shadow seems to swell, spreading into something larger. Then it moves—quick, sure, alive—scampering across the shingles and down the side of the house.
You follow the motion, flashlight trembling in your hand, until the beam catches a flicker of gray. Slowly, the shape comes into focus: gray fur, nimble little hands, and a black mask stretched across curious eyes. A raccoon. The creature pauses, almost smug, before sauntering off into the darkness. You exhale, half laughing, half relieved, and head back inside to do the only sensible thing—call your exterminator.
Don’t let nocturnal nuisances keep you up at night!
Fast Facts About Raccoons:
- Average Size: 2 to 3 feet long, weighing 7-23 lbs.
- Lifespan in the Wild: 2 to 3 years
- Appearance: gray fur, black mask around the eyes, black rings around the tail, pointy snout, and nimble hands
- Diet: omnivorous and opportunistic
- Habitat:
- In the Wild: den in tree hollows and ground burrows (made by other animals) in heavily wooded areas near water and vegetation
- In a Home: attics, crawlspaces, chimneys, sewers, barns, and sheds
- Active Times: nocturnal with greatest activity in spring, summer and fall
- Reproduction: females usually give birth to 1 to 6 kits in April or May; these babies will stay with the mother for about a year
- Skills: highly dexterous and clever, they can open doors, jars, lids, latches, etc. They are also excellent climbers and swimmers.
- Dangers: raccoons can carry and transmit several highly dangerous organisms:
- Rabies – this virus infects the central nervous system and can be fatal
- Roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) – in humans this parasite can invade the eye, organs, and brain, and can cause death
- Leptospirosis – without treatment this bacteria can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, respiratory distress, and death.
- Salmonella – this bacteria can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, and can be severe enough to require hospitalization
Signs of Raccoon Damage:
- Raided & tipped over trash cans
- Trash strewn around a yard
- Damaged/eaten gardens or crops
- Torn shingles
- Uncapped chimneys
- Pillaged bird feeders
- Tracks with front paws that look like human hands, and rear paws with five long toes
- Loud noises at night from the attic, chimney, or crawlspace
- Damaged insulation, shingles, and wiring
- Build up of nesting materials accompanied by droppings and/or urine stains
Raccoon Removal
If you suspect a raccoon is living in or around your home, it’s important to contact The Bug Dude at 1-800-310-BUGS (2847) for a professional inspection. Our experienced technicians will assess the situation, identify potential entry points, and develop a safe, effective plan to remove the animal. Using humane live traps, we’ll capture and relocate the raccoon before it can cause further damage. We can also perform exclusion work—repairing and securing access points—to help prevent future intrusions and schedule this work at the right time to ensure no animals are left inside.
Raccoon removal is best left to professionals for three key reasons.
1) Safety – raccoons can carry harmful diseases and parasites, and trained technicians know how to handle them safely.
2) Effectiveness – our team has the experience, tools, and techniques to trap and remove wildlife efficiently.
3) Humaneness – professionals understand raccoon behavior and will check for kits, ensuring that mothers and babies are removed together.
Raccoon Prevention
Whether you’ve already had a raccoon issue at your home or you just want to mitigate your chances of having one in the future, here are some tips to prevent these animals from invading your space.
- Regularly inspect and repair any potential entry points: broken vents, holes, uncapped chimneys, loose siding, and loose shingles
- Install a mesh cover over chimneys
- Store trash and pet food in sealed areas that a raccoon cannot get into (remember, they are very clever and have nimble fingers)
- Remove bird feeders
- Keep your yard free from debris (like leaf litter) and brush
- Keep firewood away from the house, ideally 20 feet or more
This fall as Halloween approaches, don’t let raccoons make your home into a haunted house; keep the scary stories and bumps in the night relegated to the realms of movies and campfires, and call The Bug Dude @ Mid-Cities Pest control, Inc. as soon as you suspect you might have a problem. 1-800-310-BUGS (2847).
Additional References:
“Raccoon Facts” – Havahart
“Raccoons” – PestWorld.org
