HUGE raccoon living in hollow of my tree

18 years ago

HI, here I am again, was just in Kitchen and then Plumbing, now have a new issue-living in an old house in the woods is fun....

Ok, so i live in Chicago, but on the NW side near a forest preserve so the trees are HUGE and plentiful, some are in the middle of the street in my neighborhood, yes, i know that does not sound like chicago but it is, the neighborhood is called Edgebrook.--all neighborhoods of chicago have a name.

one of my many trees, my huge oak tree in front of my house--literally 2 steps from my front door -- the squirrelys jump from my tree to my house--just to give you an idea how close it is. we think the tree is 80-100 years old,

well one of the large branches that extends out over the front yard has a hole in it--the hole is on the top of the branch so i cannot visually see it but those guys that came to trim the tree has seen it and i have seen enough critters enter/exit the hole that i am sure it is quite large.

i have had a raccoon live in it, i used to see her. then i had squirrel family live in it. was cute to see baby squirrels practice climbing the tree. well, now a raccoon is back and it is the largest raccoon i have ever seen, must be at least 35 lbs. i am concerned about 3 things--maybe there is something else i should be concerned about but have not even thought of yet.

ok, so

1--could this hole be getting so big that it is rotting out the tree and the limb will fall?

2--how dangerous is it to have a raccoon live so close? it climbs up and down and, like last night when i came home, i was walking by the tree and--yikes-right there was the raccoon making its treck home.

3--could this cause any diseases of the tree or neighboring trees?

i love nature and do not like to do anything to keep it from being just that, nature, but after the dead animal under my front concrete slab porch that is still decaying--smell is not as bad as it was a few weeks ago--i am starting to think i might be going overboard.

i hope you can help me out here.

tuesday_tues

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

suzq_07
18 years ago
1. It could be rotting. Does the limb still have leaves and produce acorns? The only way to truly tell is to have someone go up there and assess the condition of it.

2. The raccoon is not dangerous at all to you. She wants nothing to do with you. As long as you don't bother her, she won't bother you. She seems to be happy in the tree so I wouldn't worry about her taking up residence anywhere in your attic.

3. I don't think your tree poses a threat to any of the other trees. It's just a very old tree.
deewah
18 years ago
It would be smart for you to kill the raccoon (If that is legal.) Raccoons spread disease & will attack small children & animals if they feel threatened. You also need to get rid of that limb ASAP! Trust me on this one, my friends house was destroyed by a fallen limb a few years back. Please take my advice, it would be sad if a few years from now you are saying "I should have ....... "
Related Discussions
Has my huge tree become dangerously weak? (pics)
Q
Comments (22)
What a beautiful gnarly old tree. But I can easily see why you're worried. One other thing to consider is the fact that when a tree starts to decline the roots might be weakening too. How many times have we seen entire trees, roots and all, fallen over in a storm? That happens all the time at our place in the PA. mountains. I'm always worried I'll find some huge hemlock on top of my house. Apple wood makes great firewood and burns beautifully. So if you do have to remove it you might be able to negotiate a reasonable price. We just had 2 huge white pines and a Bradford pear removed from our home. The pear had a partially hollow crotch so every few years we had the tree cut back to remove any excess weight. We even considered cabling the tree but the arborist said it was hollow nearly down to the core. So we opted to have it removed. We paid $2100 which wasn't bad. They couldn't drop the trees so that meant having a climber go up and cut off individual branches. They used a pulley system so the the branches could be controlled while they lowered them to the ground. That price included grinding out the stumps too and hauling it all away. Maybe an arborist could take some cuttings and you could try to grow a new tree or perhaps even graft it. Or maybe you could keep a nice slice and make a table top out of it. Does your son think he could take it down or is it leaning too much toward the house?
...See More
Update on my hollow apple tree
Q
Comments (7)
I hate the look of the trees after the power company comes through and trims them, but I understand why they have to do it. It's sad when an old tree has to come down. My DH is cutting down a neighbors dead tree tomorrow. Lydia (tree hugger)
...See More
Ahhh! The tree trimmers took more of my huge pecan than I expected
Q
Comments (6)
It did get quite a thinning. A difference in understanding the meaning of the word 'suckers', I think. The men were supposed to remove and trim three large branches that were either menacing the neighbor's roof, or the tree itself, or were too low over the street and falling afoul of fire engine clearance codes. They did this, beautifully. They asked about removing suckers, and pointed to three branchlets that were sprouting up through the center of the tree at bad angles from the previous year's fruiting branches. I said yes, please remove them, because those branchlets were crossing the main branches of the tree and and rubbing against them. They removed those branchlets, but then they also took off every fruiting branch as well. In their minds, fruiting branches equaled suckers, and in my mind fruiting branches equaled NOT suckers. Lesson learned-- supervise every cut a tree trimmer makes.
...See More
Raccoon Poop in Lemon Tree Planter
Q
Comments (10)
No offense intended, Rina... I tend to think from a rural perspective because I live very rurally... but It should go without saying that using one's bare hands to deal with animal - or any - feces is not a good idea. I wouldn't even clean a litter box without gloves, myself. Disease and parasites are a very normal part of animals, and pets, that have access to the outdoors. We don't really think about it often, but it's the reason we vaccinate our pets, and it's the reason I never take my dogs to "dog parks".... there's way too much chance of picking up something unintentionally that could end badly... even if my adult dog were just the "carrier". Live trapping might not be an option in that particular area, because it is an expensive endeavor to have someone else do it, and trying to obtain permits to do it yourself can be quite costly. If I lived in an urban area, I'd not use anything that could potentially harm other animals or plants. What I might do is use the urine of the raccoon's natural enemy, a predator that it would fear, to keep it at bay. If they keep returning, it can be deduced that they are rooming somewhere nearby... and the yard in question is part of the territory they cover in their travels. They've chosen to mark it as theirs. Coyote or fox (natural enemies of the raccoon) urine can be purchased quite inexpensively online from any Trapping Supply company, and it frequently shows up on eBay as a trapping item, link below. A little bit will go a long way in marking the territory as a coyote or fox might do. It's not harmful to plants or animals; it is intended as a scare tactic, and it does work. The amount in the link will last for years. There's enough to even share with others who have the same problem. It will also keep feral or wandering cats out of your gardens. Again, one might want to wear gloves when working with anything of this nature, but it's not harmful. The choice of what to do is yours, of course... but there's always more than one way to handle a problem... and personally, I'd be a little more worried about leaving saucers of chemicals where other pets or children could gain access. My husband has spent the better part of his life trapping, and this is how he would handle the problem... if we lived in an urban or suburban setting, and not so far out in the boonies as we do. He uses all manner of products like this in trapping. Direct link to the product.
...See More
kentuck_8b
18 years ago
A lady in a nearby small town had several wild animals around her house including a coon, that eventually had a family.

The lady became accustomed to seeing the coon at dusk and at daybreak and didn't think much of it.

One night she stepped out of her house(to feed her cats, I think), and as she stepped down onto her steps, the coon was there and bit her. It scared her more than anything.

After a couple of days, two of her nephews came over to help her with chores and she told them about the coon. They told her that it might have rabies, but she put it out of her mind. The next day, her dog was barking at something from his pen, It was a sickly coon, unable to walk and near death. She said it was the same coon(apparently the ear was notched from a fight, but she did recognize it). She had one of her nephews bring it in and had the head sent off for a rabies check.

It was positive.

The woman had to endure the daily vaccinations, but that's better than the alternative.

As I said above, she lived IN town. There is more than one reason why coons and other wild animals are illegal to keep as pets.

Kt
saturniidaebreeder
18 years ago
Yes, get rid of it. Remove it no matter what, but especially get rid of it literally within the next week if you spot it roaming around in the day which indicates that it probably has rabies or some type of illness, becasue there nocturnal.
p.s. After skunks, racoons are second on the list of animals that most commonly carry rabies. Be careful!
doggonegardener
18 years ago
Tuesday,

I am an Animal Control Officer and while I don't live in the "city" I live in a community in Wyoming of about 26,000 people. We have MANY raccoons that live in and around our community. Just some info for you...

Raccoons are nocturnal, they come out at night. They will be opportunistic feeders meaning if you feed a cat outside or leave garbage accessible for them they will take advantage of it. They live in town for the dumpsters and trash cans and easy foraging. The can carry several diseases. Some are zoonotic (transmissible to humans) and some are not. Rabies is zoonotic and raccoons can carry rabies (any mammal can). Coons can also be infected with canine or feline distemper. Any of these diseases can cause the coon to behave differently and as stated above, a coon out in the daylight CAN be a sign of a sick animal. It can also be a sign of an animal that "got caught with his pants down and flushed from his sleeping quarters". You have to factor in a lot of things when deciding what to do. Is the animal sick? Are you knowledgeable enough to tell? Will Animal Control in your area respond to evaluate and possibly remove the animal?

On another note, they will readily move into chimneys, attics, crawl spaces and the likes. Especially to have their litters. It's a little late for that at this point in the year but you never know. Once inside they can be quite messy and smelly. While a squirrel moving in is usually pretty harmless, a coon moving in is a big mess.

While I am all for wildlife, you have to be careful. We have them around our house and we have to watch that our dogs do not come in contact with them. Keep household pets FULLY vaccinated and up to date. Teach children to RESPECT them and watch from a distance, never touch. You should never touch. Coons can be just downright mean and plain WILD when really fearful and challenged. On the other hand, they can be a joy to watch and quite fun to observe in their day to day routine (night to night I guess).

Just some info from someone that deals with them on a nearly daily basis.

Later,

Rene

HUGE raccoon living in hollow of my tree

Comments (5)

suzq_07

deewah

Related Discussions

kentuck_8b

saturniidaebreeder

doggonegardener

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US