Check this link DD http://www.aaanimalcontrol.com/professional-trapper/howtogetridofraccoons.htm Pretty good info.
I hear you on the cats. I personally do not have an issue with cats in general, we don't have one because my wife is allergic but I had one growing up. We do however have a crazy cat lady across the street and her many cats spend a large portion of the night in my yard. It is not uncommon to find prints and sometimes even poop on my car in the morning. As long as they don't tear up my trash or yard I usually don't have a problem, but occasionally I have to send them home a little forcefully so they will not mess with my stuff. I've never had raccoon problems but I have to dispose of possums pretty often and occasionally we have skunks or armadillos hanging around. The latter 2 I usually leave alone.
I have possums, dillos, coons...everything....and would not be bothered by any of them, but the roof poop has crossed the line. It is now "Go time" DD
Man we got this new Kuerig coffee maker....and it is just amazing.... Starbucks just lost out on about $10 a day from my family. DD
Careful, man, if they find a weakness, they will tear into your home/roof/whatever and make a home there. we had em, and once we found them and sealed the entry, they took off. I think getting a dog didn't hurt. Also, I hear they don't like the sound of people's voices, and was advised that if they didn't leave after sealing it up, that playing talk radio near where they had been hanging out would drive them away.
True story: I was in Whistler, Canada sometime back. Up in the hills somewhere looking at some waterfalls I think. For some odd reason I was eating plain bread out of a bag. Its pretty foresty and out comes this line of like 5 monstrous raccoon in single file military style. They are heading straight for me. From a distance I thought it was kinda cool and funny. Everybody is just looking at this. They walk up straight to me, still single file, the first one tippytoes and grabs the bag of bread out of my hand and then they all walk away. Never broke rank. Weird as ****. Yes I know...cool story bro.
We need to keep most of them in the D&D. Speaking of cats, and I do not want to derail the coon talk for poon talk, but lately, there have been no cats roaming around in our neighborhood. In the 7 years we have lived here there have been about 5-8 cats around, maybe the coons chased em away? Anyway, so far, 1 coon trapped in 1 night....gonna put it back out manana. DD
If you live in a suburban area next to a wilderness the supply of raccoons will endless. They propagate and migrate to fill every range that will support them. It's like trying to drain the ocean with a bucket. The best thing you can do is keep your abode free of trash and pet food so they will hang out where there is trash and pet food.
Just be careful of the racoon's sidekicks. The hippo will kick your ass, and the turtle will put your ass out with a dart. The turtle might even blow you up with a bomb if he's feeling violent, or he could hack your account and all of your posts would end with Cooper Gang instead of DD...
Call a tree guy pay him a few hundred to properly trim your tree. Your house's roof does not need shade. Certainly does not need leaves and the moisture they bring. Leave the raccoons alone. When you do release them you are supposed to be several miles from anyones house.