Raccoons & Attic Insulation

[Jerry Simon]

Whenever I find piles of raccoon poop in an attic, I also notice that significant amounts of loose-fill fiberglass insulaiton are missing. Anyone know where it went? Do the raccoons eat it, use it for nesting, sell it?

[Robert Jones]

I know when they gain access to crawl spaces around here, they do use the under floor insulation for nesting. Some of it gets so soiled it really doesn't resemble insulation any longer.

[Les]

Jerry,

Yes, they do eat it. Often they serve it with some nice fava beans and a touch of soy sauce.

I have seen raccoons packing loose fiberglass into plastic bags for re-sale. That is where we got the symbol/term "R" value - low priced insulation. "R" stands for the amount of loose insulation a raccoon can remove from a space, in a given increment of time.

Your welcome!

[kurt]

It pretty much gets mashed down into nothing; insulation is mostly air, so when the raccoon soils it and mashes it, it kinda disappears.

I always wondered what R value meant; now, after Les' explanation, I understand..........

[Jerry Simon]

Not mashed, down...gone. Almost every time...

Left side of pict it's mashed, but on right side...gone.

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[Erby]

That's where the squirrels packed up their house and left when the racoons came in. Moved the insulation into the trees with them.

Be glad they didn't damage the place when the left like some of the foreclosure people do!

Seriously, maybe it was just never insulated?

-

[mgbinspect]

Jerry,

Yes, they do eat it. Often they serve it with some nice fava beans and a touch of soy sauce.

I have seen raccoons packing loose fiberglass into plastic bags for re-sale. That is where we got the symbol/term "R" value - low priced insulation. "R" stands for the amount of loose insulation a raccoon can remove from a space, in a given increment of time.

Your welcome!

And, I always wondered how those orphan pieces of yellow and pink insulation end up in the middle of the forest. This is truly a revelation.

[^]

[Jerry Simon]

Seriously, maybe it was just never insulated?

-

No, it was. This is something I see each and every time I find a raccoon infestation in an attic. I've seen it a hundred times if not more, and thought I'd finally ask about it. Like Kurt said, a lot is mashed-down, but much is simply missing.

Iz funny...I figured Kurt would know about this. I see such often up on the north shore, in those ritzy lakefront suburbs (think Risky Business, the movie), close to where he lives - close, but no cigar; Evanston is full of yuppie scum and it's going to hell.

[kurt]

I know what you're saying, because I see the same thing. I just always kinda figured they moved it around, mashed it down, scoured out areas to pile up and mat down into a nest, etc., etc.......

I've never really considered the possibility that they were smuggling it out of the attic...........[:-bigeyes

[robert1966]

I don't know about the coons, but the remodeling crew in a house I went in last week moved all the insulation from the front to the rear of the attic and to repair the attic support timbers and the living room ceiling and left it all piled 4 feet high in the rear of the attic space.

[rossneag]

We just started including this in attics with probable or confirmed raccoon activity. It is borrowed from someplace most of us know...

"Raccoon roundworm encephalitis is a very serious (and potentially fatal) disease that requires a long recovery period. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, infected raccoons commonly shed millions of roundworm eggs each day in their feces. These eggs can survive for years under adverse conditions. You can become infected by breathing dust in enclosed spaces in which raccoons have been living, such as attics. In parts of the U.S., such as the West Coast, Midwest and Northeast, local infection rates among raccoons run as high as 80%. In 2003, only 25 cases were reported, but this disease is difficult to diagnose. Of those 25 infected people, five of them died."

You may not be able to tell if raccoons have lived in the attic you?re inspecting. If you see raccoon scat on the roof or in the attic, mention it in your inspection report.

[Les]

This job has just too much liability for me!

[JohnC]

Speaking of raccoons- I had an interesting find at my inspection yesterday why looking up the fireplace flue.

John Callan

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[Mark P]

Good Picture. I'd have closed that damper pretty damn quick.

[JohnC]

I closed it real fast-but reopened it for the photo with quick prayer that he did not land on my head-that could have got ugly! (Could not pass up the photo shot!)

John Callan

[John Kogel]

Canadian coons poop in a corner. Maybe they're more polite and respectful up here. After all, we never wore their pelts on our heads like y'all did. []

The same critters that moved that insulation also installed some pot lights.

That's a classic pic you got there, John.