Raccoon invasion is one of the most common pest problems people living in the United States encounter. While they prefer to hunt around for food in the trees in warm weather, they are more common in residential areas in the winter and fall. During these two seasons, the temperature becomes chilly, and they seek asylum in chimneys, attics, barn, and uncompleted buildings.

What to know about Raccoons?

These medium-sized whiskered animals build dens around bushes, trees, and hollows in spring and summer. They mate and reproduce during the warm seasons. However, when the colder temperature of fall and winter emerge, they leave the trees and seek protection in homes, attics, chimneys, barns, etc. Raccoons are protective of their kits, and it is difficult to separate the mother raccoon from her babies.

What Raccoons do in Winter and Fall

Raccoons are hardly resilient to cold and mostly stay in hibernation in winter and fall. They search for warm spots in the home, and their body temporarily shuts down during hibernation. When the temperature rises during these seasons, the mother raccoons stay active to search for food for her babies. 

Even though they are relatively small animals, raccoons are very destructive pests. They chew bedding material, roofing materials, wires wood, ducts, and defecate around the house. They are also carriers of rabies, and if they invade your house, they could spread this disease.  

How to Protect your Home from Raccoon Invasion in Winter and Fall

It is imperative to protect your home from raccoon invasion. Homes battling with raccoons must also get rid of them before they reproduce. A pregnant raccoon can give birth to a litter of two to six kits.

Here are some nature-friendly measures that would protect your home from the Raccoon invasion. 

1. Raccoons scurry around dumpsters in search of food. Empty the dumpster frequently to prevent the attraction of this pest to your home.
2. Repair all broken windows and damaged doors and roof. Also, check around your home for holes in the wall, ceiling, or doors and windows and seal them.
3. Keep the home and its surroundings clean at all times. Raccoons in homes are in search of food. Leaving food items in the house will attract them. Seal all food items and store food remnants in the fridge. 

Raccoons are tricky animals, and expelling them from your home may be more difficult, especially when the mother has litters. However, Baystate Wildlife helps to get rid of pests that invade your home in the fall. Contact us now, and we will help protect your home from raccoon invasion.