Mother raccoons are extremely caring. They rarely even allow their young to leave unless they are fully capable of defending and feeding themselves. This can take months and when a mother raccoon dies before the children are ready they must be taken by the humane society to a raccoon sanctuary where they will be raised partially by humans and partially by other raccoons. Raccoon babies are born through a very long baby season starting as early as February and lasting well into late spring and can even stretch to early summer as late births occur. This can be a serious problem for people who live in highly active areas like near ravines or wildlife reserves. They are likely to break into your attic or live in, or under your shed or deck. Any access point large enough for them to enter can be made with their teeth and semi-apposable paws. They can manipulate objects like a human, ripping off a roof vent or tearing off a piece of a soffit. They can bend back the aluminum siding on your roof-wall intersections and break through the thin layer of plywood to enter with ease. The whole roof in their access point from the soffit to the ridge vents. They can simply break a hole clean through your roof if they are that desperate but they usually look for easier access points.
Why do they break into attics instead of finding a natural place to hide like in an old log or hollow tree? They do. The raccoons you are seeing are just a tiny percentage of the actual population of raccoons around you. If you saw a raccoon at your party a few months and swear it’s the same one tonight then you may be wrong. Raccoons look very similar and tend to act similarly as well. They are not afraid of humans so they are all open to interaction which can make the situation even more dangerous. If you have a raccoon on your property and you think it may have babies then you need to call a professional. Unless you have an exceptional level of experience working on rooves and have the materials to get the raccoon out humanely then definitely give it a try. Otherwise, call a professional wildlife company and they will offer you a great warranty on the removal so the next time a raccoon gets into your attic the company will be ready and waiting. Don’t wait for the raccoon to leave on its own. As described, raccoon babies take multiple months to grow to a point where they can actually stand and walk around, then months more of training and feeding till they can leave the nest. This process can take six months or more and if the raccoon likes your attic she may just stay there permanently.