Photo Album: Home inspector misses wildlife infestation in Carteret

This story involves an attic raccoon infestation of a home in Carteret. An active wildlife infestation, especially raccoons, is a true emergency. First, a raccoon is an emergency because of the animals themselves. Don’t be fooled by their cute burglar-mask coloring. They are large, highly aggressive animals, weighing up to 20 pounds (compare that to a squirrel, the other common wildlife invader of attics, which weighs only about a pound). Raccoons, entering through a hole in the soffit, were using her attic to nest. This homeowner was especially upset, and for good reason. She recently bought the home, and had only been living there for about two weeks. During the home inspection, the inspector reported that there was not an active infestation, and said there was only “one or two” droppings, concluding that “there was nothing to worry about.”  Based on my inspection, she had a much bigger problem on her hands. Raccoon droppings covered the entire attic and all of the insulation was soiled.