Exploding raccoon population keeps pest control busy

A pest control expert in Thunder Bay says he's getting lots of calls for help from people dealing with raccoons.

Bob Hoffman, who owns and operates Natural Pest Control in the city, said he started getting calls about the animals a couple of weeks ago. He even had few calls over the winter.

"The last two years the population’s kind of exploded," he said. "They're everywhere from Westfort to Current River now."

The ring-tailed animals get up into the eaves of a house, or into garages, where they live throughout the winter — and make a big mess.

"They're destructive little critters," he said. "And you have to watch because they're one of the animals that is known to carry, or they could carry, rabies" 

'Very aggressive'

Hoffman said a good solution is to trap raccoons and release them — but he doesn’t recommend people doing it themselves.

"If it's a skunk it's a different story," he said. "All you're going to do is probably get sprayed. But a raccoon — even the smallest of them are really vicious. I caught several families last year. The babies … look nice and cute and cuddly, but they're very aggressive."

One mistake Hoffman's observed is seeing people feed raccoons. Houses are getting closer and closer to raccoon environments, so humans are encroaching on raccoon territory, he noted, adding it’s important to make sure that garbage cans are sealed and stored somewhere the raccoons can’t access them.

He also said trimming back trees located close to houses will help. Keeping tree limbs lower than a house’s roof will prevent the raccoons from easily climbing into eaves and garages.