The above audio clip is from raccoon kits that are about 3-4 weeks old. Old enough for eyes to be open, but not yet old enough for them to move around themselves except for a bit of wiggling.
Raccoon kits can be very vocal. This is often the first indicator that raccoons have taken up residence somewhere. In Massachusetts, this is typically first heard sometime in April, with odd cases where you may first hear them in March or even February. The above audio clip is a from raccoon kits that are about 5-6 weeks old.
About Raccoons
Raccoons are a nocturnal species, but may be seen in the daytime once in a while. Just because you see one in the daylight hours does not mean its rabid or ill, as different times of year they have different pressures going on causing them to spend daytime hours searching for food as well as evening and night hours. They are extremely efficient climbers, and can be found inside attics and chimneys. It’s also not uncommon to have a raccoon investigate or tear into your trash barrels, as they are opportunistic feeders. Having containers and debris around your property attracts them to the area as they spend much of their time investigating. This investigating leads them to find ways to take up residence under a porch, deck, attic or crawlspace.
Listen to what a Raccoon sounds like here 🔉
Active THROUGH WINTER
Winter and spring are the most active times of year for raccoons as they do not hibernate in winter and are active throughout the colder months. As spring comes and females look for places to have young, fireplaces or attics become great hideaway spots. It’s not uncommon to hear whining noises coming from your chimney in early spring, and to have a female racoon give birth right above your fireplace. Baby raccoons can be very vocal, so listening for their cry’s is a telltale sign that you have raccoons that have taken up residence in your home. If you find you have new neighbors in Spring, we offer raccoon removal, eviction, sealing up and sanitation services.
How Raccoons get in Your Home or Business
Similar to squirrels, raccoons are excellent climbers and don’t need a tree limb or shrub to help them get up on your roof. Gutter downspouts, corner siding, chimneys, and deck posts are all ways raccoons can climb your home.
Raccoons can reach up to 30 pounds in weight, so you will likely hear a raccoon moving around in your attic. Since they are nocturnal, you’ll most likely hear them during evening and overnight hours. If they are comfortable, they may even be sleeping during the day and only begin moving at nightfall.
It’s important to remove a raccoon from your home or business because feces can contain raccoon roundworm as well as other ecto parasites, so cleanup of raccoon scat and sanitation is extremely important.
Raccoon Breeding
Adult male raccoons seek out females by scent during the later winter months. They will breed with her and then be on their way. The females most commonly give birth between April and May, but it may be sooner or later as well based on the previous harshness of winter. The female will raise the kits herself, and they become very vocal after their first few weeks. Female raccoons raise their young alone, but often times a male raccoon will still search for a female to mate with, regardless of if she has kits or not. If a male raccoons comes across a female during these months and she already has kits that do not belong to him, the male raccoon will often kill those kits and mate with that female. It can be a gruesome scene but it is how these animals are built. For this reason, the female wants a secure location without other raccoons present to raise her kits, and this also gives us as professionals a strategic way to evict females who have kits in your home (male raccoon pheromone will very successfully make a female raccoon take her kits away from your home on her own).
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