Photo Album: Raccoons chew their way into South River, NJ home
Raccoon damage and entry in South River, NJ
Raccoons, like all wildlife, will look for the path of least resistance. With this home in South River, raccoons had made there way in through the water-rotted plywood roofing of a garage. The gutters were filled with pine needles, clogging the downspout. The stagnant water started to collect onto the roof plywood, which led to wood rot. Raccoons, squirrels, and other wildlife can claw and chew their way through weakened, water-saturated wood as easy as butter.
Raccoon trap over exclusion in South River
Trap set over the entry point.
Trapped raccoon in South River, New Jersey
Raccoons do not randomly choose houses. They gravitate to those homes that are hospitable to them. Many homeowners offer raccoons a variety of food, the number one wildlife attractant, in the form of bird feeders, garbage left outside, gardens, lawn grubs, or pet food. Once they are there roaming around your property, it's only a matter of time before these resourceful critters start looking for a way inside.
Trapped raccoon will be relocated
This home was an unfortunate example of problems that can arise when homeowners forget about relatively simple home maintenance tasks like gutter cleaning. We saw a common result here: The clogged gutters caused wood rot to the roof, which gave invading wildlife an easy access point to enter the home. Another common area caused by clogged gutters are the fascia boards on which the gutter system is attached. But wood damage is only one of a number of potential problems. That water pouring down in sheets over the sides of the gutter during a heavy rain will pool around and weaken the home's foundation, or can wind up damaging the trees and shrubs around the base of the home. Pooling water also leads to mold growth and attracts insects, especially mosquitoes that look for standing water to breed. As winter approaches, clogged gutters increase the likelihood that destructive ice dams will form on the lower edge of the roof. Ice dams cause extensive roof damage and allow water to seep into the home.
Temporary exclusion and clogged gutters
After the final site check without any activity I was able to close the job. I covered the access with aluminum trim coil and hardware cloth (photo 5). This patch job specific purpose is to keep wildlife out, until such a time that the homeowner can have it repaired by a professional roofer.