The attic gets all the attention, but some of the busiest wildlife real estate in Oakville is at ground level: the void under your deck or shed. In November, that space reads to a raccoon like a ready-made winter den. If the dog has started fixating on one corner of the deck, or fresh soil keeps appearing along the skirt, something may already be living underneath. Here is how to read the signs, why quick fixes fail, and how raccoon removal handles it humanely.
Why the space under a deck or shed is a ready-made den
What a raccoon wants in a den is simple: dark, dry, quiet, and protected from wind. The space under a low deck, a porch, or a shed on a pad or piers delivers all of it. The soil along the skirt is loose, the structure overhead sheds rain and snow, and nobody goes under there. Raccoons are climbers first — the attic is still their favourite address — but they are opportunists, and a ready void at ground level is hard to pass up. Oakville adds the invitation: ravine lots, mature yards, gardens and garbage close by. And once a raccoon has denned under a structure undisturbed, that space is proven shelter — and proven shelter gets reused.
The signs something is living underneath
You will probably not see the tenant. You read the traffic instead:
A dug or forced opening at the deck skirt or shed base. Loose soil fanned out beside the hole, a skirt board pushed, pried or torn aside, lattice cracked at ground level. Check the whole perimeter — there is often a second, quieter entry.
Tracks at the opening. Five-toed, hand-like prints in soft soil or first snow, coming and going from the same spot.
Sounds after dark. Heavy thumping under the deck floor, chattering or churring — a raccoon is a substantial animal, and it sounds like one.
A latrine nearby. Raccoons concentrate droppings in one spot — a pile beside the deck or on the shed roof is a strong sign of a resident.
Evening sightings, and a fixated dog. A raccoon slipping under the same corner at dusk, night after night — and a dog suddenly obsessed with it.
Why lattice, rocks and blocking one hole don’t hold
Most first fixes share one flaw: they sit on the surface, and the animal works under or around them.
Lattice and decorative skirting look closed, but they are surface panels — a raccoon tears a weak panel aside with its hands, and anything determined digs under the bottom edge.
Rocks, bricks and boards piled at the hole are neither attached nor deep. The animal digs beside the pile, or pushes in at the next weak point.
Sealing the one hole you found fails twice over: there is usually a backup entry, and the animal may still be inside — and a raccoon sealed in will tear its way out somewhere worse.
A board or foam patch is not a barrier to an animal that rips and tears — it is a short delay.
Exclusion that holds fastens to the structure, runs the full perimeter, and extends underground, where the digging happens.
How deck and shed exclusion works: out first, then screened shut
On under-deck and under-shed calls on wildlife removal visits in Oakville, the work follows the same humane order as an attic job:
Inspection. The full perimeter is walked — every opening, used and unused — to confirm the animal and how it travels. Closing the wrong hole first just reroutes the traffic.
One-way door. A door is fitted over the main entry that lets the raccoon leave on its own and not get back in. November timing helps: young raccoons are independent by the end of summer, so a late-fall den is an adult job — one-way doors are a good option from October to December, when tiny babies are unlikely. From January through September, an under-deck raccoon is assumed to be a mother with young, and the approach changes. The door keeps the animal in its own territory — no trapping and dumping — and if live trapping is ever required, Ontario law limits release to within 1 km of the capture point. Ontario’s guidance on preventing and managing conflicts with small animals points the same way.
Confirm empty. Nothing is closed for good until the space is confirmed clear — activity at the door and openings is monitored over several nights.
Trench and screen the whole perimeter. A trench is dug around the deck or shed, about a foot deep and a foot wide. Heavy wire mesh is fastened to the base of the structure, run down into the trench, and bent outward at the bottom in an L shape, then backfilled. That underground flare is the working part: digging at the skirt meets mesh; digging further out meets the flare lying flat under the soil. Screen only the used hole and the next animal digs in two feet to the left; screen the perimeter and the space is closed.
Cleanup where needed. Latrine material is dealt with as part of the job, with protection — raccoon droppings can carry roundworm eggs, so they are never handled dry or bare-handed.
A shed is two jobs, not one
A shed adds a second front. The void underneath is one job; the inside is another. Raccoons get into sheds through gaps at the base, a door that hangs open or fits poorly, and occasionally from the roof — and an interior stacked with stored items is denning cover. So the shed inspection covers both: base screened like a deck, doors, base gaps and roofline checked and sealed. A screened base under a shed whose door hangs open is half a job.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just put lattice or skirting around my deck myself?
You can, and it will look closed — but lattice is a surface fix. It is not fastened against a raccoon tearing at it, and it does not extend underground, so animals dig under it. The barrier that holds is mesh fastened to the structure, trenched down and flared outward.
Something is under my deck right now. Can the screening go on this week?
The screening goes on — after the animal is out. The order is one-way door first, the space confirmed empty, then trench and screen. Screening an occupied den shut traps the animal underneath, and it will tear its way out through whatever is weakest. In late fall the tenant is almost always an adult on its own — the cleanest season to do this job.
How do you know the space is really empty before backfilling?
By watching the door and the openings over several nights. A simple version homeowners use is the newspaper test: stuff the entry with balled newspaper — if it stays in place for three days and nights, with no sounds underneath, the den is very likely empty. We confirm before the trench is backfilled, not after.
Will a raccoon just dig in somewhere else along the deck?
That is exactly why the screening runs the full perimeter instead of patching the active hole — and why it flares outward underground. Digging anywhere along the skirt meets the same barrier — no soft spot to find.
What about the droppings under there — is that a health concern?
Raccoon latrines can carry the eggs of raccoon roundworm, a risk if droppings are disturbed and ingested. The risk is real but specific, and it is handled with a protected cleanup — not a garden hose and bare hands. If you find a latrine, leave it alone and let it be dealt with as part of the job.
Regional Wildlife Services is Sean Thornton, owner-operator — 20+ years of humane wildlife removal across Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and the Niagara region. If something is denning under your Oakville deck or shed, call 905-320-8984 — phone calls and bookings are taken 7 days a week, with service appointments Monday to Friday typically. Or reach us through the contact page and tell us what you are seeing, and where.
