Are Raccoons Dangerous? Raccoons in Collin County Attics and Yards
Raccoons live across all of Texas, and every spring some of them move into Collin County attics and chimneys to raise their young. This article covers how dangerous a raccoon really is, what the Texas rabies numbers show, why you might see one out in daylight, how a family of raccoons gets out of an attic, and how to handle raccoon droppings without putting your family at risk.
- Texas confirmed rabies in 11 raccoons in 2024, against 205 bats and 136 skunks.
- Most raccoon litters are born in April or May, and dens can include attics and chimneys.
- A raccoon needs a gap only about 4 inches wide to get into an attic or wall.
- Raccoons are mostly out at night and spend the day in a den.
- Raccoon roundworm eggs in droppings become infectious after 2 to 4 weeks.
Are raccoons dangerous?
Raccoons are not usually dangerous to people unless one is cornered or sick, but they do carry real health risks. Texas law lists them among the high-risk animals for rabies, and the CDC says their droppings can carry raccoon roundworm, an infection that is rare in people but can be severe.
A healthy raccoon keeps away from people. The wildlife damage center’s raccoon control page says that, while it is rare, a cornered raccoon may attack. Humane World for Animals says never to try to catch or handle a raccoon, even one that came in through a pet door, because a panicked raccoon may bite.
Disease is the bigger worry. Texas Tech’s Mammals of Texas lists leptospirosis, rabies, Chagas disease and tularemia among the diseases raccoons can pass to people, and says leptospirosis and tularemia can spread through direct contact or through water fouled by raccoon urine or droppings.
The damage to a house is real too. The wildlife damage center’s page on raccoon damage says that in extreme cases raccoons may tear off shingles or fascia boards to get into an attic, and Texas Parks and Wildlife says that once raccoons settle into an attic they can be very destructive and hard to remove. It adds that raccoons fed by people lose their natural fear of humans, so never feed one.
Do raccoons carry rabies?
Raccoons can carry rabies, but in Texas they are a small share of the cases. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed rabies in 11 raccoons in 2024, out of 412 rabid animals statewide, while bats made up 205 and skunks 136. Texas law still lists raccoons as a high-risk animal for rabies.
The state’s 2024 report on rabies in animals says bats and skunks are the main carriers of the rabies strains found in Texas. The 11 rabid raccoons in 2024 were down from 20 in 2023. Nationally the picture is different, and the CDC’s rabies page lists raccoons with bats, skunks and foxes as the animals most often found with rabies in the United States.
Rabies spreads mainly through the bite or scratch of an infected animal. If a raccoon bites or scratches anyone in your family, the CDC says to wash the wound with soap and water right away and to get medical care urgently. If your pet tangles with a raccoon, Humane World for Animals says to call your veterinarian. Texas also treats live raccoons with care under its rabies quarantine: Texas Parks and Wildlife says transporting or selling a live raccoon within the state is a Class C misdemeanor.
Why are raccoons out during the day?
A raccoon out during the day is not always sick, though the sources differ on how unusual it is. The wildlife damage center says healthy raccoons are seldom seen by day, while Humane World for Animals calls daytime activity perfectly normal. Staggering, circling or aggression for no reason are signs to report.
Texas Tech’s Mammals of Texas says raccoons are nocturnal and usually spend the day in their dens, and the wildlife damage center says healthy raccoons are seldom seen during the day. Humane World for Animals sees it differently, and says it is perfectly normal for raccoons to be active throughout the day. It says a raccoon in your yard by day may simply be foraging longer to support its young, visiting a garden while the dogs are inside, or moving to a new spot. In spring, when most litters are born, a mother with kits to feed is one common reason.
Watch the animal from a distance before you call anyone. The same page lists signs that can point to rabies or distemper, among them partial paralysis or trouble using its limbs, circling or staggering as if drunk, and aggression for no reason. It says a raccoon showing these signs may be rabid or infected with canine distemper or feline parvovirus. Keep children and pets inside, and report a raccoon acting this way to your city’s animal control. If anyone has touched it, get medical care at once.
How do you get rid of raccoons in your attic?
Getting raccoons out of an attic means removing the mother and every kit together, then sealing the way in. In spring there are often young in the attic, and the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management warns not to close any opening until you are certain every raccoon has left.
Timing matters because of the young. The wildlife damage center’s raccoon biology page says most litters are born in April or May and are weaned between 2 and 4 months of age, and that dens include chimneys and attics. Sealing the hole too early can shut the kits inside, cut off from their mother.
Humane World for Animals says the young are generally old enough to leave the attic with their mother at around 10 weeks. It says a one-way door, which lets raccoons out but not back in, is best left to a wildlife professional, because the kits must be old enough to follow the mother through it and that is hard to judge. It also warns never to use smoke or fire to drive raccoons out of a chimney, since the young cannot climb out and the mother will stay with them.
Moving a trapped raccoon is not a do-it-yourself job in Texas either. Texas Parks and Wildlife says releasing a nuisance raccoon somewhere else needs the department’s authorization and the permission of the owner of the release site. Heavy thumping overhead after dark points to a raccoon, our raccoon page in the pest library explains, while light scurrying at dawn points to a smaller animal.
Raccoon droppings, and why you should not sweep them up
Raccoon droppings are about 3/4 inch thick and 2 to 3 inches long, with segments and blunt ends, Humane World for Animals says. Raccoons use the same toilet spot again and again, called a latrine. The CDC’s page on how raccoon roundworm spreads says latrines are often at the base of trees, in unsealed attics, and on flat surfaces such as logs, decks and rooftops.
The danger is the raccoon roundworm. The worms in a raccoon’s gut produce millions of eggs that pass in its droppings, and the CDC says the eggs become infectious after 2 to 4 weeks and, with enough moisture, can survive for years. People are infected by swallowing the eggs. The CDC’s raccoon roundworm page says most infections are in children, who are more likely to put dirt in their mouths. Cases are rare, fewer than 25 documented in the United States, but the CDC counts 6 deaths among 23 published cases that reached the brain, as of 2018, and the wildlife damage center says the worm can cause blindness and brain damage.
The CDC says to avoid stirring up dust and debris around a latrine, which is why a broom or a vacuum is the wrong tool. These cleanup steps come from the CDC’s page on preventing raccoon roundworm.
| Cleanup step | What the CDC advises |
|---|---|
| Protect your hands and lungs | Wear disposable gloves, and an N95 respirator if you are working in a tight space such as an attic |
| Keep the dust down | Mist the latrine lightly with water from a spray bottle instead of sweeping |
| Protect your shoes | Wear rubber boots you can scrub, or disposable booties you can throw away |
| Get rid of the droppings | Remove the droppings and soiled material, then bury them or send them to a landfill |
| Treat the surface | Most chemicals do not kill the eggs, but heat does, so pour boiling water over a soiled deck or patio |
| Clean yourself up | Wash your hands well with soap and warm running water, and wash your clothes in hot water |
A latrine that has built up in an attic is a job for a professional. Never let children or pets near one.
How to keep raccoons away from your house
- Lock down the trash. Trash cans should have tight lids that stay on even if a raccoon tips the can over, held with bungee cords or wire if they are loose, the wildlife damage center says. The best answer is to keep the cans inside a garage or shed until pickup day.
- Take away the free meals. Do not leave pet food or water out overnight, and never feed a raccoon. The CDC says, “Do not keep, feed, or adopt wild animals, including raccoons, as pets.” Texas Parks and Wildlife says fed raccoons lose their fear of people and move closer to the house.
- Bring in the bird feeders. The CDC lists removing bird feeders as a way to keep raccoons away. If you keep one, the wildlife damage center says to hang it on a wire between trees or on a baffled pole, and to use a feeder that catches fallen seed.
- Cap the chimney, after it is empty. Use a heavy commercial chimney cap, fastened tightly to the top of the chimney so a raccoon cannot pull it off, the wildlife damage center says. In spring and summer, make sure no mother and kits are inside before you close it.
- Close the way onto the roof. Branches that hang over the roof give raccoons a way up, so the wildlife damage center says to remove them. The same source says a raccoon needs a gap only 4 inches wide to get into a space. Look over the soffits, vents and roof corners each spring. Call a professional if a raccoon is already inside.
How Pest Me Off handles raccoons
Pest Me Off’s wildlife removal starts with a free inspection from the roofline to the crawl space, to identify the animal, find every entry point and check for a nest or young. For raccoons, that means humane removal of the adult and any kits, then closing the entry behind them. We use live traps or one-way doors sized to the animal, and we check for a litter so nothing is left behind in the wall. We never use poison on wildlife.
Once the raccoons are out, we clear nesting and droppings from the access area and show you the damage and the exact way in. Our rodent proofing and exclusion service then seals every opening with metal and mesh an animal cannot chew through, so the next raccoon cannot follow. Every job is quoted after the inspection, never guessed over the phone.
Pest Me Off is a member of the National Wildlife Control Operators Association and certified in advanced wildlife exclusion by Get Bent Academy. Same-day service when you call before noon, in McKinney and the surrounding cities. Collin County Animal Services takes bite and rabies reports, but it does not remove a wild animal from inside your home.
Thumping in the attic after dark? Wildlife removal across Collin County.
We find how the raccoons got in, remove the mother and any kits the humane way, clear the droppings from the access area and seal the opening with metal and mesh so the next one cannot follow. Free wildlife inspection.
