When Davey called me one morning at work (I was finishing up a night shift, he was headed to work) to tell me he was sure we had a raccoon under our bathroom floor (between the first and second floors), I was more than a little skeptical. "Seriously? A raccoon? There's no way". With thin walls and minimal insulation (gotta love 1970's construction),we are used to strange noises- we hear our neighbor moving around next door, trees scraping the exterior wall, other unidentified movements. I had no reason to believe there wasn't a better explanation for what Davey was hearing.
A couple of days later, we were both in the bathroom getting ready for an evening out, when Davey decided to demonstrate his raccoon evacuation tactic... he forcefully banged a rubber mallet on the floor repeatedly right over the spot he believed the guy was hanging out. Nothing happened. Until about 15 seconds later when we heard and FELT something scurrying under our feet. I was completely creeped out at this point, but Davey sprung into action and ran outside with a flashlight. When he shined it under the house (thankfully protected by a screen over the small opening) he was eye to eye with a raccoon!!! Now we knew for sure that we had a visitor.
Over the next few months our little guy would come and go every few days, sometimes weeks, but we soon realized he or she had upgraded itself to resident status.
A few weeks ago, it returned, this time the mallet no longer was enough to chase it off. Davey started doing some internet research and learned that March is when females nest and give birth. We placed a loud radio on the floor to try to make it an unpleasant area, but it didn't budge. At this point we were convinced it must be a female who wasn't moving for one reason... now we're thinking we are going to have an entire family in there.
I begged Davey not to go under the house- as cute as they are, raccoons are aggressive, not to mention all the diseases... yuck! He had no problem agreeing, as the thought of that small dark space made him slightly claustrophobic.
So, 2 weeks ago, when Philip was visiting, he decided he'd check out the scene. (Gotta love the big brother!), so the 2 of them went under the house and confirmed that the thing was making quite a nice home for himself underneath the house and climbing up into the wall in the spot we suspected. They made a barrier of rocks that would let us know if it came in or out, but not completely close of the opening, in case it was still up there. (The only thing worse than a raccoon in your walls is a DEAD raccoon in your walls.) They then nailed plywood over the entrance from the outside to the crawl space. We knew this was merely an evidence gathering measure, as we've heard they will use blunt force to get back to a place they've
claimed. I still felt alot better knowing something was in place!
Well, that night as Philip was headed back to New York and Davey was sleeping, I heard a ruckus, coming from the front of the house. I knew it was him or her!!! Sure enough, a few minutes later, I heard a loud banging. I first thought our neighbor was hanging pictures at 11:30 at night, but we've lived next to him for 4 1/2 years and the only noise he ever makes is his video games and starting up his "big Dodge" in the mornings. The banging persisted and intensified... I had to wake up Davey, who said "yes, that's it" and went back to sleep.
The next morning Davey called Animal Control. We felt like we had no other choice- Davey's idea was to throw a bunch of pizzas in the street and have our friends Demar and Frankie (both hunters) come over and hang out on the deck with their shotguns. Funny visual, but obviously not realisitic. Anyway, after discovering how hard it is to get rid of them and how potentially extensive the damage can be, we knew we needed a professional.
Ron came out the next day and he concurred with Davey and Philip's findings and set a trap. We eagerly waited each night to hear something. No, we are not savages, but we were paying PER DAY for this trap (state law). In this economy, the fewer days, the better! After 2 days, I was annoyed. Davey offered to have Ron come get the trap that day, but then we figured the logical thing to do would be to wait till the weekend, when Davey could get under the house and seal off the openings, then have the traps removed when we knew it couldn't get in anyway. The thought was that the human scent from the boys being under there scared him away. Ron said he may never come back, but Davey knew better!
Well, Saturday morning at 6 a.m., Davey wakes me up, saying "it's in there". Sure enough, I hear scratching under the house. I thought "sweet", and went back to sleep. Davey got up an hour or so later and went down to check it out. (After the AC guy told him on the phone it would be okay). He came running upstairs very excited!!! I again felt relief, but went back to sleep. The next report from Davey is that Ron was here to collect the catch... did
I want to go see it. "NO". I am not a member of PETA, but I also don't want to see a
nyone or anything caged and headed to the hereafter. Let me say, that Davey, being the "man of the house" has carried the burden of dealing with this animal, thus the reason that his usual soft heart (he won't even go to the zoo), was really happy to witness his capture.
WARNING: I'm showing pictures next, so animal rights people should not
proceed. Full disclosure- the next step was to put the animal to sleep. If they release it, it will find someone else's house to move into. While I didn't want him put down, I also don't want to give this problem to someone else. That part was beyond our control anyway.
Ron confirmed that it was a male, so no worry about babies up there. (He would have released it if it was a female who had given birth and we would have had to wait
until they
all moved out!)
Notice the long toes!
After they left, Davey sealed off the openings. However, there are still plenty of spots under our neighbor's house for critters to get in. Since we are all connected we can't be 100% closed off, but we'll hope for the best.Here he is all "suited up". He and Philip went under unprotected and now the paranoid nurse in me is afraid they contracted Hanta Virus.
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