For a few weeks, we've been hearing horrible sounds in the wall, and have suspected a critter dwelling there. We had a critter control guy come, and he charged us a huge amount of money to tell us that, for sure, we had a squirrel, and he put a trap somewhere completely other than where the sound was coming from.
Eventually, as the sounds continued, we moved the trap closer to where we thought they were coming from.
Finally, on Friday, as we drove into the driveway, we saw a HUGE raccoon scrambling across the roof, and, upon climbing up there, saw the place where it was making its comings and goings. We moved the trap up to right outside that hole. The first night, it stole the bait through the side of the trap, and the second night - last night - it got into the trap.
This morning, we called the critter guy, left a message, and he called back later. He said that he wasn't going to get it off the roof, because he hadn't put it there, and we had to get it down, and he'd come pick it up.
So ... I climbed back up the ladder, and there was a frightened raccoon cowering and trembling in the cage. Our roof is fairly steep, and I wasn't real excited about trying to get a cage full of frightened animal off of that incline. I edged it down the roof, and the raccoon cowered in the extreme far edge of the cage the whole time, right up until I was about halfway down the ladder and the furthest off balance. Then it lunged at me. I screamed, fell the rest of the way down the ladder, and hurled the cage away from me. It landed on the sidewalk, but didn't pop open, fortunately. Maria caught me, so I didn't break everything. The raccoon peed on me as I flung it, but he and I were otherwise unhurt.
While we were at dinner, the critter guy came and picked up the vermin, but we got a few photos first. (Photos Here) I thought, when we got the cage down, and I had stopped shaking, that he was smaller than he had looked while up on the roof. Turns out I may have been right, since there's still something up there making a racket, so it appears that he had a colleague. :-(
He'd be cute out in the woods where he belongs! Too bad--for him and for you--that he decided to move into a people house.
Wow, sounds like your critter control guy is out of a job. Please, next time you have to get a live cage off the roof, lower it by a rope or something. Or tie yourself in. La strongly echoes this sentiment.
If I were to bet on it, I'd say that, rather than a colleague, the big one you caught was the mama and the remaining sounds are offspring. Sadly, if that is the case, that means that either:
1 - Somebody will have to go in and retrieve them while they are still alive to alleviate the noise
- or -
2 - Somebody will have to go in and retrieve them after that is no longer the case to alleviate the smell
Phydeaux,
It turns out you were right. Four of 'em, at least.
*sigh*
Wow, I dont know whether to laugh or be grateful that you were not badly hurt in your fall. Both I guess.
Raccoons are cute, but they can be really nasty customers. If it was me my first impulse would have been to just kinda shove the cage toward the edge of the roof with my foot and wish him well.
We had some elderly friends with the same problem. The "coon had chewed a hole in the side of their 100 year old house and was having a good time. I volunteered to crawl into the attic with my rifle and shoot the thing. I figured a 22 short wouldn't penetrate the roof, but they declined my kind offer. Go figure.
we're having a similar problem. Not sure if what it is at this time as we're still trying to catch it. it's wont take the bait of the trap