Are Raccoons Dangerous?
There are a lot of wildlife pests in Ontario, everything from squirrels, snakes, and rats. However, the cuteness of a wild animal is often not an indication of its aggression. Raccoons are a great example. They are curious, fluffy animals with wide-eyed stares that often leave unsuspecting people thinking they are harmless.
However, these cute little fluffy rodents will cause havoc in your yard. They will tip over your dumpster revealing all its contents on your front lawn in the morning. They will cause significant damage worth thousands of dollars if left to live in the property. They will spread ticks, fleas and other parasites to your yard and pets. They will leave their urine and droppings as they explore your property for free, and under the right circumstances, they will not hesitate to attack.
Yes! This cute little fluffball will bite you so bad you could get infected by rabies. Their cute nature is often a catalyst for their attack. They resemble an exotic pet, and will even behave like one. If you feed them, they will come right close to you and take the food out of your fingertips, without causing any harm. However, it is not a wise idea to be feeding raccoons.
Here are five reasons why you need to steer clear of raccoons
Raccoons like any other wild animal, are unpredictable, it will attack when you least expect it.
Raccoons are formidable animals. They have sharp claws and teeth, they are also incredibly strong and if provoked, could inflict significant harm to humans. There are several accounts of children as well as adults being disfigured by raccoons. Your pets aren’t safe either, they have been reported to inflict wounds to cats and dogs especially at night.
Raccoons spend a lot of time foraging through trash; their fur will get in contact with harmful bacteria. It is, therefore, advisable not to touch these fluffy creatures.
Just like bats, raccoons are linked to cases of rabies bites. It will only take a single bite to get you infected. It’s important to note that rabies makes these creatures more likely to come up to humans than stay away.
You should never tolerate raccoons in your yard or property. They bring too many problems with them. When you first spot a raccoon call a wildlife removal service immediately. The moment they start feeling at home in your property is the moment all your problems will begin.
Raccoon Attack
There are a lot of people who haven’t dealt with a raccoon in or around their homes, and they often feel raccoons are cute and harmless creatures. However, those who have run-ins with raccoons have a different story to tell. Raccoons are very weird creatures; they can adapt to their diet and live on foraging and scavenging for meals. They are a species that will come into contact with humans from time to time. They will adapt to this new lifestyle after they discover they can live off scavenging and stealing your pet food. This often creates conflicts between humans and raccoons, which is likely to cause them to attack.
It’s also important to note, while raccoons are larger than most pest animals, they are not at the top of their food chain. They are killed and eaten by some different predators. This means, when they meet larger species such as humans, their first instinct is to flee. However, over time they have learned to overcome this fear since they are fed by people in parks. When a raccoon encounters a person, its instinct is to look for an escape route.
In case the raccoon is unable to identify an escape route, in panic, they may be forced to attack in fear for their safety. Raccoons are prone to attack children or people approaching since they view them as a threat. In most cases, where people get bruised, attacked or bitten by raccoons, its normally a situation where a person approached a raccoon rather than a raccoon actively seeking a confrontation.
Raccoon bites are known to cause rabies, and it is for this and many other reasons that you need to steer clear of these animals. There is a difference between a raccoon that is infected with rabies and one that has not. Rabies causes alarming changes in the brain of an infected animal. A well-known fact is, rabies will cause frothing at the mouth, it is also known to cause unusual aggression. With that in mind, a raccoon with rabies may attack people without warning or confrontation. If this happens, it is important that the victim quickly seeks medical attention to tackle the possibility of an infection.
Raccoons are aggressive wild animals; it’s important to steer clear of their paths. It’s also important that you call a wildlife removal service the moment you spot them in your yard. They are unpredictable animals and will bite children as well as adults at the slightest provocation.
The danger of raccoons is real, and it isn’t just limited to the nuisance these furry creatures cause either. From serious diseases to the possibility of grievous injuries, raccoons are capable of all this a lot more, making them quite the dangerous creatures indeed, even though their cute furry faces may tell you otherwise. Firstly, if you ever happen to confront a raccoon, their ability to scratch and bite you should never be undermined. In some cases, raccoons have gone up against dogs and even killed them. Therefore, never underestimate the fighting abilities of a raccoon.
Then, there’s the danger of contracting rabies through a raccoon bite. If a raccoon is infected with rabies, there is a chance that this rabies virus may be present in the saliva of the infected animal, thus making you susceptible to contracting the deadly disease too.
In fact, in the Toronto area, the raccoon is known to be the animal with the highest incidence of rabies.
Raccoon roundworm is another threat when dealing with raccoons on your property. The feces of a raccoon carrying the Baylisascaris roundworm may have the eggs of this virus, and if this enters the soil or the water, it isn’t very hard to see these eggs entering the mouths of humans either. After all, we often have our children playing out in the open.
This roundworm infection could prove to be quite dangerous, in some cases leading to blindness and even coma.
Yet another disease that humans and pets can contract from raccoons is Leptospirosis. Spread through the urine of animals like raccoons and rats, an infection caused by the Leptospira bacteria can even damage the liver and the kidney in some cases.
For these reasons and more, the danger of raccoons is indeed real, so call in wildlife removal experts today. Call: 647-557-7932
The Danger of Raccoon Feces
You may know what raccoons look like, as well as the damages they can bring to your property, but can you identify their poop when you see one? Annoyingly, the poop may even be on your deck, and coming in direct contact with these droppings or inhaling their particles can be very dangerous to your health.
So if raccoons frequently come to your deck, you need to find the poop and get a professional to safely remove them, clean the deck, and disinfect it.
If you need raccoon poop removal from your deck? Get a free quote now!
GET A PROFESSIONAL DECONTAMINATION SERVICE
It is always advisable to engage the services of a wildlife removal company because finding raccoon poop on your deck is a sign that raccoons are living around your home. You are better off getting an expert involved so that the raccoons can be trapped and removed and your home proofed.
Article Updated: June 26, 2018