Got my first official ADC call today. Customer has pics of a coon on roof during daylight hours several times over the past week. Found a couple piles of scat on roof, but did not see any obvious access points. Went into each section of attic and no sign of nest/poop or even disturbed insulation. Walked perimeter and found nothing, customer states they don't hear any noises at night either. I set a single door cage trap next to house and a DP foothold in landscaping in an area that looked like a natural trail back to the possible nest trees. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on whether or not this coon has a nest anywhere on/in the house? Would she be on the roof multiple days in a row 'just looking?' The recent frequent sightings make me think shes gotta have a nest but maybe she is just thoroughly checking everything. Base of chimney looked very well flashed but I did not inspect the very top section. Is there any chance she is nesting in the top of the chimney and not getting into the attic or any part of the house? Any thoughts appreciated!

Check the chimney for a cover. If no cover look down in and give a yell. She will look up at you if she is there. Be armed with some eviction fluid/paste and a trail camera if this is the case. You may also look at the downspouts for muddy paw prints. I have found entry points by finding insulation bits scattered on the roof in a dormer return. And then again, she may be home shopping. I'd stay out of the attic until you're sure.

Chimney, Ridge vent loose, Gable vent screen on either end of house, Soffit/facia loose or missing a panel or two?

How you sure it’s a female? Could be a male
On the prowl for females and the young (they eat them). Others are right, look around for a less than obvious entry point. May be an opening from the chimney leading into the attic. Set traps on the roof to avoid catching non targets.




. Don’t go in attic or any wildlife infested area without a respirator. Just my two cents.

With no obvious entry found, the two spots I'd check first are the chimney and a flexible soffit on a dormer. She's probably being seen within a few feet of her entry.

Not positive its a female. I will inspect chimney in the am to see if there is anything, that's the only spot I didn't get eyeballs on. It's a neighborhood with a decent amount of trees and 'wild' bushy borders so there is plenty of possible spots they could be roaming from, appreciate the thoughts.

Coons climb down spouts very easily. Look for muddy tracks.

Any trees close enough to the roof that it could be climbing, then jumping onto the roof? If it has any of the square, plastic roof vents check those. They can pop those loose, lift them up, climb in, and they will close right behind them. That was the scenario in this picture, the square vent is under the tarp. Also, if you look closely, there is a shingle at the front of the trap with damage. Make sure you cut your plywood/OSB a few inches longer than your trap. Lesson learned.

We dont set traps on a roof to much hassle, to check, remove animals and the potential damage liability. Just find the climb / access route to the house and avoid that hassle. If you have too set the trap in the tree on a platform to potentially avoid all the neighbor hood animals. If you determine the coon is occupying the chimney you can force trap it easily and remove the pups from the cleanout or fireplace smoke shelf.

Good point about the plywood length

How do you calm the clients concerns about potentially catching non target animals?

Wildlife work is not a perfect Science. There are circumstances in which you can and will catch other animals. It is your job as a professional to understand this and explain it very well. If you don't, you may get yourself into a situation that you could have avoided.

You are in charge of the service. There are too many variables and unknowns in this work that have to be considered. Many consumers want some kind of guarantee or try to trick you into saying something you need to think about very well before you answer them.

You you need to explain the program very well up front what can be expected. Don't be afraid of doing this. If you catch animals very near the cookie jar its very likely they are part of the problem and need to go.

Don't be too quick just to take on a job without first doing your part of educating the client before anything gets set up.

That is how I operate all the time.

I would go more than a couple inches bigger. Raccoons can reach almost 6" from the trap. Bigger is good insurance.
Tarp placement in that photo is real close but just enough. Otherwise you will find the entire tarp in the trap , fully shredded.

This forum is so helpful...so I caught the mother on first night in the single door, on the ground at base of home. Her nipples were obviously worn/recently used so I explained to homeowner that we want to make sure its not possibly the chimney, since we checked every other access point off the list. WELL it was the chimney, zero cap, fully open on both sides, coon poop on ledges, couldn't see to the bottom where the chimney got wider so I listened closely and shined my light down there and whistled, sure enough heard a little bark, damnit. So I went to Ace and got the deterrent spray, I know that's not ideal so I also ordered the WCS eviction stuff in case we end up needing a backup plan, I sprayed her down pretty good and released her. She had been sleeping and must be tired from motherhood cuz she was a little stumbly at first, almost like rabies but seemed to be exhaustion, she ran right over to our suspected pine tree, climbed up and went right to the chimney and in. My plan now is to hope she removes the kits tonight, and go back tomorrow to verify and if so install the chimney cap for the customer. If she is still in there tomorrow my plan is to do the tennis ball method with the 'real' eviction lure from WCS. Any thoughts on my plan are very welcome. I think its great advice to over explain this all to the customer, he remarked today that he already knows more about coons than he ever wanted to, but that hes very glad we didn't just kill/remove that coon in the trap and call it quits. Thanks again folks!

I would have checked to see if kits were accessible from fireplace or clean out door before letting her go. But, since you caught her on the ground, it would have been 50/50 on putting your hands into the chimney. I disagree with Bob in that respect. I like to target the offending animal(s), and avoid non targets (even of the same species). A trap positive set on the chimney would have confirmed it was the right coon.

A former competitor did as you did, set on the ground, caught lactating sow, reached into fireplace to grab the kits and was met by an angry sow. Even though he caught a raccoon, it was not THE raccoon he was after. And when you have to weed through a bunch of skunks and opossums before catching your attic/chimney coon, you're not being efficient, and costing your client unnecessary funds. Just food for thought.

At least you had the option of releasing her, hopefully she does the rest and moves them. You're learning, and it won't be the last time you get educated by a raccoon.

Another option I have used in a similar case is to keep the mom in the cage and set cages around her. Depending on the kits age, they may emerge themselves and come looking for their mom. Mom will also be communicating with them. This is the challenge with taking the mom.

We have 3 styles of chimney trap, including boxes for 220s. Choose the best one for the job. You learn which one to use through experience… screwing up when you’re first starting out.

We were hired to finish a job another company started. We looked on the roof and there were a number of footholds up there. I’m not sure how the guy planned to deal with the raccoon if it happened to step into one of the footholds, then tore up the roof.