If you’re curious about what it’s like to be in the industry of pest control in Santa Clarita, the latest “Pest Talk” show presented by Unipest focused on the trick to trapping raccoons.

Cardon Ellis, the show’s host and owner of Unipest, invited Frank Ortiz of Advanced Wildlife Removal to talk about his experience with trapping raccoons. 

“We deal in Santa Clarita all the time with raccoons,” Ellis said. “Granada Hills, North L.A. County, the whole nine yards has tons of raccoon activity.”

Related: ‘Pest Talk’ With Unipest: Catching Coyotes With Fried Chicken (VIDEO)

Ortiz first shared that raccoons require a strong cage for trapping.

“The trick is, you have to buy a good cage for raccoons,” he said. “Possums, skunks, all the other ones, (more basic) cages are great. For raccoons, they’re not. They’ll bust out of them. They’re intense.”

To give an example of a raccoon’s strength, Ortiz noted that he has seen what a raccoon can do to a tarp that he uses to cover cages after trapping skunks. 

“The raccoons will pull the entire tarp through a 1×1 inch square into their trap if it’s within range,” he said. “I don’t even know if I can necessarily do that. That’s how much force they exert over it.”

Fish has proven to be a good bait item for raccoons, but should be wrapped in mesh and tied down to the back of the cage so the raccoon doesn’t reach over the trigger pedal and grab it, according to Ortiz. 

“They like fish,” he said. “Whenever we get a trap-shy raccoon that doesn’t want to go into the traps, we use a piece of salmon. I literally will let it sit in the back of my truck while I drive around all day and get it a little extra smelly, wrap it in some mesh and zip-tie it to the back of the trap. And then I disguise the trap between bushes and whatever’s around to make it look less trap-like.”

Ellis noted that Unipest staff usually do what’s called an exclusion when it comes to raccoons, which involves getting them to leave a customer’s attic and then sealing it off so they can’t come back. 

“What I have done in the past is, I’ve just bought the disposable radios, put a battery in them and I just throw the radio in there,” Ellis said. “It makes it so audibly uncomfortable, and I’ll put a trail cam up and you’ll see the raccoons self-relocate because it’s just a horrible living environment.”

Just like this method can be tried out by a homeowner independently, Ortiz noted that another option for a homeowner is to order male raccoon pheromones online to rid themselves of a female raccoon and her babies.

“When there’s a female with her pups, the male finds them (and) he’s going to kill all of them. It’s a dominance thing,” Ortiz said. “So you get the male raccoon pheromones when there’s mom and babies. You just put some of them on some cotton balls, … throw it in your attic and over a few days, she should leave.”

To watch the full episode of “Pest Talk” with Unipest, click here for the extended YouTube video. 

Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight for Unipest.

The Santa Clarita pest control company Unipest is the premiere residential and commercial pest control company for Los Angeles County. If you’re looking for pest control in Santa Clarita or surrounding areas, Unipest prides itself on being your one-stop solution, and offers orange oil treatments, bee hive removal, fumigation, escrow inspections, removal of bed bugs, organic pest control and more. Unipest offers termite control in Santa Clarita as well. Residents and business owners looking for “pest control near me” or “termite control near me” are encouraged to call Unipest for immediate assistance.

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