Hi friends,

I have a customer with a ringtail in their attic. I have confirmed the presence with cameras. Two things are currently frustrating me, and I could use any help y'all are willing to provide:

1) No obvious entry/exit point. He clearly isn't living up there full time, so he doesn't leave enough sign and "clues" to trace back to where he is getting in. I would imagine they need at least a roughly fox squirrel sized opening to get through, but so far the eaves, overhangs, and ductwork all seem good.

2) He turned his nose up at my bait. 1-door havahart-style trap. started with mackerel and marshmallow. Got him on camera sniffing it out and moving on. Changed to strawberry jam hoping that gets his attention. Also laid some rags down on the floor of the trap in case these critters are prissy about their feet. Any advice?

I'm not familiar with the critter, we don't have them in the northeast. But, like any animal, there's an entry somewhere, keep looking. Can they climb? Look from ground to roof line. If not, look under steps, deck, etc. Could it have come in through an open garage door, then climbed up to an opening to attic? Sometimes with squirrels or raccoons the opening is not visible, but a secondary entrance from within. I've had both come down a chimney and go through missing bricks into the attic too. Find the entry and it will be much easier to catch.

Thanks Brian. I'll definitely keep looking and try to think unconventional. Ringtails are definitely adept climbers and jumpers. These condos are brick from foundation to to roofline, so it pretty much has to be something on the roof, I'm thinking. Might just have to tromp around the roof checking dryer vent caps! 😂

Check the ridge vent ends and any gutter areas also.

Gable vents? Dormer soffits? Dome vents on roof?

Ridge vents looked good from the ground, but it might be worth using a zoom lens or getting up there to take a look.



Dome vents all look good as well. No gable vents or dormers thankfully. You can see why I'm so befuddled!

I would take a look at the ground level areas very closely. If you can post some close up photos of the structure from all four sides and post them for us. Maybe we can see something of interest for you to look at more closely.

You may need to get on the roof and do a closer inspection. At times you need an extendable extension mirror. It is very difficult to assess a problem with climbers from the ground. Do you have a ladder or maybe you don't like heights?

Any trees close to or touching the structure?

Welsh's grape jelly in your cage trap and 220s gang set and find that opening and that is no BS