Name That Scat

My neighbor hears noise in her attic at night. I brought a trap, but no luck so far. I'm guessing racoon?

She thought it might be squirrels. That's my size 12 shoe for scale.

Once I started looking, it's all over the attic. I think I may be outgunned and she needs a professional.

Definitely NOT Col. Robin Olds' F-4 Phantom.

If you had raccoons in the attic, wouldn't they be noisy like teenage boys?

What to do with them.

In reply to 914Driver :

Thanks for the links. Looking at the description of the raccoon 'latrine' it is similar, but not same.

Looking a little further, I'm now pretty sure it's possum.

A better match, more scattered and random. I know that we have an abundance of wildlife; skunks, armadillo, raccoon, possum, and an occasional muskrat in the neighborhood.

Once the animal is gone and excluded from the attic, a wildlife abatement place will want to charge like $20k-$30k to remove and replace insulation. Don't do it! Have them call insulation contractors and let them know what's up. They're used to it and some will do it for much much cheaper. 

Thinking further... I can trap whatever it is. But, handling the trap with an angry animal while I climb down between the joist access to the very top of a step ladder might be difficult. Do you think her homeowner's insurance will cover removal and clean up?

A carpenter is coming over on Monday to seal up the most likely access and I will trim a tree that has branches leading to the roof.

In reply to dculberson :

Thanks for that advice. I hadn't even thought about replacing all the insulation, but it looks like it has been going on for a while and will present a hazard (and smell) if it is not completely taken care of.

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

Put the trap in some kind of bag or cardboard box you're okay with tossing afterward. In your case, with any luck your particular animal will play "possum" and you'll be set. Dunno your area but some places don't want you releasing without a license animals you've trapped so you're gonna want to keep your trapping activity on the downlow.

I also ended up setting up a trail cam by traps so I could get a feel for what was going on if the trap wasn't effective the first time around. Apparently they have Wi-Fi trail cams? Sure wish I'd gotten one of those. 

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

I've only encountered one aggressive possum & he was already in a trap - unfortunately his jaws were stuck around the wire mesh on one end & he couldn't free them. Otherwise possums are docile. They also have crap eyesight & not much better hearing. 

Oh, and there's no real concern of rabies with them either, as their body temp is too low to host the virus. 
 

I do agree that looks more like possum poop than raccoon, but getting rid of raccoons is actually easier - just put a radio & some flashing lights up there & leave them on for a few days before sealing up however they got in. The mama moves her kits every couple days to a different den, but she'll move them sooner with the radio & lights. When we had some in our attic last spring I spent $20 at walmart for a cheap radio & flashing party light.

We had a possum using our crawlspace as an occasional hideout a few years back. Saw the animal but never saw any droppings, thankfully. The advice I found at the time was that it is generally better to discourage their presence than it is to trap them. Tennis balls soaked in ammonia and thrown around the crawlspace apparently made it unappealing enough to the possum that it left and never came back. It might be worth a try.

Oops. She had the carpenter seal the access they found yesterday. There were angry noises coming from the attic last night. It's sealed in there! I'm off work tomorrow and will set the trap again.