Raccoons have great looks – masks, glowing eyes, striped Davy Crockett tails.

Her closest relatives are bears and weasels. But they are neither awkward nor intrusive. They waddle.

In Connecticut and most of the United States, they are our neighbors. They are total omnivores that can live and thrive in almost any location.

Rural raccoons feed on berries, nuts, mice and bird eggs and wash their food in streams and ponds. Their suburban and urban counterparts raid birdhouses and trash cans and do well. Like many other wildlife in the state, they have benefited from coexistence with humans

“You are a really nice, curious animal,” said Laura Simon, urban wildlife expert.

But after a few weeks they could become too crowded and cost you the moving price, not to mention the heavy attic and attic repairs.

Female raccoons that mate in winter come to maturity and need to nest. They need a protective shelter because if male raccoons find the young pups, they will attempt to kill them in order to mate with the female again.

Hollow trees are excellent nesting sites. But they are becoming increasingly scarce.

“Unfortunately, people felled hollow trees,” said Simon.

This is how female raccoons find replacement places. You will use abandoned marmot burrows. There is space between rakes and shovels in a tool shed.

They climb chimneys and nest on the ledges inside.

“People don’t think about it until they see sooty footprints all over the house,” said Chris Vann, a wildlife biologist with the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Or they squeeze through holes in attic walls and curl up there to raise their pups.

“January and February are the mating months,” said Tom Dommermuth of WESTCONN Pest Control and Nuisance Wildlife Removal in New Fairfield. “Then there is a 60-day gestation period. So we’ll see raccoons later in March. “

“You go to the tightest corner of the attic and want to stay there,” said Joe Gray of Bats R Us Wildlife Removal Specialists of Bethel.

It takes about eight weeks for the raccoon mother to wean her pups and take them into the outside world. Simon said that if the nest is in a chimney, the easiest and most humane solution is to not use the chimney for a few months and then hire a chimney sweep to clean it up.

“People think they can smoke them out,” she said. “The mother will go, but the pups will be burned.”

Attics are tougher. Along with nesting, the raccoons make it easier in the nest. It can stink. And loud.

“They make so much noise and cause so much damage that people can’t sleep,” said Gray of Bats R Us.

The mothers are also vehemently protecting their young – if you block the hole in the attic while the female is outside, she will tear a hole in the roof to get back inside.

“You could expect $ 1,500 to $ 2,000 in damages,” Gray said.

If they are pinched, they can be released on site. They cannot be relocated to other parts of the state.

A louder way to get rid of nesting raccoons is to throw vinegar-soaked rags and tennis balls near their nest, get an old radio or stereo, and blow loud music on them. (Finally … AC / DC can benefit society.)

For a full list of ways to deal with raccoons, visit Wildlifehotline.org.

The best way to prevent all of this from happening is to start in the fall. Put a cap on your chimney and close holes and loose vents that would otherwise allow animals to enter in winter. Wildlife control experts say it is also a good idea to keep tree branches from hanging over your home.

“If you see a raccoon running over your roof, it may be too late,” said Vann.

There is also this. Raccoons – along with skunks, foxes, coyotes, and bats – transmit the rabies virus in Connecticut.

However, this should be put into perspective. There has been only one documented case in US history of a human being infected with rabies from a raccoon.

And there are only one or two deaths per year in the country from rabies caused by an animal bite.

By comparison, around 85 people die from bee stings and 51 from lightning strikes in the United States.

“Probably more people die from golf balls than from rabies each year,” said Simon.

Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com

The post That noise in your roof could possibly be a raccoon appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

CHICAGO (CBS) – You sent us an email, you tweeted us, you posted on Facebook. Morning Insiders continue to investigate complaints about construction noise while people are stuck at home.

Lauren Victory of CBS 2 investigated why condominium conversions are allowed in Chicago and banned in other cities.

CONTINUE READING: The shooting on the Dan Ryan Expressway results in a crash that temporarily closed all lanes

From rehab units to building-wide brickwork, the construction noise drives some people crazy.

A disgruntled Steve Dishler posted a video on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Twitter page about construction noise in his Lakeview building after management, his city council and the Department of Buildings said nothing illegal was happening so the work did not stop can be

“A thousand people live in this building. The students are obviously unable to carry out their work. Parents cannot rest their babies during the day. I cannot do my job. It’s incredibly inconsiderate, ”he said.

Ask the city to step in pic.twitter.com/GG8BFrPkm4

– Steve Dishler (@SteveDishler) April 22, 2020

How many other people are fed up with recording their moves in public? CBS 2 reviewed the 311 logs. Within a few minutes’ walk of Dishler’s building, two complaints about equipment noise have been filed in the past 20 days.

CBS 2 asked Governor JB Pritzker’s office why condominium remodeling and facade work were not on hold until the stay at home order was cleared.

Consider other cities like Boston that have stopped construction since March unless it’s an emergency. San Francisco limited the crew to health and public works projects. Elective additions and maintenance are prohibited in Dallas. so is remodeling.

In Illinois, the governor’s stay at home makes construction an essential business.

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Although the mayor can shut down the lakefront and large parks, city officials said they had opted for condominium associations to call for building construction to be stopped.

This might be a mystery to some housing associations.

“We as the building’s representative could be sued for unauthorized conclusions from a contract,” an anonymous woman told us about the ongoing construction work on her condominium building.

She said it was impossible to get anything done with all the noise the work made.

“I was sometimes unable to attend work meetings because it was so loud,” she said. “When I asked how long it was going to be, they said they still have a lot of woodwork to do.”

The threat of bills prevented the apartment sign from putting down the gavel for renovation work in the building.

“I just think that the state shouldn’t make them choose between taking legal action and protecting residents,” the woman said.

CBS 2 never heard directly from the governor’s office, but Pritzker answered a question about city rules at Monday’s press conference.

“The communities have the option to have stricter rules than we have proposed on any subject,” he said.

A city spokesman reiterated that residents can call 311 with noise complaints.

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The post Caught At Residence Throughout Pandemic, Development Noise Driving Some Individuals Nuts – CBS Chicago appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.