Raccoon removal

Heavy footsteps overhead at dusk, a torn soffit corner, chittering that sounds unnervingly like conversation. Between roughly March and June the raccoon in your attic is almost certainly a female with kits, and that single fact shapes everything about how the job should be done.

Start with the young. A trap-and-remove that takes the mother and leaves three kits sealed in your insulation gives you a far worse problem than the one you called about, and it is inhumane. Ontario's guidance is to time removal for when young have left the den or nest, to avoid separating a mother from her young, and notes that after eight to ten weeks the female and young will leave and not return (Ontario, preventing and managing conflicts with small animals). Where waiting is impossible, the professional approach is to locate the kits by hand, remove them to a heated den box mounted outside near the entry, and let the mother relocate them herself overnight.

Step one: a full inspection. Attic, roof, soffits, vents, chimney, deck, shed and the ground around the foundation. A raccoon needs a hole about the size of a grapefruit and is strong enough to make one. The inspector is looking for the active entry, the secondary entries, latrine areas, damaged insulation, chewed wiring and evidence of how many animals there are.

Step two: the one-way door. A heavy steel one-way door is mounted over the confirmed entry. The raccoon pushes out and cannot get back in. Every other opening is sealed first, or she simply uses another one. Leaving the door on for several days confirms nobody is still inside.

Step three: the kits, handled separately. Where young are present, they are removed by hand before or alongside the door and placed in a den box. The mother moves them to one of her alternate dens, which she always has. This takes a night or two and it is the difference between a solved problem and a dead animal in a wall cavity.

Step four: closing it properly. The entry is repaired with material a raccoon cannot defeat: galvanized steel mesh or sheet, screwed rather than stapled, backed into sound wood. Vulnerable points, roof vents, plumbing stacks, soffit returns, roof-wall intersections, get screened at the same time.

Step five: clean-up. Latrines are removed, contaminated insulation taken out where it is soiled or compressed, and affected areas cleaned and treated. Raccoon latrines can carry roundworm, so this is work for someone with proper protective equipment rather than a weekend in a dust mask.

How long it takes. Inspection is an hour. The one-way door stays on three to seven days. Repairs and exclusion are usually a day. Where kits are involved, add a night or two for the mother to move them. Attic restoration, if insulation has to be removed and replaced, is a separate job of one to three days.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative ranges, matching this site's price guide. An inspection is commonly $100 to $250 and is often credited to the job. Raccoon removal with a one-way door and screening generally runs $400 to $1,000. Chimney capping or vent screening is about $150 to $400 per opening, so a house needing several adds up. Hand removal of kits typically adds a few hundred. Attic clean-up and re-insulation is quoted separately after the inspection and often runs $1,500 to $5,000. What moves the price: roof height and pitch, how many entry points, whether a lift or scaffold is needed, and season, since spring is the busiest time of year.

What the law says. Under Ontario's wildlife rules a property owner, or an agent acting for them, may capture wildlife that is damaging property, subject to conditions. Live-captured wildlife must be released within 1 kilometre of where it was captured and within 24 hours (Ontario, harass, capture or kill a wild animal damaging private property). That 1 km rule is the reason relocating a raccoon to the countryside is not a lawful option, and it is why exclusion rather than trapping is the professional standard. A company promising to take your raccoon far away is describing something the rules do not permit.

What makes an Ottawa house different. Rabies is the one to understand properly. Ontario eliminated raccoon variant rabies from southern Ontario in 2023, and eastern Ontario is identified as high risk for reintroduction from neighbouring jurisdictions, which is why control and baiting operations continue in the region (Ontario, wildlife rabies surveillance and control). Never handle a raccoon, and contact Ottawa Public Health and your doctor or veterinarian after any direct contact with one. On the building side, Ottawa's 1960s to 1980s suburbs, much of Nepean, Alta Vista and early Orleans, have aluminium soffit and low roof pitches that raccoons exploit easily, while mature tree canopy in Westboro, the Glebe and Manor Park gives them a route onto roofs that newer subdivisions do not. Winter dens matter too: a raccoon that gets into an attic in November may stay until spring.

What to ask before you hire. Is it the right season, and how will you check for young. If there are kits, how do you handle them. Do you use one-way doors or traps, and if traps, where will the animal be released given the 1 km rule. What are you sealing the entry with, and is it screwed steel. Do you screen the other vulnerable points. What is the warranty on the repair and how long. Is clean-up included or quoted separately. Get the warranty in writing.