I need some suggestions! I have an attic that
Raccoons have totally demolished! I have done
Full attic clean out and replacement for bats and
Flying squirrels before, but this raccoon damage
Is an absolute nightmare! It's piled 2-3 ft high along the
Gable end wall and also piled on all the duct
Work! Heat runs are destroyed and the water
Pipes froze! Almost all the insulation is packed into
The soffits so no airflow to the attic! They have the
Heat set to 70 and it's only around 50 in the cabin
With electric heaters in the bathroom and kitchen!

I need to act fast as this is costing the owner a
Fortune to hear the house! Is there a set of guidelines
To follow to protect against raccoon round worm?

In my opinion, I would outsource to a restoration comany....especially if you need to act fast. Is is not a project to rush.

What kind of insulation?
DO you access to a steamer? To help with the round worm. There is a thread with Steven Vantassel(spelling) giving an outline about raccoon clean outs.

It's mostly batt insulation! Some blown in!
I couldn't find the thread with Steven but I did
Find a set of guidelines to go by written by the
CDC! Does anyone know If anyone rents a steamer
To be used? Or is there any chemical that will actually
Kill round worm eggs If there is any! Also wondering If
It's possible to get the feces tested for the eggs?

Come on Justin, say something intelligent. You know by now that I'm going to say something stupid, like in Northern Wisconsin, at 26 below zero, those roundworm eggs died two years ago. And that the only problems with round worm eggs were that some kids ate them.

From what I read the eggs can withstand
The cold so I was looking up steam cleaners
And I think I'm going to buy one! They are relatively
Cheap and I know I can also use it on other clean
Outs as well!

Kasey,

Here are two pubs, both with info one written by a very good buddy of mine.

My thoughts though would be around not tying yourself to saying you are going in to kill the roundworm, but rather
minimize the risk of spreading it to the rest of the house during your process. I would be far more concerned about
the airflow while it is being removed. This itself presents a big challenge.

I think everyone has good intentions up front, I'll start near the access hole, from there I'll clear as I go with the steam
unit, but in reality how will it go down? I think until someone gets through several of these it would be hard to say how
many issues could be caused on the side.

Contracting diseases and parasites always always comes down to exposure and time. If people have had these raccoons
in their attic for years, the risk is very low till they pop their head up and start stomping around breaking things up. That
is where we come in, right? So when we go in that same attic, I want to be sure I limit any chance of causing the folks
in the dwelling an issue.

To be clear I'm not saying don't use a steamer, sounds good, just saying the real rubber meets the road where air flow
and action start coming together.

Here are the two pubs that come up with a quick google search. The first by Joe Caudell second by my old gang of misfits.

http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/ADM-17.pdf

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwdp/pdf/WMS-09-23.pdf

or a third colorful cartoon from CA folks, none the less has similar info

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Documents/RaccoonRoundworms.pdf

I think it has been mentioned before, but when discussing disease it is worth thinking through how much discussion you have
on the topic with folks. You can't know if they already became infected with something and thus if they don't know yet, then
become clinical after your work is done they can assume and therefore likely sue you for being the one who caused it.

The one most important thing I was taught a long time ago is be very careful when discussing wildlife disease and epidemiology.

The public can run a long way with just a little info. Also you are correct, cold is not a bother for roundworm. Vet clinics and labs
can do fecal tests for roundworm, it isn't a difficult test, you basically take a sample of scat fresh, spin it in a fluid and the eggs rise
to the top and stick to slides you place over it. I would imagine it would work with old scat, fresh is just better as it will spin out easier
than the old nasty stuff. I've done this process with coyote scat, not fun, but hey northern michigan in the winter at -20 or so, sometimes
it was the only thing going.

Good luck!

Justin

Found Stephen's suggested draft protocol with a little digging - here it is -

http://icwdm.org/Publications/pdf/Diseas...atrines2011.pdf

"Cleaning Standards" section 8.0 I believe it was refers to using steam.

See Kasey, now you know why I called for Justin.

I know it does not do much good now. But we had a good section on attic clean out at the WCT seminar a couple of weeks ago. A gentleman from Ohio by the name of Chris Prater was the presenter. Was a lot of good info. I don't have his contact info here right know.

Thanks, Justin.

Thanks for the replies guys! I will be starting
The clean out next week! I'll try taking pics of as
Much as I can! Lots of work to be done, from the cleaning
Of the attic to replacing drywall all the duct work
And the wiring! Lots of ppl in that attic so I want to
Get it as clean as possible!

Here is a related thread, with pictures- http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthrea..._Ra#Post1975481