Raccoon Removal in Alexandria, VA

Say where it is and when you hear it: Virginia Tech Extension notes chimneys and attics are common daytime resting and birthing spots, so overhead thumps at dusk or a raccoon using the chimney point to a den, not a one-time visitor.

Know the Virginia rule: the Department of Wildlife Resources states it is illegal to trap and relocate an animal to another area, so the lasting fix is sealing the raccoon out — closing openings into the building and cutting back overhanging limbs — rather than hauling one across town.

Mind the timing: most Virginia raccoons mate in February–March and kits arrive in April–May, so a single raccoon in spring may be a female with hidden young — ask the provider to confirm no kits are left behind before any entry is sealed, or a litter gets walled in.

Route the health risks through the right channel: raccoons are Virginia’s primary rabies carrier, so send any bite, scratch, or a raccoon acting sick (stumbling, foaming, aggressive) to your local health department, and treat a raccoon latrine as a Baylisascaris roundworm cleanup — the CDC says contaminated droppings should be removed and burned, buried, or sent to a landfill before the eggs turn infectious, not just swept up.