Because raccoons are wild animals and, like any other wild thing, can put up a vicious fight if they are cornered, some people think they will just get a cage and try and trap the animal themselves, thereby saving themselves some money. You should know, however, that it is probably illegal for you to trap a raccoon and then take it somewhere else and release it. If you can’t trap it and then take it somewhere else, then that means you have to kill it. Very few people know how to humanely euthanize trapped wildlife, so for your safety and to be humane, you really need to have someone involved who is licensed and is able to handle the animal humanely and, if necessary, safely dispose of its remains.
One reason many states do not allow people to trap and release raccoons is because, as we noted in a previous blog, they are the animal most often reported that is infected with rabies. In fact 40% of all reported rabies cases now come from raccoons, with skunks and foxes coming in second and third.
In fact, it is thought that the rise in the number of rabid raccoons on the east coast of the US was because some hunting clubs in Virginia wanted to restock their local raccoon populations and did so with some raccoons that had been caught in Florida. Some of these had rabies, but did not yet exhibit the symptoms. Since that time, increased rates of raccoon rabies has spread across the East and all the way up into Canada.
In fact, before 1960, most reported rabies cases were in domestic animals, but now almost 90% of the cases involved wild animals. Rabies in humans though is pretty rare; and there are only about 2 cases a year in the whole US. Of these more than half were due to contacts with bats, not raccoons.