Raccoon Mating Season Is Here: Now What?

The period between January and June is considered raccoon mating season. After mating, pregnant raccoons will seek out shelter to give birth and raise their kits in a safe and warm space.

For homeowners, raccoon mating season is the time to start preparing and repairing. Raccoons often choose manmade shelters, such as attics, sheds, and porches, to give birth and raise their young. These shelters offer warmth, shelter from the elements, and protection from predators.

If you don’t want your home to become a wildlife shelter this raccoon mating season, here’s what you need to do.

Avoid Feeding Wildlife

Raccoons aren’t picky eaters. They’ll eat just about anything and everything they can get their paws on. As a result, your well-intentioned feeding of other animals might make your property the perfect place for a family of raccoons. They’ll make your house their home because you offer a reliable food source.

You might not even realize you’re feeding neighbourhood raccoons until it’s too late. Perhaps you have a bird feeder placed too low. Maybe you feed ducks at the pond in your backyard. Perhaps you feed your pets outdoors and food is often leftover or spills over from their bowls. Maybe you have fruit trees and forget to clean up the fruit that fall to the floor. Perhaps you leave nuts out for squirrels. All of these actions, though innocent in nature, can attract raccoons to your home.

Ideally, you want to make your home undesirable and unattractive to wildlife to avoid problems.

Remove Garbage Cans and Green Bins

Another way you might be inadvertently feeding raccoons is by leaving out your garbage cans and green bins, unprotected. If you’ve woken up in the morning to ripped garbage bags and toppled over green bins, you can be sure you have a raccoon problem on your property. Because raccoons will eat almost anything, your old, spoiled food isn’t off limits.

If you can, move your cans and bins to a shed or garage. If that isn’t possible, make sure your bins are closed tightly. You can also tie them to a fence so they can’t topple over.  

Clean Up Your Property

Take a good, hard look at your property. Look at it from a raccoon’s perspective. Are there any nooks, crannies, or sheltered areas that raccoons might find attractive as a potential new home? Clean up around your property and keep it as clear and tidy as possible as to not incidentally give raccoons great hiding spaces.

Trim Your Trees

If raccoons are going to get into your attic, they’re going to do so through roof access. This is one of the most common ways raccoons can become unexpected houseguests. Raccoons are agile, effective climbers and jumpers. They can easily make it from the ground to your roof by climbing trees.

You can prevent this from occurring by trimming tree branches that give animals access to your roof. Cut them at least five feet away from your roof to prevent jumps.

Repair Your Roof

You shouldn’t underestimate a raccoon’s intelligence this raccoon mating season. Even if you trim your trees, a raccoon might still be able to find a way up onto your roof. Once there, it will be able to tear off roof tiles, rip vent covers or pipe mats, and push their way through soffit intersections to get in.

One of the most important thing you can do this raccoon mating season is to take the time to repair and reinforce your roof. Look for any potential entry points and vulnerable areas, like the ones described above. Then, seal up holes and cracks, install drip edge, place screens around vents, repair tiles, and ensure your roof is totally protected.

With these tips, you’ll be able to help avoid raccoon problems on your property. 

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