For raccoons, people have mixed opinions as some people don’t want to be around them while others like to have them as pets. Similarly, sometimes raccoons cannot cause destruction at your place, but sometimes they can be a complete nuisance for you and your site as well. As they like the place to live the most is your attic. But how can they get into it? Do they chew the wood to get into your attic? But do raccoons eat woods? This article will look into it.
However, raccoons don’t like to eat wood, so they don’t eat it, but they can chew it without any hesitation. As raccoons have sharp teeth, that’s why chewing and gnawing on wood is not a big deal for them. Moreover, raccoons can chew the wood of your house as well to enter into your site. So if you have raccoons in your area, then make sure that you have enough safety measurements.
Moreover, let’s dig into how raccoons behave in the woods when they have to remove them from your way. So if you are curious to know about it, then navigate this article.
Do Raccoons Eat Wood?
Raccoons are opportunistic omnivores animals, and they can eat a variety of food based on both plant and animal matter. But they are known as opportunistic because they always want to get better food with less energy.
Moreover, they can eat squirrels, rabbits, chickens, mice, rats, etc., but they only attack when they have enough opportunity to catch them easily. However, they avoid attacking and fighting other animals due to their weight.
As they can eat almost everything they get that’s why they every you wonder that can they eat wood as well? Then a precise answer to this question is that they don’t like to eat wood. However, they can chew wood easily if needed, and their sharp teeth will help them do so.
Not only this as their claws developed like that they can hold things tightly that’s why they can climb trees and even your houses. Moreover, if your house is made of wood, having raccoons around your area might harm your territory.
Because they love to live in attics, and for that, they can chew your roof wood as well. Not only this, but they can make holes after chewing the wood to get inside your place. Not only wood, but they can chew several other materials as well. Let’s dig into them in detail.
What Can Raccoons Chew Through?
We know that raccoons have sharp and strong teeth, and they can also chew and tear the wood. Similarly, they can tear and chew other materials as well. For example, they can chew wires, water pipes, wooden doors, etc.
However, the destruction can be severe if there are more raccoons in your place. So if you ever see any holes in your wooden roofs or attics, make sure to take safety measurements as soon as possible. And if you have raccoons in your house, it is better to call for experts to remove them.
As it can be dangerous to remove raccoons by your own without experts. Because not only they can harm us with their sharp claws and teeth, but they can transfer several harmful diseases to us as well. Moreover, raccoons are wild animals, and they can create a huge mess at your place.
For example, they can spread their feces and urine throughout your attic, which can cause smell and diseases as well.
Can Raccoons Climb Plywood?
Plywood is a type of wood made of multiple veneer layers that are glued to each other. This type of wood is used for house construction like the walls, sheathing, etc. As raccoons can chew wood, so can they climb plywood as well?
However, you might be surprise to know that raccoons can climb this plywood more easily than you think. Because they can dig their claws into the plywood while climbing it. Moreover, this is dangerous as raccoons can cause severe damage to your house.
Not only this, chewing and tearing plywood is easy for them as plywood is made of thin wood. But if your house or the fence of your garden is made of plywood, then raccoons can cause destruction in your garden as well as in your house.
And if you find the presence of raccoons at your site, then call the raccoon removal experts. So that they can remove raccoons.
Read also: How High Can a Raccoon Jump?
How Do I Protect My House from Raccoons?
If raccoons live with humans, they would like to make their nests in humans’ homes. But this is not safe for us as they can cause severe damage and transfer diseases to us. So to keep them away from your house is necessary. But how can we do this let have a look at it.
Firstly, make sure that you have no more food sources for raccoons at your place. As raccoons are opportunistic animals, they can surely want to sneak food if they find it at your place. However, raccoons can eat pet animals’ food as well.
That’s why to keep raccoons away from your place, make sure that you don’t have any food source for them. Moreover, not only a food source but make sure that you don’t have any water source for them.
Secondly, it will be surprising for you that raccoons can eat from your trash as well as they are scavengers. So make sure that you have a proper lid on your trash. Because not only can they create a mess after spreading trash, but they can also damage other property.
Thirdly, however, to keep raccoons away from your place, you can use raccoon’s repellents as well. In raccoon’s repellents, you can use commercially available repellents as well as the urine of raccoon’s predators. But these repellents are not that effective source to keep raccoons away.
Fourthly, raccoons can come to your place if it is too easy to approach your house and yard. As raccoons are good climbers, that’s why they can climb into your house as well.
Because of making sure that you don’t have any climbing spot for raccoons from which they can access your place easily. For that, cut all the branches of trees if there are any. As of this, the raccoon will be unable to approach the roofs of your house.
A Final Thought:
In conclusion, raccoons don’t eat wood as wood doesn’t offer them any nutrients and minerals. But they can chew wood easily, and commonly they are used to doing this when they have to enter the houses or gardens in search of food and a living place.
However, plywood is the type of wood that raccoons can climb and chew easily because this wood is made with layers of thin wood. Moreover, to keep raccoons away from your place, ensure that you are not offering them any food and water source.