Rocky Raccoon under our home

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bobinfaith

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While I was posting at Christian Forum Site I learned a mother raccoon broke a vent plate on the side of our bedroom and her babies are under neath our home.

The mother left and I think to look for food while the babies remained. I don't know how many babies there are. So I put a temporary very heavy wooden container to cover the small opening.

I know this may seem cruel separating Rocky Raccoon from her babies but needed to protect our home and my family.

My wife and I prayed over this and she felt it was wrong to separate Rock Raccoon from her babies. I reminded us both of Genesis 1:26 and gently told her that raccoons do not have dominion over us. Raccoons are cute but can be very rabid and vicious to little animals and humans.

God entrusted us to be the stewards of His home and only want to do best taking care of this circumstance that took place this evening.

Tomorrow an exterminator will come in the morning hopefully to remove the babies. Then my contractor will check for any damage especially the insulation. If there is damage, I'll have to file a claim with our home insurance.

I have all the faith God will work this all out for His glory.
 
bobinfaith said:
While I was posting at Christian Forum Site I learned a mother raccoon broke a vent plate on the side of our bedroom and her babies are under neath our home.

The mother left and I think to look for food while the babies remained. I don't know how many babies there are. So I put a temporary very heavy wooden container to cover the small opening.

I know this may seem cruel separating Rocky Raccoon from her babies but needed to protect our home and my family.

My wife and I prayed over this and she felt it was wrong to separate Rock Raccoon from her babies. I reminded us both of Genesis 1:26 and gently told her that raccoons do not have dominion over us. Raccoons are cute but can be very rabid and vicious to little animals and humans.

God entrusted us to be the stewards of His home and only want to do best taking care of this circumstance that took place this evening.

Tomorrow an exterminator will come in the morning hopefully to remove the babies. Then my contractor will check for any damage especially the insulation. If there is damage, I'll have to file a claim with our home insurance.

I have all the faith God will work this all out for His glory.
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This morning I learned the mom raccoon broke another vent plate around the house to get to her babies. Raccoons are smart but this adds to my dilemma. The exterminator should be here today. I don't like it but praise God, He is in control and keeping me calm. :whistle:
 
Hopefully the exterminator will be able to trap your furry vandal and remove the entire problem from your property. These animals have the most exquisitely dexterous fingers and seem to be able to get into almost anything. The second vent destruction just proves that this is going to be an ongoing problem if nothing is done, plus there will be a new batch of soon to be adults also trying to use your house as their home base. Where I live our chief pest is deer mice - the damage they can do to the house and vehicles is staggering. We have to be aggressively proactive to prevent the damage they can wreak. It just cost me $12,000 to restore and clean my vehicle from all the damage. Now that we have bait traps and such out, this shouldn't happen again. I empathize with your situation. I too love animals, I think most people do, but we also have to be realistic about protecting ourselves from pests who destroy property and carry disease. May all go well with your exterminator.
 
Egraine said:
Hopefully the exterminator will be able to trap your furry vandal and remove the entire problem from your property. These animals have the most exquisitely dexterous fingers and seem to be able to get into almost anything. The second vent destruction just proves that this is going to be an ongoing problem if nothing is done, plus there will be a new batch of soon to be adults also trying to use your house as their home base. Where I live our chief pest is deer mice - the damage they can do to the house and vehicles is staggering. We have to be aggressively proactive to prevent the damage they can wreak. It just cost me $12,000 to restore and clean my vehicle from all the damage. Now that we have bait traps and such out, this shouldn't happen again. I empathize with your situation. I too love animals, I think most people do, but we also have to be realistic about protecting ourselves from pests who destroy property and carry disease. May all go well with your exterminator.
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Hello Egraine;
Thank you for your encouragement and the "straight facts" - it is what it is. The exterminator came out last Thursday and Friday and saw that Rocky Raccoon tore the plastic lining of our water pipes and made a nest. Yikes! So he did his treatment and will be back on Tuesday, May 30th and we'll see where we go from here. After Rocky Raccoon and her babies are gone, he will assess any damage and make repairs.

Where is God in all this?

Well, my battle has been thinking in my mind the worst from Rocky and have mounted disappointed that this happened out of nowhere. Then I remembered 1 Peter 5:7, casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. - KJB

The moment I fall into self mode, I always have to take a step back, over, and over, and over and remember God cares! It takes humility to trust in God, get back into God mode and choose not to submit to the circumstances but to His sovereignty.

Praise God for all He is going to do.
 
Cturtle said:
Can i ask What you think God's sovereignty would be in this situation?
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Hello Cturtle;

Yes. God's sovereignty, meaning, being in complete control and authority will provide the whole solution to this Rocky Raccoon challenge. Our part has always proclaimed the house we dwell in belongs to God, He has entrusted us as stewards since we bought the house back in April 15, 2000, taking good care of our home, putting tender loving care back, keeping our home as pure as we can and just giving God thanksgiving every day for His home.

God bless you, Cturtle!
 
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bobinfaith said:
Yes. God's sovereignty, meaning, being in complete control and authority
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Greetings,
Did you know this word is not in the king James or any of the older translations but is in the more modern day translations.

So it seems to be a man made word describing God in a man's view.
So for me this word is not biblically correct and has no place in my thinking. Again that's my choice for me and I am Not correcting any one.
Blessings
FCJ
 
bobinfaith said:
Hello Cturtle;

Yes. God's sovereignty, meaning, being in complete control and authority will provide the whole solution to this Rocky Raccoon challenge. Our part has always proclaimed the house we dwell in belongs to God, He has entrusted us as stewards since we bought the house back in April 15, 2000, taking good care of our home, putting tender loving care back, keeping our home as pure as we can and just giving God thanksgiving every day for His home.

God bless you, Cturtle!
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Thank you for your response
Blessings
 
Fish Catcher Jim said:
Greetings,
Did you know this word is not in the king James or any of the older translations but is in the more modern day translations.

So it seems to be a man made word describing God in a man's view.
So for me this word is not biblically correct and has no place in my thinking. Again that's my choice for me and I am Not correcting any one.
Blessings
FCJ
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Thank you, FC Jim.
God bless you, brother.
 
Egraine said:
Hopefully the exterminator will be able to trap your furry vandal and remove the entire problem from your property. These animals have the most exquisitely dexterous fingers and seem to be able to get into almost anything. The second vent destruction just proves that this is going to be an ongoing problem if nothing is done, plus there will be a new batch of soon to be adults also trying to use your house as their home base. Where I live our chief pest is deer mice - the damage they can do to the house and vehicles is staggering. We have to be aggressively proactive to prevent the damage they can wreak. It just cost me $12,000 to restore and clean my vehicle from all the damage. Now that we have bait traps and such out, this shouldn't happen again. I empathize with your situation. I too love animals, I think most people do, but we also have to be realistic about protecting ourselves from pests who destroy property and carry disease. May all go well with your exterminator.
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Hello, Egraine;
Can I ask, what damage did the deer mice actually cause to your vehicle? Raccoons can be rabid and viscous. Many years ago a guy was taking nap in the front seat of his truck. When he woke up a raccoon was next to him eating, got startled and began to claw the guy and tore his heavy coat, fortunately, the coat protected him from getting seriously hurt. I don't remember if he got rabies.

God bless you and thank you again for your concern.
 
Bobinfaith: The mice left urine in every imaginable space and place in the vehicle. They chewed most of the wiring and ate a hole through the firewall for easier access. They chewed all the upholstery and carpeting to make nesting material. The mechanics tried putting wire mesh over the vents, but they still got into the air vents and their nesting material clogged them up and made the fan motor burn out. To clean the inside of the car, it had to be stripped right down to the metal, including the ceiling which was full of feces and urine. It was horrible. And the SMELL. It was horrific. This mouse has no collar bone so it can squeeze into 1/4 inch spaces. Now that the car is restored and the garage is full of traps, plus traps in the car, it SEEMS like it is more under control, but I fear that they are still getting in there from time to time. It is like an endless battle. Worse yet is that they can carry Hantavirus - a very deadly disease that carries a 50% mortality rate, so I do not feel bad in trying to eradicate them.
 
Well, the original raccoon eradicator came out on May 25 and 26 but never came back. Meantime, there are 14 vent covers around the house so we bought the strongest covers and installed 13, leaving the 14th uncovered. Then after researching several more raccoon services, we found a service that took my call right away and set up an appointment for this Friday, June 23. I checked their references, they got great reviews and are licensed.

After researching contractors there are two who have already scheduled appointments and are also licensed. They will come out and assess any damage under the house, especially the insulation where Rocky raccoon and her babies would have made a nest.

My home insurance has the claim opened and will settle once everything is done.

My wife and I have lifted up thanksgiving to the Lord for being with us all the way and though this is a serious issue, He has given us peace and have all the faith the Lord will provide and resolved this raccoon issue.

God bless you all, and thank you for your continued prayers, brothers and sisters!
 
bobinfaith said:
Well, the original raccoon eradicator came out on May 25 and 26 but never came back. Meantime, there are 14 vent covers around the house so we bought the strongest covers and installed 13, leaving the 14th uncovered. Then after researching several more raccoon services, we found a service that took my call right away and set up an appointment for this Friday, June 23. I checked their references, they got great reviews and are licensed.

After researching contractors there are two who have already scheduled appointments and are also licensed. They will come out and assess any damage under the house, especially the insulation where Rocky raccoon and her babies would have made a nest.

My home insurance has the claim opened and will settle once everything is done.

My wife and I have lifted up thanksgiving to the Lord for being with us all the way and though this is a serious issue, He has given us peace and have all the faith the Lord will provide and resolved this raccoon issue.

God bless you all, and thank you for your continued prayers, brothers and sisters!
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God is interested in every aspect of our lives and wants to be involved in our daily struggles. I am so glad you bought this to the forum. I related to it although in the uk we don't have racoons but squirrels that look pretty but can do untold damage. I hope that your problem is, and remains sorted.

I sometimes tell my husband when he kills a fly that in heaven he will meet it again and will need to apologise.

Every blessing
 
Bobinfaith : I am so glad that you found someone reliable. Whilst you have been wrangling raccoons, we've just grown a new crop of ground squirrels that HAVE to go. The weasel eradicated the voles, so then the darn gophers moved back in, however, if the weasel knows his stuff he'll keep raiding the gopher nests and the gophers will move on come the autumn. Just when I thought we had our pest problems under control, along comes Nature. Grrrrrr!!!!! These gophers are smart too. They are all over the place while you are mowing or watering, but the moment you bring out any firearms, they just disappear underground. Someone once suggested they can smell gunpowder, but I don't think they're that smart, however I could be wrong.
 
Egraine said:
Bobinfaith : I am so glad that you found someone reliable. Whilst you have been wrangling raccoons, we've just grown a new crop of ground squirrels that HAVE to go. The weasel eradicated the voles, so then the darn gophers moved back in, however, if the weasel knows his stuff he'll keep raiding the gopher nests and the gophers will move on come the autumn. Just when I thought we had our pest problems under control, along comes Nature. Grrrrrr!!!!! These gophers are smart too. They are all over the place while you are mowing or watering, but the moment you bring out any firearms, they just disappear underground. Someone once suggested they can smell gunpowder, but I don't think they're that smart, however I could be wrong.
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Hello Egraine;

Thank you and have been praying the Lord will provide a solution for the gopher and weasel invasion to your property. My problem is the same. The environment where we live is home to raccoons, possum, skunks and the like so they're not going to go away.

We successfully found a raccoon eradicator that came out last Friday, built a cage firmly in front of the open vent cover hole that the mother raccoon and babies would come out at night to find something to eat. But when they came out the cage door did not allow them to come back in a matter of 1 day! Once they were gone, we quickly closed the hole with the vent cover. We replaced the 14 vent covers originally plastic with only 2 screws with heavy duty steel covers with 6 screws all around.

Then a contractor came by this afternoon, crawled under the entire house and found minimal damage, not worth paying alot of money to repair. Just to be sure, two more contractors will come by end of next week to give their assessment.

But the Good News is Rocky Raccoon and babies are gone.

1 Peter 5:7, casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.

When we carry worries, stress and struggles by ourselves no matter how big or small show that we may not trust God completely. Humility, lowering one's own self importance and giving our burdens to God helps us recognize that He truly cares, and opening up our needs allows others and our families to help us.
 
bobinfaith said:
Hello Egraine;

Thank you and have been praying the Lord will provide a solution for the gopher and weasel invasion to your property. My problem is the same. The environment where we live is home to raccoons, possum, skunks and the like so they're not going to go away.

We successfully found a raccoon eradicator that came out last Friday, built a cage firmly in front of the open vent cover hole that the mother raccoon and babies would come out at night to find something to eat. But when they came out the cage door did not allow them to come back in a matter of 1 day! Once they were gone, we quickly closed the hole with the vent cover. We replaced the 14 vent covers originally plastic with only 2 screws with heavy duty steel covers with 6 screws all around.

Then a contractor came by this afternoon, crawled under the entire house and found minimal damage, not worth paying alot of money to repair. Just to be sure, two more contractors will come by end of next week to give their assessment.

But the Good News is Rocky Raccoon and babies are gone.

1 Peter 5:7, casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.

When we carry worries, stress and struggles by ourselves no matter how big or small show that we may not trust God completely. Humility, lowering one's own self importance and giving our burdens to God helps us recognize that He truly cares, and opening up our needs allows others and our families to help us.
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Glory to God! God is Awesome for sure.

Just a thought... is there a way to keep you all protected from any bacterial contamination from the waste that might have been left behind?

For I remember a gentleman who worked where there were a lot of that kind of stuff around and they had to wear respirators just to stay safe while they were working. Might be a good question to ask the contractor or animal shelter who deals with raccoons about.

Blessings and thank you for sharing a good praise report
 
Hello Egraine, I have been reading your posts and wondered where you lived. Read your profile and found you were in Canada. You must live in the middle of nature. That has be beautiful. My biggest problem is mice. One did get in my vehicle which was on the carport with all my dogs around. Hard to understand that. Thankfully all it did was die and stink up the vehicle. Hopefully this mice-situation has been taken care of. I read where they do not like strong smells like cinnamon and moth balls. I don't know if this would work in your situations. Good luck.
 
For some nights now I have heard a loud scratching sound under our floor. We live in a double wide mobile home with a large crawl space under it. It is way too loud to be a rat or a mouse. I checked around and couldn't find where the critter had gotten in except for a small opening not large enough for a cat or opossom. An opossom has been in our neighborhood this summer and we do have some stray cats. Otherwise animals are kept on leaches or else indoors here in our park as part of the regulations. Of course, wild animals like rabbits and sometimes deer have been seen, especially rabbits, neither of which are known to scratch under houses. At first I thought the animal was trapped and trying to get out. So we opened up the door on the crawl space area in order to let one out. To no avail. I now think it is trying to scratch its way up to get in the house or ....well, really it's a mystery. I am trying to decide whether to close up the crawl space door again or leave it ajar. This critter is quiet all day and scratches around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. Any ideas?
 
sandpiper said:
For some nights now I have heard a loud scratching sound under our floor. We live in a double wide mobile home with a large crawl space under it. It is way too loud to be a rat or a mouse. I checked around and couldn't find where the critter had gotten in except for a small opening not large enough for a cat or opossom. An opossom has been in our neighborhood this summer and we do have some stray cats. Otherwise animals are kept on leaches or else indoors here in our park as part of the regulations. Of course, wild animals like rabbits and sometimes deer have been seen, especially rabbits, neither of which are known to scratch under houses. At first I thought the animal was trapped and trying to get out. So we opened up the door on the crawl space area in order to let one out. To no avail. I now think it is trying to scratch its way up to get in the house or ....well, really it's a mystery. I am trying to decide whether to close up the crawl space door again or leave it ajar. This critter is quiet all day and scratches around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. Any ideas?
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Perhaps you could scatter mothballs under your home and hopefully the smell will drive them out. Or it could drive you out.
 
It may be time for you to borrow some traps from the animal control people and catch the perpetrator. Whatever it is, it is obviously up to no good and is also keeping you awake half the night. I live in the country so I am a bit more mercenary about pests. I love animals, but there are lines that once crossed relegate a harmless wild animal into the pest status. In my world, once a wild animal reaches pest status, then it is TIME. I've had to do some hard things out here, but necessary things. I never let the animals suffer. When possible, I trap pests and put them to sleep using ether, larger pests I simply use the tried and true bullet. After paying a fortune to restore my vehicle, and after having two members of a family in a nearby town die from Hantavirus last year, I have a sterner view on pests. Yes they're cute and fuzzy, but when they destroy property and carry deadly viruses, what has to be done is clear.

Good luck with the scratching. Hopefully you'll be able to trap it to at least find out what it is.
 
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