Racoons in your attic? Turn up the radio to get them to leave

As the calendar turns a page from winter to spring, Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth, N.S., is getting the same kinds of calls it gets every year: What to do with racoons on properties?

“If you’re seeing an abundance of racoons and they’re trying to get in your house, they’re looking for a place to give birth,” said Hope Swinimer, founder of Hope for Wildlife.

Swinimer recommends homeowners do a thorough sweep of their houses in the spring to make sure there are no tiny entrances or holes for curious animals.

“It’s the time of year wildlife tries to enter, especially the racoons,” she said. “They like attics, they like dark, quiet places.”

If someone does find racoons in their attic, Swinimer recommends an indirect approach to get them to leave.

“By simply putting lights and radio up there, that mother will feel very uncomfortable and she’ll move her babies one by one,” she said.

Swinimer noted live trapping – which often involves transporting the animal to a different environment – can seem like an attractive solution to racoon problems, but she said it comes with a lot of unforeseen consequences.

“Live trapping is not a humane solution,” she said. “We have pockets of disease all over our province so by moving wildlife around, you may be inadvertently introducing a deadly virus in other areas.

“Try to get the wildlife in your home to move along on their own accord.”