How Raccoons Live in Urban Areas

Raccoons are one of the most adaptable animals in North America, and they’re increasingly making their homes in urban areas. As cities expand into raccoon habitat, these clever critters have learned to make the best of city living. But while having a wild animal as a neighbor can be exciting, it’s important for homeowners to understand how to coexist with raccoons safely and humanely.

In this blog post, we’ll take an in-depth look at how raccoons live in urban areas and what you need to know about raccoon control if they become unwelcome visitors to your property.

Call 317-535-4605 For Raccoon Control Service in Indianapolis Indiana
Call 317-535-4605 For Raccoon Control Service in Indianapolis Indiana

How Raccoon Populations Thrive in Residential and Commercial Areas

They Eat Practically Anything

Raccoons are omnivores, so they can eat almost anything. They love to feast on fruits, nuts, and berries from backyard gardens, and they’ll happily rummage through garbage cans in search of an easy meal. Raccoons will also explore dumpsters and compost bins for food scraps. To protect their food sources, raccoons have become expert climbers, able to scale the sides of buildings and trees with ease. This allows them to access areas that other animals can’t reach.

They are Skilled at Finding Shelter

In addition to having excellent food hoarding skills, raccoons are adept at finding shelter in urban areas. They often make their homes in attics or under porches during the colder months of the year, taking advantage of the warmth and protection that a man-made structure provides. Raccoons may also take up residence in tree cavities or abandoned burrows, finding security and safety from potential predators.

They are Intelligent and Agile

Their exceptional intelligence and problem-solving skills have made raccoons a tricky nuisance for many city and suburb dwellers. They have learned to thrive in human-dominated habitats and are often found scavenging through garbage cans and climbing onto rooftops in search of food. These intelligent creatures have learned how to outsmart humans by opening latches and doors, and even picking locks. They are agile climbers, expert swimmers, and can run at impressive speeds when needed.

Protect Your Property With Raccoon Control

If you have raccoons living on your property, it’s important to remember that they are wild animals and should be treated with respect. As such, homeowners should take steps to discourage raccoon activity by removing any potential food sources like pet food dishes or uncovered garbage cans. If you need to deter raccoons from entering certain areas of your home, there are humane wildlife control methods available that can help keep them out without harming them. These include using motion-activated sprinklers or ultrasonic devices to startle away curious critters.

Professional Raccoon Removal Services

If you are dealing with a nuisance raccoon problem that won’t seem to go away, contact a local and licensed wildlife control company for raccoon removal services. They have the proper licensing, training, and resources to safely get rid of raccoons without disturbing other areas of your property. Keep in mind that many states have laws that forbid home and property owners from harming or trapping wildlife without the proper permits, including raccoons. Always enlist the job of raccoon trapping and removal to a licensed pro.

Are you ready to skip the hassle of animal-proofing against raccoons yourself? Contact Indianapolis Raccoon Removal at 317-535-4605 for prompt and professional raccoon control services in Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. We serve residential and commercial customers with the most economic rates around.

Related Posts:

The Dangers of Trying to Remove Raccoons Yourself
9 Tips for Keeping Raccoons Away From Your Home
How to Determine if You Have an Infestation of Raccoons in Your Home

Facts About Raccoon Eating Habits

Raccoons are common visitors to metropolitan and residential communities. They are smart mammals that have a good memory and remember to go after what they know is accessible. Raccoons have learned that our neighborhoods and cities are perfect spots to grab an easy meal and perhaps some warm shelter as well. For this reason, raccoons have been labeled a nuisance animal in these areas.

Although raccoons are considered nuisance wildlife in urban areas, they are truly delightful critters with many interesting facts to offer. Maybe if you can recognize a raccoon’s diet, you might be able to understand what it is they are after when they trespass onto our properties. With this kind of knowledge, you can perhaps come to respect these mammals, and have a strategy to prevent them from invading your property in the future.

Continue reading to learn just what a raccoon diet looks like, and who to call for professional advice and information regarding raccoon control and more.

Indianapolis Indiana Raccoon Removal 317-535-4605
Indianapolis Indiana Raccoon Removal 317-535-4605

What Do Raccoons Eat?

Raccoons are opportunistic eaters. They are omnivores that eat many different varieties of plant life, invertebrates, and vertebrates. In nature, raccoons are fond of fish, frogs, nuts, acorns, berries, fruit, insects, worms, bird eggs, and even larger prey like birds, snakes, and lizards. With so many subspecies of raccoon in the world, their diets vary depending on the region in which they live. Raccoon species that live near ocean eat more shellfish and aquatic wildlife, in contrast to the Northern raccoon which feeds mostly on the foodstuffs we mentioned before.

Raccoons in Urban Areas

Raccoons that trespass onto residential and commercial properties are looking for anything and everything similar to the foods we just discussed. For those who like to take the garbage outside the night before trash pickup day, you might experience higher frequencies of raccoons to your property.

Leaving garbage outside is like giving raccoons, and other nocturnal wildlife, a free invitation to an all-you-can-eat buffet in your driveway. Not only does this habit attract nuisance wildlife, but it also leaves behind a huge mess for you to wake up to. And raccoons will remember your home as a means for food and return night after night looking for more hand-outs.

Raccoons Will Eat Your Other Animal Food

Raccoons also like to eat pet food, bird seed, and even squirrel seed. Properties with pet bowls outside, or even pet food in the garage, have a higher chance of experiencing problems with raccoons than properties that do not take part in such activities. Bird feeders and squirrel feeders are also a big attraction for raccoons. Removing these objects from a property with raccoons can greatly reduce their rate of return, and leave other raccoons disinterested in your home.

If you have a problem with nuisance raccoons, never try to trap or harm them on your own. It requires professional training, tools, and licensing to facilitate any type of raccoon removal service. Contact Indianapolis Raccoon Removal at 317-535-4605 for DNR licensed and insured critter control services for raccoons in Central, Indiana.

You Should Also Read:

How to Make Safe and Humane Raccoon Repellents at Home
How to Spot the Signs of Rabies in a Raccoon
3 Reasons a Raccoon is Dangerous to People and Pets

Indiana Raccoon Removal and Contro
Indiana Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605

Do Raccoons Eat Other Animals?

If you have raccoons looming around your property at night, you might be wondering why. Well, raccoons are on a forever hunt for two things: food and shelter. Mostly, they are in search of food, which they will find using their high level of intelligence, dexterous paws, and acute memory capacities. But if they come across a place that suits their sheltering needs better than the nest they are living in, they will take advantage of that opportunity as well. So, if you have any type of food source on your property, it is likely the reason why you are having nightly raccoon visitors.

But what do raccoons eat? Will they eat your pet cat or dog? Will they eat other types of animals? Continue reading to learn what the common raccoon diet consists of and put your concerns to rest.

Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605
Indianapolis Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605

Common Raccoon Diet

Raccoons are omnivores, just like humans. They eat meat, fruit, vegetables, and many other food groups. They basically eat almost anything. In metropolitan and urban areas, like our neighborhoods and towns, raccoons will mostly eat a diet of human garbage. They are quite known as dumpster divers and trashcan pillagers, making raccoons a common nuisance in the city and suburban locales. In the wild, raccoons mostly consume acorns, corn, insects, fish, and eggs. As for animals, they will eat hatchlings, small amphibians, and small birds.

So yes, raccoons do eat other animals at times, but they will not eat a cat or dog.

Nuisance Raccoons and Your Pets

Although raccoons are not after your cat or dog for their next meal, there is a chance that a raccoon will attack a curious, aggressive, or over-friendly cat or dog. For this reason, it is strongly encouraged to keep your pets properly vaccinated according to your vet’s recommendation. Furthermore, if you live in an area with known raccoon activity, avoid letting your pets outside at night unsupervised. This is when raccoons are active, and if approached or threatened, will bite or scratch a dog or cat. The rabies virus is often carried by raccoons, and is transmitted through blood and saliva, so you do not want your pet bitten or scratched from a raccoon that could possibly be infected.

How to Get Rid of Raccoons

The best way you can stop raccoons from trespassing onto your property is to remove all the things that are attracting them in the first place. If your property is no longer a source of food, water, or shelter, they will move onto other properties that provide these amenities. Seal up or remove these sources of food, water, and shelter: trashcans (always take them out on the morning of garbage collection day), pet food, gardens, bird baths, squirrel feeders, compost piles, log piles, hollowed trees, junk cars, and unlocked barns or sheds.

Indianapolis Raccoon Removal and Control Service

Call 317-535-4605 for prompt and professional Indianapolis raccoon removal and control you can trust. We are DNR licensed and experienced wildlife control specialists who only use safe and humane methods to exclude and extract raccoons. We also offer 24 hour emergency service, raccoon cleanup and restoration, inspections, and raccoon-proofing. Call 317-535-4605 to request a free estimate, today.

What Does a Raccoon Eat?

Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605

Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605

It can get confusing trying to figure out exactly what a raccoon eats. This is because it all depends on where they live and how easily accessible food is to them. The truth is that a raccoon’s diet is largely determined by its location and natural habitat. For example, raccoons in urbanized areas will eat differently than a raccoon family in the wilderness. Raccoons are hunters and scavengers all at the same time; and will eat almost anything. In fact, you may be surprised to find out what kinds of food raccoons will eat. So long as they can get their paws on it, they will eat it.

Continue reading if you would like to learn more about different raccoon diets, food preferences, and eating habits.

Urbanized Raccoons

The term “urbanized raccoons” refers to raccoon colonies that live near cities, residential neighborhoods, and commercial districts. Homes, sheds, garages, patios, driveways, garbage cans, commercial offices, businesses, dumpsters, and more can all be common targets for raccoons looking for dinner in these areas. Such raccoons have adapted well over the years of increasing new construction and land developments. They use their dexterous paws and intelligence to get into places where food is abundant; such as the places mentioned before. With these skills, raccoons can acclimate and adapt to changing environments; making it easier to feed themselves and their colonies in any conditions. Obstacles such as closed doors, high shelving, stairs, and more are no match for their capabilities.

Raccoons look for food scraps in outdoor rural areas because they know they are a good source for meals. Dumpsters, garbage cans, and recycling bins are all eye-catchers to these night-time eaters. Also, city raccoons are known to find entry points into residential and commercial properties. They use attics, crawl spaces, patios, porches, decks, sheds, and more for shelter against harsh and cold weather, and for breeding as well. They are certainly capable of leaving behind quite a mess; often times, expensive repairs and foul leftovers of eating, breeding, and bathroom breaks.

Wilderness Raccoons

The palate of a raccoon that lives in the wild is much simpler. Out in the forests, woods, riversides, and meadows, raccoons use their natural hunting and gathering skills to eat. Fish is probably one of the main food sources for raccoons near natural bodies of water. This also includes any similar pond or river findings; such as crayfish, frogs, snakes, lizards, and more. When it comes to the forest, raccoons will not turn down good fruit, nuts, and meaty insects for a snack. Berries, acorns, mushrooms, and aome plant like are common choices for wild raccoons. When it comes to hunting in the forest, raccoons are also known to catch and eat rodents, squirrels, and even small birds and bird eggs!

Indianapolis Raccoon Control Assistance

Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605

Raccoon Removal and Control 317-535-4605

If you are seeing wild raccoons helping themselves to the office dumpsters, your neighbor’s garbage cans, or your own, call our Indianapolis raccoon control professionals at 317-535-4605 today. We use only safe and humane methods for raccoon control and never kill or harm raccoons in any way. Our raccoon removal technicians are DNR licensed and insured with more than 20 years of experience in the animal control industry.

This Will Make You Love Raccoons!

Perhaps if you learn some fun and interesting facts about raccoons, it will change your perspective on these unfairly labeled mammals! Raccoons are wonderful critters that range in color, size, habitat, and more. There are three main species of raccoon, and over 20 subspecies too! Raccoons have a poor reputation because of the rabies stigma and the damage they can cause our homes and properties. But it is not the raccoon’s fault that they are susceptible to disease, just like all other mammals; and it is not their fault that we continue to overdevelop and eliminate raccoon’s natural habitats, forcing them into our neighborhoods and urban areas.

Aside from all these shameful perspectives regarding raccoons, there are bright and cheerful facts that will make you love them! Continue reading to learn the good stuff about raccoons, and perhaps change your mind about them once and for all!

Raccoons and Humans

Although we are going to discuss the wonderful attributes of raccoons, it is important to note that raccoons should never be taunted, trapped, harmed, killed, or kept as a pet. Never try to touch or pet a wild raccoon, and if you see one on the ground, even if it’s a pup, do not touch it or try to save it. They are amazing critters, but they can pose serious health problems for humans and pets. So instead, contact a local wildlife rescue and control company for prompt, safe, and humane assistance in removing the raccoon and relocating it to a faraway and safer habitat. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s get into the good stuff!

Raccoon Facts

Raccoons come in three separate species, found all over the world. These species include the Northern raccoon, also called the Common raccoon. This is the species we are all most familiar with. Then there is the Crab-Eating raccoon and the Cozumel Island raccoon. All other raccoons are subspecies of these three. Since 2005, there have been 22 identified coon species in the world!

Raccoons are very intelligent compared to most other mammals. Past scientific studies have proven that coons retain an incredible memory, and can remember solutions to problems up to three years later! Tests, including complex locks, shapes, puzzles, and more, were administered to certain species and the results were astonishing! Raccoons are smart little critters!

They also have very dexterous paws that are human-like, and they can use them to maneuver, open, pry, peel, and much more; just as us humans do! They like to play and be silly with their mates, and retain gender-appropriate roles in nature. So you see, there is much more to these species of animal that you knew before. Keep this in mind next time you spot a raccoon, and be sure to admire it from afar, and never intervene.

Indiana Raccoon Removal

Call 317-535-4605 for prompt and professional raccoon removal and control in Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. We are DNR licensed and experienced wildlife removal specialists that only use safe and humane methods to extract raccoons. We also offer 24 hour emergency service, raccoon cleanup services, and raccoon-proofing as well. Call 317-535-4605 for affordable Indianapolis raccoon removal, today.

What Do Raccoons Eat?

The type of food a raccoon eats is largely determined by its home and location. City raccoons will have a different diet than raccoons in the wilderness. Once we take these facts into consideration, we can begin discussing the different, and sometimes surprising, food preferences of a typical raccoon and where they go to get these meals. Continue reading to learn a few facts about raccoon diets, food preferences, and more.

City Raccoons

Raccoons in the city and urban areas have adapted well. They have dexterous paws and fingers that allow them to easily manipulate things and acclimate to changing environments. These raccoons can quickly gain access to garage doors, sheds, unlocked doors, latches, and more. They are relatively intelligent and acute mammals, so overcoming obstacles, such as closed doors, comes easier to them.

City raccoons, as mentioned before, can adapt well to changing weather and environments. This means they are accustomed to eating scraps found in dumpsters and trash cans all over the city and rural neighborhoods. If they find access inside a home, they will go directly for any food readily available; such as cereal boxes, sugar, cookies, anything in the refrigerator they can grab, pet food, garbage, and more. Although this isn’t a normal diet for a wild raccoon, or any animal for that matter, it has become the most reliable food source in these areas.

Wild Raccoons

Wild raccoons have a simpler palate. They generally dine on fish, small invertebrates, fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and many other foods found in nature. If living nearby water, raccoons will almost always use this as their main source of food. Anything they can grab from the water is a treat; such as salmon, carp, bluegill, frogs, crabs, crayfish, mollusks, worms, and even snakes.

Wild raccoons also use their nimble paws and fingers to steal eggs from bird nests and other hatchling grounds. They can pick their own fruit and vegetables, skim through chicken houses and raid farm crops. Raccoons are also known to catch and eat rodents, squirrels, and birds; they will even eat road-kill! They also enjoy a diet of berries, acorns, mushrooms, and plant life.

For more information about raccoons in Indiana, call Indianapolis Raccoon Removal at 317-535-4605 today. We are licensed raccoon control specialists with more than two decades of service and experience in the raccoon removal and control industry. We are advocates for safe and humane trapping methods and never kill raccoons. Visit our website at http://www.raccoonremovalindianapolis.com for details about our animal control services, prices, and company credentials. Get quick and affordable raccoon removal in Indianapolis, IN by calling 317-535-4605 for a free estimate today!