Raccoons are nocturnal and carnivores, they are related to the feline and have the ability to eat almost anything including long-dead cadavers. This makes the raccoon an excellent night stalker and allows them to eat just about anything. In the daytime they tend to sleep in their dens, females during the baby season will often find a safer den than males but males will also enter your attic, deck or shed. Females are more scared of males, they will mate with them and then violently chase them out. The reason for this is raccoon males are intent on killing the offspring of other males to increase the survivability of their offspring. This means giving them more access to food, water and greater access to a domain of their own. This is called behaviour and every species shows distinct automatic behaviours. Having a raccoon on your property during the day can mean a few things. The raccoon may be starving and desperate for food. Or it could be suffering from the rabies simplex virus. In this case, the raccoon will be acting strangely, falling over and wandering in circles or zigzags. It will be making loud screeching and babbling noises. If you see a raccoon like this on your property then you will need to stay far away from it. Call the humane society to come and remove it, they will take it to a vet and have put down humanely.
If you find you have a great deal of wildlife on your property with raccoons showing up daily there may be a reason for it. You may have access to food, water and even shelter on your property. For instance, a birdbath or a leaky hose is very useful to raccoons as they drink a large amount of water a day, not just by drinking it directly but by wetting their food in it. This process, like an eating contestant who dips the food in water first, helps with eating the food faster and aids in digestion. If you are planning on trying to trap a raccoon on your property place food in the cage along with a bowl of water to dip it in. Raccoons prefer aquatic food like fish and shellfish. While they are furry mammals raccoons are great swimmers but will not enter the water so deep they cannot see the bottom. Getting raccoons off your property is not possible, they will keep coming to inspect your property for food and water. However, if they find nothing they may not return and will likely leave promptly. Doing this can prevent animals from nesting in your attic as your property will lack what they need.