What Transmittable Diseases Do Raccoons Carry?
Sure, the trash pandas are adorable. Everyone loves their tiny little hands!
Yet when coons get too close, disease can follow.
In fact, raccoons carry so many diseases that we'd be hard pressed to name them all. Still, we can give you the most common ones.
Leptospirosis
What it is: a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals.
What it does: causes kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress. In short, leptospirosis can be fatal.
How raccoons pass it on to us: through urine contamination.
Rabies
What it is: a viral disease that infects the central nervous system of both humans and animals.
What it does: causes severe inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It's most famous for turning animals dangerously aggressive; humans can end up in a state of anxiety, confusion, or partial paralysis. Humans can also suffer from hallucinations. It even can cause a severe fear of water: individuals will panic and refuse to drink.
The virus essentially hijacks the brain.
How raccoons pass it to us: through bites and scratches.
Canine Distemper
What it is: a virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous system of dogs.
What it does: causes a watery, pus-like discharge from the eyes. As the disease progresses, dogs develop fevers, nasal discharge, coughing, lethargy, a reduced appetite, vomiting, seizures, partial or complete paralysis. This disease is often fatal. Even when it isn't it can cause permanent, irreparable nervous system damage.
How raccoons pass it to your animals: through direct contact with body fluids or droppings.
Raccoon Parvoviral Enteritis
What it is: a highly infectious virus. Racoons can pass it to both dogs and cats.
What it does: causes lethargy, depression, lack of appetite, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. You may spot mucous or blood in your pet's feces. This disease can be treated if you get your pet to the vet fast enough, but it can be fatal.
How raccoons pass it to your pets: through contact with droppings.
Infectious Canine Hepatitis
What it is: a contagious viral disease that targets dogs.
What it does: this virus targets the spleen, kidneys, lungs, liver, the lining of the blood vessels and other organs. Symptoms can include fever, vomiting, depression and apathy, thirst, loss of appetite, blindness, a swollen belly, jaundice, red dots on the skin, seizures, and other symptoms. This disease can be fatal.
How raccoons pass it to your pets: through contact with raccoon urine, most commonly when dogs drink from an outdoor puddle or stagnant pond.
Toxoplasmosis
What it is: a disease caused by a parasite known as the toxoplasma gondii parasite.
What it does: causes body aches, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, and fatigue. May cause severe, even fatal, problems in babies, those infected with HIV/AIDS, or in pregnant people.
How raccoons pass it to us: through contact with urine or feces.
Baylisascaris Procyonis
What it is: a rare but serious roundworm.
What it does: causes neurological and ocular symptoms in humans. Symptoms include nausea, exhaustion, liver enlargement, loss of coordination, confusion, and loss of muscle control. May cause blindness or coma.
How raccoons pass it to us: through contact with urine or feces.
Keep disease out of your home by keeping raccoons out of your home!
While you may imagine that you'd never openly come into contact with urine or feces or get close enough to a raccoon to get bitten by one, the truth is your risk of disease goes up exponentially when a raccoon moves into your home. You may not realize common household surfaces have become contaminated, or that raccoons have been handling your pet's food and water supply.
Protect your home and your family from disease. Call Elite Wildlife for humane raccoon removal. We'll put them somewhere they'll be happier, and we'll keep you safe at the same time.
What You Need to Know About Raccoons
Have you seen a pack of little trash pandas cavorting around your yard? Raccoons can be adorable, but like any wild animals they can bring some trouble!
We've been seeing a lot more raccoons in Sugar Land lately, and so we thought we'd take time to walk you through some of what you need to know if you're seeing raccoons popping up out of your trash cans or staring at you through your windows!
Are raccoons aggressive to humans?
Good news, raccoons are almost never aggressive. If a raccoon attacks a human it's usually because they've gone rabid.
That means if you get attacked by a raccoon you need to get to a hospital right away! There's a good chance you've gotten infected with rabies.
The exception is female raccoons who are defending their young. They might start to exhibit aggressive behavior because they're afraid you'll hurt their babies.
Can you befriend a raccoon?
It's better to avoid trying. Feeding the raccoons puts you at risk for all the diseases they carry and encourages them to move right into your home.
It's also not good for the raccoons. Many raccoons who get euthanized began as racoons that humans tried to befriend. When you habituate raccoons to humans you make them impossible to relocate or put them in a situation where they're going to be euthanized because they are a health risk.
What should you do if you see raccoons in the yard?
If you see raccoons in your yard there's a great chance they've already worked their way into a house. You're seeing them as often as you are because their nest is nearby, and there's a good chance that nest is in your house!
We've already talked about the risk of contracting disease. This risk doesn't just come from raccoon bites! It comes from the fleas that raccoons bring into your house, which jump to you and your pets. It comes from the urine and feces they leave around your home too.
We haven't even talked about the damage they can do to your house, yet.
For example, we've seen them chew their way through roofing, dig their way through insulation, damage ventilation systems, and trash HVAC systems. They like to chew on electrical wires too, which creates a fire risk.
So do the following to prevent any fire risk in your home:
Make sure you've chained up your trash cans and removed other food sources.
Install motion-activated lights to scare raccoons away when they come near the house.
Call a humane pest control company.
Here's how we handle raccoons in Sugar Land, TX and surrounding areas.
We show up at your house and look at all the ways they're getting into your home. Then we gently trap the raccoons and relocate them to a place where they can live without disturbing other humans or destroying delicate ecosystems.
If you want to get close to cute raccoons, head to the zoo! In the meantime, call us to get your home and yard trash panda free.
Feel free to take a look at our reviews and see what our clients have to say about their experience with our company.
Contact us or call (832)727-9181 today for a free consultation.
