By Shannon Lukens.

Are you alone? Some may think raccoons are cute, but they have been moving into homes in the Yampa Valley this spring.

“We’re seeing a lot of raccoons trying to get into people’s attics, and soffits, and roofs for the moms to give birth to their kits.”

 

That’s Tim Evans with Steamboat Pest Control. He says to look around your yard to see if there are any trees or tree branches leaning against the roof, to give the raccoons easy access to your home. They’ll pull apart siding and screens.

“They use force and they pull apart soffit vents. They’ll pull apart the doghouse screens. They’ll pull apart the siding, whatever they want to do. They’re pretty aggressive little creatures.”

 

Matt Kempton with Steamboat Roofing has also seen the damage raccoons can do.

“We see a lot where it’s created pretty large, substantial damage to roofs, leading to spots where water can get into the house, but it is something worth getting checked out.”

 

Kempton says he looks for signs that a raccoon has broken into an attic or a home.

 

“A lot of times we see damage from the animals clawing at the roof’s surface, trying to make a hole. A lot of times we see insulation being drug out from the attic where they’re coming and going.”

 

Evans says he uses something called Raccoon Eviction Paste. He puts it around the trees that the raccoons are climbing or the holes in the roof. It smells like a male raccoon. That scares away the female with the new kits because male raccoons will hurt them.

“It mimics the scent of male raccoons, their gland scents. The mamas want to protect their young and they don’t want the males in there, destroying the babies. That’s what the males do.”

 

You can also make a lot of noise in the area where you know they’re hiding. Raccoons don’t like that. YouTube has a video specific to raccoons with sounds they don’t like. Put a Bluetooth speaker in the area and play it. It can be anything loud. Here’s the noise from the YouTube video.