Austin apartment resident says raccoons living inside his walls
Austin resident says there are raccoons in his walls
A man living in a Downtown Austin apartment says there are raccoons living in his walls. FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis took a closer look.
AUSTIN - An Austin man wants his unwelcome neighbors removed from his apartment complex.
Austin Apartment Pests
What's Happening:
The man moved into the Trio Apartments in East Austin in March, and he claims raccoons made themselves known only two days later.
He said it is an everyday thing now, and he is worried about what might happen next.
So far, he says he’s been unable to get enough sleep with all the commotion in his walls.
What they're saying:
"These raccoons are already getting up in the walls, no telling if they're going to come into my apartment and if they got rabies, that's dangerous," the resident said.
He complained to the complex back in March. They responded and said:
"Thank you for bringing the issue of raccoons in the walls to our attention. We completely understand the challenges and frustration this has caused. Please know that we are actively working on a solution to address this concern.
Our long-term plan is to implement a 360-degree exclusion of all buildings to prevent raccoons from gaining access to the walls. This will involve a thorough and comprehensive approach, but it will take time to fully complete. While this is our ultimate solution, we understand that it will not be immediate.
In the meantime, we are exploring several different deterrents that can help draw the raccoons out and keep them from returning. These measures are being carefully considered to ensure they are effective and minimize any further disturbance.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work toward resolving this issue. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or concerns."
Dig deeper:
According to an expert, it’s difficult to tell what may be causing the ruckus just based on sound.
"It’s actually really tough to say," Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal’s Marshall Fish said.
"Nighttime noises could be raccoon. Daytime noises, most common animal would be squirrels," Fish added.
Fish said he’d have to do an assessment to really know, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was raccoons.
"Raccoons are pretty strong and pretty ingenious and how they can, you know, find their way into these buildings," Fish said.
He said they can make their way through vents, siding or any other weak point in a building.
What you can do:
"They'll tear up insulation, they'll get into HVAC ducts, they can just be really destructive and not necessarily because they're trying to mess up your house, but that's just what they do. And then also it's worth noting that they can carry diseases. There's a long list. I will say it is fairly rare and extreme cases where humans are contracting these diseases when there's a wildlife incursion, but they're also not the cleanest," Fish said.
Fish recommends appreciating them in nature, but when they are inside a structure, it is time to set some boundaries.
"The most efficient and most long-term effective solution is to find ways to seal off their entry points, to seal up the house," Fish said. "And the trick, because you don't want to seal the animals in the structure, is using something called a one-way valve. It is an incredible little device that allows passage through the valve in one direction and not the other."
FOX 7 reached out to the complex to see what kind of progress they have made addressing the issue and they have not responded.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Trio Apartments, an Austin resident and Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal.