Eric:  Hi Vic how are you doing?

Vic: Fine. Thank you  How are you?

Eric: Good, good wanted to take a moment and talk to you about some of the services that you offer at all city animal trapping.  One of them being raccoon trapping and removal.  A couple of questions that keep coming up that I wanted to kind of have you answer.  One thing is how do you deter a raccoon from even coming into your backyard?  Is there a way?

Vic: That’s a little tougher now, if they’re using a tree or something like that.  To climb up to gain access, obviously you can cut the tree.  But as far as the deterrent that we might’ve seen or used and that’s effective and works well and pretty long.  I mean, we haven’t really seen anything in years that that would do something like that.  Unfortunately, usually it’s a good old fashioned animal trapping and removal.

Eric: Okay. So let’s say the raccoon gets in my backyard and I decide, you know what, I’m just going to leave it there. It’ll figure itself out. What do you think of that advice?

Vic: I mean, it’s, it’s not terrible advice, but you just gotta think about there’s a lot of possibilities.  So it might move on on its own.  Eventually it will. The only problem with that is you don’t know if it’s going to be a few days, a few weeks or a few months.  Sometimes they don’t really like it there and they might move on right away. Most of the time they kind of make a home for themselves and they’re pretty bold.   The people that have issues with raccoons in their yard, they’ve already experienced some type of damage is why they’re calling us.

So a lot of times they hang out and then they roll back sod or dig up your flower potslooking for grubs or worms to eat. Sometimes you let them stay long enough and they’ll find a way into your attic or crawlspace. And find a place to have a litter or something like that.

Eric: So it’s better in some cases to just deal with it, as opposed to assuming that they’re just going to mosey on down the road.

Vic: Yeah. I mean, it can be, you could play it by ear too, give it a night or so. And if they haven’t left, then you gotta do something about it because it’s probably going to get worse in some way or another.

Eric: Gotcha. Can, can I catch anything from the raccoon?  Any kind of disease or anything?

I mean, it’s possible. There hasn’t been a report of rabies in a long time, but their droppings can be pretty lethal to other animals because of the parasites that they have in them. So even when we deal with it, our guys have a respirators on gloves, protective gear and all that stuff.  A lot of people want like some kind of sensitization or disinfecting treatment done.  When that stuff happens because of that so at the end of the day, it’s a wild animal with claws and teeth. So they’re gonna stand their ground. They’re gonna protect their litters. And they’re pretty bold, they think that you’re in their yard.

Eric: I was going to ask you that also, are they dangerous? Like, cause if they’re backed in a corner, are they gonna just run away or are they the type to, you’re saying they stand their ground?

Vic: They will have, they have to, just have that instinct, you know, they’re wild animals.  So. If you’re mess with their litter, they might come after you, you know? So you just gotta be ready for anything because at the end of the day, anything’s possible when you’re dealing with a wild animal.

Eric:  Of course. And do you know what they’re attracted to?  Cause I’ve seen them going after trash, inside of trash bins outside and uh, or some kind of food.

Yeah. Um, so they they’re omnivores. They pretty much eat anything.  That’s basically what they’re doing at night. They’re nocturnal, they sleep during the day and at night they’re looking for shelter, food, or both.  They might get lucky and find both in your house they’re on your property somewhere.  So you just always got to keep that in mind. You also have to remember, they have nothing else to do. You know, they’re not busy typing up reports or something, you know what I mean? They’re looking for food and they’re looking for a place to sleep during the day. They might get lucky and find it at your house.

Eric: Okay.  So if someone had an issue with this, they would call you or go to go to your website. Can you give us your contact info?

Vic: Yeah, absolutely.   It’s www.allcityanimaltrapping.com.  We have a few different numbers listed depending on your area, but our eight, seven, seven number is pretty good 877-724-5314. And there’s a few too, also on Yelp, Instagram, Facebook or everywhere.

Eric: Okay. But all your information is on your website there. So allcityanimaltrapping.com.  And if someone calls with questions, there will be an operator to answer any and all calls?

Vic: Yep every day from 7:30 in the morning until 10 at night.

Eric: All right. Sounds good. Thank you for your time.

Vic: You’re welcome. Thank you.

Eric: Thank you.