Raccoon Removal in Dallas, TX

How We Get Raccoons Out, Step by Step

1. 1

   Call and tell us what you hear

   We ask what you have heard or seen, and where: thumping over a bedroom at night, a torn soffit, droppings on the roof. We also ask about children and pets.

2. 2

   Find the hole, the den and the latrine

   The technician checks the roof, the soffits, the vents and the chimney, then goes up into the attic. Under an older pier-and-beam house, the crawl space gets checked too.

3. 3

   Look at what we found

   We show you the hole and the den, then give you the price. Nothing starts before your yes.

4. 4

   Get it out, then close it up

   A cage trap goes up, or on some houses a one-way door goes over the hole, and any young come out with their mother. Then the openings are closed.

5. 5

   Keep the written record

   Your write-up also names what brings raccoons to the yard, such as pet food left out overnight or fruit from a backyard tree.

Call (972) 573-9907 to book the inspection. We pick up at night too, when raccoons do most of their feeding.

Why Raccoons Move Into DFW Attics

An attic gives a raccoon a den, and the yards nearby supply the food. In town, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension says, raccoons den in attics, chimneys, woodpiles and under houses, and they eat pet food, fruit, garden vegetables and garbage.

They are common in towns but often go unnoticed, since most of their feeding happens at night. The City of Coppell calls a raccoon sighting not uncommon and no reason for alarm.

Late winter and spring bring the mothers. A female has one litter a year, three to five young, usually born in February or March. She looks for a safe den to raise them, and an attic, a chimney or a wall void fits.

Raccoons do not hibernate either. Coppell notes that they stay in their dens through the winter.

A raccoon climbs a tree, a downspout or the siding to reach the roof. It gets in through the shingles, a loose soffit, the eaves, a vent or a roof return.

Most houses in Dallas⁠–⁠Fort Worth sit on a concrete slab. An older pier-and-beam house adds a crawl space, one more place for a raccoon to move in.

Removing the Raccoon, Then Closing the Way In

DFW Pest Guard removes raccoons in two stages. Live trapping or a one-way door gets them out, and exclusion, which means closing every opening they used, keeps them out. Our raccoon pest control does not rely on repellents.

The cage trap goes where the raccoon will find it: on the roof, at the hole or along the path it travels. It is baited with fruit, marshmallow or pet food.

On some houses, a one-way door covers the hole instead. The raccoon can leave through it but cannot get back in.

If the raccoon has young, called kits, the mother is trapped and the technician lifts the kits out by hand, so none is left behind in the attic.

Nothing is closed until every raccoon is out. Because raccoons tear through chicken wire, spray foam and light aluminum screen, the closing is done in galvanized steel, held with exterior-grade fasteners:

• Soffits, eaves and roof returns. Galvanized steel flashing or hardware cloth goes over the opening.
• Attic and foundation vents. Texas A&M advises screening them, and the screen is galvanized hardware cloth.
• The chimney. A cap goes on top.

Then comes the cleanup. The droppings are removed from the latrine, and insulation the raccoons soiled is replaced.

Signs of a Raccoon in the Attic

Listen overhead and look along the roofline for these:

• Heavy steps or thumps over the ceiling at night, too loud for a mouse.
• High-pitched chirping from the attic, a wall or the chimney in late winter or spring. That is young raccoons.
• A soffit hanging loose, shingles pulled up at the roof edge, or a bent vent cover.
• Droppings piled in one spot in the attic, on the roof or on a deck. That spot is a latrine.
• Trash bin lids pried or knocked off overnight.

Light, quick scratching overhead can be roof rats instead, and our rat control covers them.

Leave the droppings and the den alone, and leave the hole open so no raccoon is shut inside. Then call (972) 573-9907 at whatever hour you hear it.

Raccoon Control Across Dallas⁠–⁠Fort Worth

We do raccoon control across Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and Denton counties: Dallas, Fort Worth and the suburbs between them. A raccoon in a McKinney attic comes out the same way as one in Arlington.

We work on homes only, meaning houses, townhomes and apartments people live in. Every town we cover is listed on the service areas page. For raccoon removal in Dallas or any of those towns, call (972) 573-9907.

Questions About Raccoons