Raccoon Removal in Marietta, GA
Does it sound like a dog is walking around in your attic? In Marietta, that's almost always a raccoon — and usually a mother with young somewhere up there. Call us and tell us about the job — we will confirm the local crew for your county before any work starts.
Raccoons in your Marietta home
People who've had one describe it the same way: it sounds like a dog in the attic. Raccoons are heavy, and they don't sneak in — they pull. A raccoon will peel back a soffit panel, lift a roof edge or tear a vent cover loose with its front paws. In Marietta the target depends on the house. Older homes near the Square often have masonry chimneys and aging wood trim; ranches have crawlspaces with foundation vents a raccoon can push in; newer homes have roof returns and soffit corners that pop open with a little force.
The raccoon you hear is most often a female who's chosen your house to raise kits. That's why this isn't a simple trap job. The young have to be found, Georgia law limits what can be done with a raccoon once it's caught, and the droppings it leaves behind are a real health hazard. Here's how a licensed Cobb County pro deals with all three.
Georgia law: removal, not relocation
Georgia classifies the raccoon as a rabies-vector species, along with skunks, foxes, bobcats and coyotes. Under O.C.G.A. 27-2-10, a caught raccoon can't legally be driven across town and let go — the lawful outcome is removal, not relocation. That rule exists to keep rabies from being moved around. It's also why trapping a raccoon yourself leaves you with a problem: once it's in the cage, you can't legally do what most people plan to do with it.
Finding the kits first
Raccoon young are usually born from late winter into spring, and for their first weeks they can't leave the nest. If you hear high-pitched chattering along with the heavy walking, there are kits. Shut the mother out or trap her alone and the kits die in the attic — and a few days later you have a much worse smell problem. Pros often use cameras to find exactly where the litter is, then remove the mother and kits so the whole family is accounted for before anything is sealed.
The latrine they leave behind
Raccoons pick one spot to use as a toilet and go back to it over and over. After a few weeks that corner of the attic has soaked, flattened insulation and stained drywall below it. The droppings can carry Baylisascaris roundworm, whose eggs survive a long time and can make people seriously sick. Cleanup should be done with protective gear and proper disposal — this isn't a job for a shop vacuum and a trash bag.
How raccoons get into Marietta homes
Raccoons go where a house can be pried open. On older in-town homes, that's often an uncapped chimney or a soft corner of the roof. On the ranches, it's frequently low: a foundation vent pushed in to reach the crawlspace, or a loose board at the eave over a carport. On newer homes, it's the soffit returns and roof-to-wall joints left unsealed when the house was built. Open trash cans and pet food left on the porch give them a reason to stick around while they look.
How a pro removes them and closes the house
The pro inspects to find the entry and confirm whether kits are present. The mother and young are removed together, following Georgia's rules for rabies-vector animals. Then the opening is closed with materials a raccoon can't tear back out — heavy-gauge steel and metal flashing, not a piece of plywood — because a raccoon that forced its way in once will test the repair. Finally the latrine and contaminated insulation are cleaned up. A good quote spells out each of those steps instead of one lump price.
Old chimneys near the Square
Marietta's older houses often have tall masonry chimneys, and an uncapped flue looks to a female raccoon a lot like a hollow tree. She may raise her kits on the smoke shelf, right above your fireplace. Don't light a fire to smoke her out — it can kill the kits and fill the house with smoke — and don't reach in. A pro removes the family, then a properly sized chimney cap keeps the next one out. On an older home, that cap is often the single best piece of prevention you can buy.
Common raccoon questions in Marietta
There's a raccoon in my attic in Marietta — what should I do?+
There's a raccoon in my chimney — how is that handled?+
Is it legal to trap and relocate a raccoon in Georgia?+
There are baby raccoons in my attic — what now?+
A raccoon is denning under my deck — can it be removed?+
How much does raccoon removal cost in Marietta?+
Other Marietta problems that come with raccoons
Our wildlife crew handles these closely related problems — the ones that most often turn up with a raccoon issue.
Got more than raccoons in Marietta?
Raccoons are rarely the only thing using an attic or yard in Marietta. See everything we handle locally on the Marietta wildlife removal hub, or jump to Georgia wildlife removal.
Want the background before you call? Read our statewide guide: Raccoon in the attic: babies, rabies law and what happens next.
One call to your Marietta raccoon crew
The longer raccoons stay in the attic, the more they chew and the bigger the cleanup. Call us and tell us about the job — we will confirm the local crew for your county before any work starts.
- Local to Cobb County. Georgia DNR-compliant handling — call to ask about licensing and insurance.
- Humane exclusion. One-way doors and steel sealing, not poison.
- Done right. Removal, exclusion and cleanup.