Do raccoons attack people?

Raccoons are generally not dangerous animals to humans. Only on rare occasions can a raccoon attack be fatal to humans. Normally, raccoons will not attack humans. They are wild animals and they like to avoid any contact with humans, so when they face humans, they will decide to flee and not face the humans. There are some circumstances that will push raccoons to attack people. This is normally caused by humans who take a bad approach towards the critters. The first step to keeping the raccoons away is to ensure that your house is not too appealing to them. If the raccoons are able to find easy food on the property like an unprotected trash can or outdoor bowls for pet food, they will start to come to your place and they will become accustomed to your presence. Sometimes the raccoons can be too bold and may get closer to the humans, which increases the chances of having a confrontation. When you chase away the raccoon but end up cornering it, you may be attacked by the raccoon in self-defense. Taking this into account, you should not try to feed the raccoons intentionally.

It is not good for the wild animals to be fed by people, and this is the easiest way to attract raccoons to your house. When you use your hands to feed them, the raccoon may not attack you, but it may end up biting you. The dangerous situation where the raccoon may end up attacking you is when the raccoon is living in the attic, crawl space, garage or chimney. Most of the time, a raccoon may choose to make a home in your house if it is about to give birth, and when it has the babies, it is likely to attack to protect its babies. When you have raccoons in your house or in your yard, it is good to get professional intervention to get rid of the raccoons. When a professional helps you to get rid of the raccoons, then it will prevent them from returning and it will limit the damage that raccoons may cause.

In addition to avoiding being injured by a raccoon when it attacks you, keep in mind that raccoons may carry rabies. There are many cases when people suffer because they contracted rabies through a raccoon bite. If you have children, you have to be extra careful to ensure that the children do have an encounter with raccoons. Pets also can be exposed to a raccoon’s attack. Pets can get a mite infestation, ticks and fleas from the raccoons.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Raccoons page or email us if you have any other questions about Do raccoons attack people?