Health Risks of Raccoons Living in Attics
- on 01.22.12
- Field Notes
- 1 Comment
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
Health Risks of Raccoons Living in Attics
So, you’ve decided an attic restoration is in order, because you own an older home, you’ve recently purchased one that needs a bit of work or the attic has simply been neglected. Suddenly, while you’re in the attic, you come face to face with a set of glowing eyes and low hisses that signal your hasty retreat. A raccoon, or even worse, several of the critters, have taken up uninvited residence in your attic. This isn’t simply a scary encounter with nature, it can be downright hazardous to you and your family’s health.
A raccoon is notorious for making itself right at home in your attic. This typically means they need to make a bed for themselves as well as their often impending offspring. Destruction, in the form of a raccoon tearing apart insulation, wood, wires and anything else it can get its paws on, can be extensive, especially if it occurs over a period of weeks, months or years. Because the raccoon urinates and defecates pretty much anywhere, your attic becomes filled with fecies and urine that can make your family ill.
The first step to get rid of the offending materials is to document the attic in its current condition. This can be done on your own, with a digital camera, or with the help of an insurance claims specialist. In addition, you will likely need to find a professional who can remove the animal and seal off areas where they can come back into your home. Your home insurance company will determine the amount of compensation they will provide for your attic restoration. Once you’re armed with the compensation and your attic has been cleared of damaged materials and the raccoon, you’re ready for attic restoration.
Insurance will typically cover damage caused by a raccoon, including any destruction caused by their fecies. This is because unlike rats, the raccoon isn’t a rodent and insurance companies understand that infiltration isn’t akin to infestation. A competent attic restoration professional will work with you to make sure every potential health hazard left behind by the animal is removed, including fecies. Attic restoration doesn’t have to be a hassle. In fact, insurance can make sure that your attic restoration is easy and effective. Dealing with offending things like animal fecies isn’t just disgusting, it can be downright hazardous. Attic restoration professionals will remove everything safely and dispose of the fecies and urine-soaked insulation and wood properly.

In neighborhoods where coyotes are prowling, experts suggest people keep their pets indoors, lock up their trash and outdoor pet food and, most of all, don’t feed the wild visitors.
When people think of bats, they usually imagine them in caves. But attics and other dark places can offer an appealing home for bats. If you have an infestation, they might even move into the walls. A family found hundreds of bats living in the walls of their Houston, Texas house over the summer. And unless you have an infestation like that, you might not even know you have bats in your home.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dry weather like what has hit northeast Florida over the past few weeks is known to bring Florida’s wildlife out, especially reptiles.
We’ve been getting a lot of Raccoon removal jobs lately, as well as attic restoration work. Thats where we have to go in and vacuum out all the contaminated insulation from the attic of a home, scrub down every surface with anti-bacterial enzymes, and then replace the attic insulation with all new. Why is this necessary?