Best Ways to Get Raccoons Out of Trees

Need raccoon removal in your hometown? We service over 500 USA locations! Click here to hire us in your town and check prices - updated for year 2020.

If you have spotted a raccoon seemingly stuck in a tree, the best thing you can do is leave it there. Raccoons can climb and jump pretty well, so if they managed to get up there in the first place, there's a good chance that they are perfectly capable of getting themselves back down again.



Many animals will run up trees when they feel they are being threatened. It helps to get above the predator when it's chasing after you, you know? If the animal stays up there for sometime, it’s usually because they think the predator or attacking animal is still around. It might even have mistaken you for a bigger predator looking to make a tasty meal out of it, and if you're still hanging around, the critter is never going to come down.

If you walk away and observe from a place quite the distance away, there's a good chance the animal will come down of it’s own accord after a little while. If it doesn’t, there's a chance that the raccoon is waiting for night. This could be the case if it has set up home nearby, such as in your yard (for example) and is simply waiting for the coast to be clear so that it can come down and start foraging for food. Either that or it’ll run straight home to recover from the entire ordeal.

You should attempt to help an animal that has become stuck in a tree because they are usually not stuck at all. Raccoons, as we have already stated, are actually pretty good climbers. They can climb down as well as up, although the decline is usually not quite so graceful.

If the raccoon seems to have been there for some time (and you can verify that the little critter hasn't just come down and scampered back up when you weren't looking), it is time to call in the professionals. Raccoons are just one of the wild animals that are known to be carriers of the rabies virus. That aside, they can come with a string of other parasites and nasty diseases that you are not going to want to get too close to. Also: these creatures are known to scratch and bite with some very sharp teeth and claws when they get scared or angry. You’ll be in the firing line if you get too close.

Go back to the Raccoon Removal page, or learn tips to do it yourself with my How to Get Rid of Raccoons guide.