Since raccoons look like cute, harmless animals, you may be surprised to learn they carry several health risks. Because raccoons often live near humans, they may pose a danger to you and your family. It’s crucial to be aware of these risks, so you can stay safe and know the potential effects of approaching a raccoon.

They’re usually shy animals and will run at the sight of a person. However, on some occasions, such as if they feel cornered or are suffering from a disease, raccoons may attack humans. Here are the various raccoon dangers to be aware of.

Rabies

Rabies is a treatable but potentially fatal disease. It’s a disease that affects the brain, starting with symptoms like fever, discomfort and fatigue, then progressing to cerebral symptoms like anxiety, confusion, hallucinations and insomnia. It’s rare for humans to get rabies, but one of its primary modes of transmission is through raccoons.

Signs a Raccoon Is Rabid

You might assume any raccoons they see during the day could have rabies. Though it is rare for these nocturnal creatures to be out in the daylight, a willingness to do so isn’t necessarily a sign of illness. The animal could be moving to a new home or foraging for food for its family. But you can look for some telltale signs that will tell you if the raccoon is rabid:

• Staggering walk
• Random wandering
• Discharge from eyes or mouth
• High-pitched noises
• Wet, matted hair on face
• Oblivious to noise
• Self-mutilation

These could be red flags of an infected animal. Make sure you keep family and friends away and contact a professional service to help you with the situation. When dealing with potentially diseased animals, it’s better to have a trained, expert team handle the potential dangers.

Property Damage

Raccoons are dangerous in more than one way — aside from carrying disease, they can also destroy and damage property. You may have experienced animals knocking over your trash can and strewing garbage all around, but raccoons can do even more harm than this. If they get inside your home, they could damage walls, woodwork and ceilings. If they chew through wiring, they could also start a fire.

Ensure you’re taking the necessary precautions and protecting your home from these animals.

Roundworm

Raccoons also carry roundworm, a disease causing nausea, fatigue, loss of coordination and muscle control and even blindness and coma. People may become infected when they ingest contaminated water, soil or any other objects with raccoon feces. The parasite eggs will then hatch in the person’s intestines and spread to other organs in the body. The symptom severity will likely reflect how many roundworm eggs the person ingested.

As with rabies, it’s rare for humans to get infected with roundworm from a raccoon, though it’s always wise to be safe and take steps to avoid this disease as much as you can.

Leptospirosis

Raccoons can transmit a bacterial disease called leptospirosis through their urine. Someone who deals directly with the infected urine or soil, water or anything else with urine residue may become infected. Someone infected with leptospirosis may suffer from high fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, jaundice and a wide range of other symptoms. In some cases, the infected person will have no symptoms at all.

Do Raccoons Attack People?

Typically, raccoons don’t act aggressively toward humans. Raccoon attacks are highly unusual and are most likely the result of a diseased animal acting uncharacteristically. However, raccoons can be bold, and if they live in a neighborhood where they’re around people a lot, they may start to feel more comfortable with humans.

Nonetheless, comfortable could mean a raccoon won’t run away from you when it first sees you. A healthy raccoon will still be afraid of you, but may freeze and stare at you. Making loud noises or throwing an object in its general direction should scare it off. If a raccoon feels cornered or threatened, it may attempt to “bluff,” meaning it will huff, grunt and even fake a charge. They most likely aren’t going to attack you — they’re only trying to get you away.

Are raccoons dangerous? When they’re healthy, raccoons don’t usually threaten to attack people. However, rabid raccoons acting out of character may attack someone unprovoked. These animals also carry various diseases, making them dangerous to have around your yard.

Signs You Have a Raccoon Problem

Since raccoons are nocturnal creatures, you may never see them and realize you have a problem. However, you can look for a few warning signs that might tell you they’ve been on your property.

• Tracks: Look for tiny footprints around your yard. If you consistently notice them, you could have a raccoon family living near your home. Woodpiles, scratch marks and droppings at the bases of trees could also signify raccoon activity.
• Noises: Shuffling on the roof of your house accompanied by low growling could be the noises of raccoons.
• Overturned trash: The familiar experience many of us have encountered — an overturned trash can with garbage strewn about — is one of the sure signs of a raccoon invasion. If this keeps happening, you’ll want to contact a professional to handle the problem.

How to Get Rid of Raccoons

With this knowledge about diseases, property damage and the wealth of other issues that accompany these animals, you could start to wonder how to deter raccoons from coming into your yard. Here are some various strategies to use to keep raccoons out.

• Scents: Raccoons have an excellent sense of smell — using pungent smells like onion, hot pepper, garlic or peppermint can deter them.
• Close up entry points: Seal up your home and yard to block any potential entry points for the animals.
• Keep food sealed up: Bring pet food inside when night falls, and secure any garbage inside your trash bin.
• Contact a service: Sometimes, raccoon problems can become unmanageable, and these strategies won’t offer the kind of decisiveness you need. Hiring professionals can get you back on track.

Call Pestech Today for Your Raccoon Problems

Deterring raccoons can be challenging and stressful in your busy life. There’s an easier way to handle the process — Pestech Pest Solutions. Our expert team prioritizes eliminating your pest problem with the highest-quality service, while our 100% satisfaction guarantee gives you peace of mind that we’ll take care of even your most complex pest issues. Contact us today!