If you own a home or business, protecting it from pests is an important part of maintenance. Some animals like raccoons can be harmful to people and property. While raccoons may look like cute furry bandits that are out to steal your heart, they are actually quite dangerous pests. Raccoons are dangerous to pets, damaging to buildings, and they can injure humans or make them sick by exposure to feces, urine, or saliva or by raccoon scratches and bites. To protect your home or business from raccoons, first learn about these pests, their behaviors, steps for prevention, and contact Stellar Pest & Wildlife should an infestation occur.

Raccoons are easy to identify by their black eye coloring. These animals are bigger than common house cats and about the size of small to medium-sized dogs. Their fur is grayish and consists largely of a thick undercoat. Raccoons have long tails that are often striped with dark rings.

All across North America, raccoons are a common animal to be seen. Sometimes they live in the wilderness and are driven toward urban areas in the winter. Raccoons look for easy food sources such as garbage, left out food or scraps and may also look to your home or business for shelter or a place to bear young. The shelter that they may seek in your home or building could include an attic, shed, wall, chimney, or crawl space.

Like most pests, raccoons are attracted to food and shelter. We recommend securing trash cans and don’t leave any food or scraps or pet food outside. Pick up any fallen edibles like fruits or nuts. Put fences around your yard or parking lot, and use barriers so they can’t climb up fruit trees. Most of all, never feed raccoons. If you suspect you have a raccoon problem, you should seek the advice of the wildlife control experts at Stellar Pest and Wildlife on how to get rid of raccoons. Our professionals know the best treatment methods for raccoon pest control in Texas.