Raccoon Removal in Roswell, GA

Raccoons in your Roswell home

Raccoons are animals of the stream bank, and Roswell has stream banks everywhere — along Vickery Creek, its feeder branches, and the Chattahoochee floodplain. They forage the shallows and the mud at night, rest in hollow trees and ravine-side cover by day, and treat the neighborhoods above the creeks as part of the same range. Garbage cans, pet food on porches and spilled birdseed only tighten the bond. When a raccoon wants a sheltered den, a house at the top of the bank is the obvious choice.

Getting in is no problem for an animal that strong. A raccoon will peel back a soffit, lift roof edging, bend a vent or climb down an uncapped chimney — the old masonry chimneys of Roswell's historic district are a particular favorite. Most attic raccoons are females raising young, and that's what makes the work exacting: the kits must be found, a rabies-vector species must be handled by the book, and the latrine left behind must be cleaned properly. Here's how a licensed Fulton County pro approaches it.

Rabies-vector status sets the rules

Georgia lists the raccoon as a rabies-vector species, alongside the skunk, fox, bobcat and coyote. Under O.C.G.A. 27-2-10, a captured raccoon can't simply be driven away and turned loose somewhere else — the lawful outcome is removal, not relocation. The restriction exists because moving raccoons spreads disease and the moved animal rarely survives. Handling a rabies-vector animal within the law is a core part of what you're paying a licensed operator for.

Finding the litter first

Raccoon young stay hidden and helpless for weeks, and a mother tucks them deep in insulation, a wall cavity or the smoke shelf of a chimney. Pros often use cameras to locate them, and listen for the chattering young raccoons make. If the mother is removed and her entry closed while the kits are still inside, they die there — leaving an odor, a fly problem and a wall that may have to be opened. The kits are found and removed with her, as a family, before anything is sealed.

Cleaning up the latrine

Raccoons return to the same spot to relieve themselves, and an attic latrine can soak and compact insulation and stain the drywall beneath it. The droppings can carry Baylisascaris roundworm, whose eggs are hardy and dangerous to people. That's why raccoon feces is cleaned out properly — contaminated material removed and the area sanitized — rather than swept aside, and why a raccoon job usually involves more cleanup than a squirrel job.

Why the creek corridor keeps sending them

The banks of Roswell's creeks give raccoons safe travel lanes that run behind house after house, so a property backing onto a wooded drainage sees steady traffic. What turns a passing raccoon into a resident is an easy meal and an easy den: open trash, outdoor pet bowls, a gap under a porch, or a chimney with no cap. Removing the animal is half the job; locking down food sources and closing the openings is what keeps the next one moving along the creek instead of stopping at your house.

Removal, then a seal built for raccoon strength

The job begins with an inspection to find the entry and answer the kit question. The pro removes the whole family — trapping the adult and collecting the young, or letting the mother carry them out through a one-way door when that's possible — and confirms the space is empty. Only then is the opening rebuilt, with heavy metal mesh, solid flashing and a proper chimney cap, because a raccoon that broke in once will test the repair. The latrine and damaged insulation come out last.

Crawlspaces and porches in the historic district

Many of Roswell's older homes sit on crawlspaces with vents and access doors that have loosened over the decades, and raccoons will den underneath as readily as overhead. A raccoon settled under a porch or in a crawlspace can move into the walls or attic later, especially a female preparing to give birth. The pro removes the animal and any young, then screens the vents and secures the access so the space can't be reused.