Raccoons Nesting in Boat Removal and Damage Repair Red Bank, NJ

Challenge

A Red Bank customer recently called Cowleys to report a raccoon sighting around the Marine Park Municipal Marina, a popular summer destination located along the Navesink River off of West Front Street. He was hopeful we could help get rid of the critter. Of course, we were up for the challenge.

Raccoons may look cute and cuddly, but they can be highly aggressive creatures, especially females protecting their kits. Also, a raccoon infestation is a genuine emergency. Besides the raccoon droppings that contain disease-transmitting microorganisms, raccoons are the primary rabies vector species in New Jersey. With a raccoon infestation, we usually start with a careful inspection of a structure, especially the roof. We want to locate the weak spots of the roof or soffit exploited by the animals to make your home their home. Although raccoons can find their way into basements and crawl spaces, the female raccoons especially like to nest. This, however, was an unusual case. One thing you learn as a wildlife technician is to expect the unexpected. With this particular raccoon hunt, we soon realized that we might have to trade our ladders in for water wings. We spotted the raccoon on the customer's boat! It looked like the little rascal was ready to take a cruise.

Raccoons are naturally curious creatures. While out exploring, he came across the boat and realized that it was an easy structure to come and go, with some great hiding places on board. For now, the boat was home sweet home. This time of year, the marina is not very busy, and is pretty quiet both day and night. Marine Park and its marina are close to several restaurants and bars, all of which have dumpsters that make a wonderful buffet for raccoons and other wildlife if not secured properly.

Solution

Myself and another wildlife technician found the raccoon sitting in the boat, grooming himself while enjoying a beautiful view of the Navesink. For this raccoon, life was good! We initially tried to “shoo” him off the boat, but he wasn't ready to leave quite yet. The raccoon decided that he had enough of us and hid under a cabinet in the boat. Rather than agitating the raccoon any further, we decided to leave him be. We set a couple of traps on the dock, and left for the day. We went back the next day to check on things. Sure enough, there he was staring at us in one of the traps. But we also had a little surprise. His friend was right there stuck in the second trap. With the two raccoons trapped, I carefully inspected all the hidden areas of the boat to make sure that this was just a “tag-team” infestation, and that there were no other critters on board. Coast was clear. There were no more raccoons to be found anywhere. We took our new friends inland to relocate them to a much more suitable habitat, far away from people.