Cowleys Saves Raccoon Family in Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Challenge

Recently, a homeowner in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, had a raccoon that was gaining access to the attic through the attic fan. He attempted to solve the problem on his own by replacing the attic fan and attic fan cover. Unbeknownst to him, the raccoon was still inside the attic. Bad plan! Raccoons are large animals with razor-sharp claws that do not take kindly to being trapped inside an enclosed area. Needless to say, the raccoon mom panicked and escaped out of the attic through a rear soffit. To add insult to injury, the raccoon continued to use the attic through this new entry point to take care of her kits.

Solution

Raccoons are exceptionally intelligent animals. Given its bad experience, we knew that this animal would now be trap-shy and difficult to capture. We set a “positive set” over the opening. These traps are placed over or in front of an entrance hole so that any exiting animal is funnels into the trap. After some unsuccessful attempts of trying to make its way through other areas of the soffit, the raccoon finally attempted to venture out through its “go to” opening. At the end, we did it! We successfully captured and relocated the mom raccoon as well as her five kits.  

This infestation had caused a toxic mess of droppings and, as often happens, much of the attic insulation was ruined. This homeowner will be using our home improvement division for a full-attic clean-out to make the attic safe once again. We have a specialized crew that comes in after the wildlife work is done to sanitize and deodorize the attic. This homeowner also wants us to remove any damaged insulation and replace it with our blown-in cellulose insulation that is not only energy efficient and environmentally friendly, but does also has pest control benefits that protects against many insect infestations, including termites.