I woke up at 4:30 because the cat was howling downstairs, and found a raccoon in the basement...

[brooklynite]

None of the "24 hour" removal services answered the phone (COVID?). Have closed the basement door and removed the cat to a safer location until animal removal can come.

[pwb]

1. Try leaving the door open.

It will leave.

[brooklynite]

2. Thought about that...

...but it would be hard to be sure that it left, and if it left through the cat door, there's nothing stopping it from coming back.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. I have had raccoons come and go through the cat door for

25 years. My cats just stay in their beds (raised off floor about 3 feet) and observe them.

[tinrobot]

17. They always come/go through the cat door.

When I lived in San Francisco, they were a regular occurrence in our kitchen. In the middle of the night, you'd catch them washing the cat food in the water bowl while the cats observed from the counters.

A loud voice and a broom will get them to leave. After that, lock the cat door after dark.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. They are good at cat doors.

I was taking care of some cats and every nite raccoons would come in and eat the catfood , muddy up the water, wander around for a while and then leave.

I always waited until daylight to check on the cats. The raccoons were always gone by then.

[DonaldsRump]

4. Check for the government "vector control" agency in your locality

In some areas, they will come for free to remove animals.

It might be a city, county or regional agency depending on where you live.

We saw a raccoon the first night in our new house because our dog was barking like crazy. Thankfully, Mr. Raccoon was outside in a tree!

Good luck.

[brooklynite]

13. Did that too

City won't remove them unless they appear to be rabid or bite someone...

[janterry]

5. Will they kill the raccoon

when they remove it? You may very well still need help removing it. But I read recently that even animals that are safely removed from places - and taken to more 'rural' - or better habitat locations - die. Outside of their range, they are unable to adapt quick enough to survive.

[Silent3]

7. No matter what, it's more qualified to be President than Trump n/t

[eShirl]

8. here, we'd catch it safe in a have-a-heart cage & bring to wildlife rehab nearby

not about raccoons but:
my brother found a mother possum that died from a recent animal attack, looked close and her belly pouch was moving from the 9 babies still in her pouch. wildlife rehab advised them to gently wrap the body in a blanket and bring it right in. they saved all 9 babies!

[DeminPennswoods]

15. Found a chick

a few years that was probably trying to fledge and ended up on the hot pavement leading to my condo. Couldn't take it in because of cats, but tracked down a vet practice with a wildlife rehab and took it to them. It was no cost to me, paid for the game commission.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

9. Good thing it's a raccoon...

They never take off their masks and wash their hands constantly.

Coulda been a weasel...on second thought Donnie would get stuck in the cat door.

[txwhitedove]

36. LOL!

[Vinca]

10. Probably the best thing to do. Raccoons sometimes carry rabies, so best not to get too close.

I assume the cat has been vaccinated, but if it's time for a booster a trip to the vet might be in order.

[SheltieLover]

11. Raccoons carry Baylis & it is not treatable!

Sorry to be the bearer of awful news, but this is nothing to play with.

I love raccoons, but am ever aware of this.

Here is a link:

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/baylisascaris/treatment.html#:~:text=No%20drugs%20have%20been%20shown,damage%20caused%20by%20the%20infection.

I would block off the cat door if this were happening in my home.

I've not kept up over the years but last I heard, there are not even disinfectants that can kill Baylis.

Perhaps there is a wildlife rehabber in your area who can help?

[cwydro]

18. "Should you suspect you have ingested raccoon feces, seek treatment."

Well, this seems a bit unlikely lol.

[tblue37]

21. Hanta virus was transmitted by mouse feces that dried out and then got into the air as

Last edited Thu Jun 11, 2020, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

tiny "dust" particles.

[cwydro]

24. Did you mean the Hanta virus?

[LeftInTX]

25. Damn that autocorrect!!!

[cwydro]

27. Lol! Ganja sounds more fun, for sure!

[ProfessorGAC]

35. You Get Sick!

But, you don't really care!!!
I'm in the "don't care" zone right now!

[tblue37]

28. Yes, but my hyperactive autocorrect got me again. nt

[LeftInTX]

29. But why is ganga in your autocorrect and not in mine???

[tblue37]

30. The go knows. Maybe I accidentally hit "g" for the first letter when trying to hit "h" right by it.

I am using a Kindle. Maybe they have some differences in their autocorrect dictionaries.

[CountAllVotes]

26. Raccoons

There were a load of them where I used to live. They'd come into the duplex I lived in at night as they lived under it.

I had 5 cats at that time and one of them was severely beaten up by one of them and almost died!

They run in packs and the leader of the pack is a male and wow, when you see the leader of the pack with its long fangs and saliva dripping down, you SHUT that entry way to the house so they cannot get back in and scream because it will scare the hell out of you!

As for the cats, none of them venture outside any more. I don't need a dead cat that could be rabid in my house!

That said, yes, raccoons do carry rabies and if you think they are a cute pet to feed, well you'll soon have 50+ more as they multiply and multiply forever it seems.

Where I lived at that time, animal control would lend you a cage to trap one in but I needed about 50 cages!

Alas, I moved away from that place. Too many critters around that I didn't much like, like skunks! *phew*

[raccoon]

12. I have a friend who has three indoor /outdoor cats. She

Has a cat door to the outside that can read the cats’ chips.
The door won’t let in any other animals.

[2naSalit]

19. Yes! Those are best!

I have had one of those in the past and they only let your pets in. May not be cheap, haven't looked at newer models, but certainly worth looking into.

[Iliyah]

14. Raccoons, squirrels, and possums, rats, lizards . . .

frequent my neighborhood . .

Go figure in a compact housing area. My backyard is a haven for birds, and yet I have a young cat.

Use a defogger in your basement for fleas.

[HAB911]

16. HA! Racoons, opossums, snakes, weasels, stop yer whining

The non-native reptiles can grow as long as five feet and love eggs, coming to our backyard any day now

https://www.tampabay.com/arts-entertainment/2020/05/21/invasive-tegu-lizards-still-creeping-out-southeast-hillsborough-residents/

[sarcasmo]

20. A new pet, my friend in Ohio has a pet racoon.

[brooklynite]

22. Raccoon update...

Hiding under the stairs to the basement. Animal removal team can't lasso it; have left a baited cage in the stairwell. Now we wait...

[SoonerPride]

23. My mom encountered a mother raccon and her babies one morning at 4am

My parents have 3 cats.

One morning she heard the cats making a ruckus.

She went to see what was up.

The cats were FREAKING THE FUCK OUT because not only was there a raccoon EATING THEIR CAT FOOD but so were 3 baby raccoons (how DARE they!!)

As she turned on the light the mother made a quick dash for the cat door and was gone in a flash, but the babies all tried to go through at the same time and kept getting stuck and bumping each other out of the way. She said it would have made a million dollars on Americas Home Videos if she had filmed it. She said it was like the Keystone Cops.

[grantcart]

31. My cat did the same thing today

Might have been a moth.

Could have been a cat outside

My cat still thinks Its a great lion.

[Doremus]

32. Let him leave. The animal warden will either kill it

or relocate it which will ensure its demise in an unfamiliar/already claimed territory. To say nothing of the fact that it might have babies in a nest somewhere that will also die.

Just give it an egress point and it will take it as fast as it can. I doubt it'll revisit after enduring the scare of its life in your bsmt.

Just saw your update. If the live trap catches it, you can show compassion by taking it outside and letting it out. Of course you'd have to do this before the animal warden comes back, because s/he will take it away and kill it.

[Poiuyt]

33. I caught a raccoon in my attic with a Have-a-heart trap but it broke out

The little sucker was strong! He bent the aluminum rod so he could get out the door.

[WyattKansas]

34. Is it one of the raccoons that stole the garbage truck and was selling trashy back ribs?

Maybe it was the raccoon looking for something horrible tasting, so that he could get his buddies to try it.