Raccoons Skunks in Winter

You might think wildlife slows down when temperatures drop, but raccoons and skunks actually stay quite active during the cooler months. In fact, late winter and early spring are their peak breeding times. This makes it the perfect time to deal with any wildlife problems around your Florida home.

During this time, mother raccoons and skunks look for cozy, protected spots to nest. Unfortunately, your home often looks like the perfect place to them. This can lead to serious damage to your property. When these animals come close to people during winter, they may also become more aggressive. Sick animals struggling to survive can be even more dangerous and hard to predict.

These critters aren't trying to make your life more difficult; they're just doing what they need to survive. But keeping your home safe and protecting your family matters more than their comfort.

WHAT DRIVES RACCOONS AND SKUNKS TO STAY ACTIVE IN WINTER?

Finding Enough Food Sources

Winter makes it tough for wildlife to find food. During warmer months, there's plenty to eat in nature. But when it gets cold, raccoons and skunks take bigger risks to find meals, including coming closer to homes.

Many people think skunks sleep all winter, but that's not true. They have to come out often to find food. Raccoons have the same problem. These smart animals know how to use their nimble paws to get into trash cans and other food sources.

When they're hungry in winter, they get braver. Sometimes they even break into homes looking for something to eat, which means you might need emergency raccoon removal.

Changing Temperatures

When the weather warms up for a few days during winter, both raccoons and skunks become much more active. Here's how temperature changes affect these animals:

After using lots of energy to stay warm during cold days, they need to eat more to build up their fat again
Warm and cold cycles can create new holes and gaps in your home that animals can squeeze through
Weather changes can flood or destroy their natural hiding spots, pushing them to find new shelter

Sharing Living Spaces

When there aren't enough good places to live, different animals might end up bunking together, sometimes in your house.

So where do skunks go when they can't find natural dens? They look for dry, covered areas like the space under your porch, inside your shed, or in crawl spaces. Raccoons do the same thing, but they usually like higher spots, like attics or around chimneys.

Breeding Season

Something many people forget about is that winter is mating season for these animals. Skunks don't really hibernate, and they start looking for mates as early as February.

Raccoons start their mating season even earlier, usually in January. Male raccoons travel much farther during this time to find females. This is another reason why you see more raccoons moving around in winter.

The Difference Between Torpor and Hibernation

Here's something interesting: raccoons and skunks don't truly hibernate, like some other animals do. Instead, they go into something called torpor. This is very different from the deep sleep that animals like groundhogs experience.

Real hibernation means an animal's body temperature, heart rate, and breathing all drop way down for months at a time. You can barely wake up a truly hibernating animal, and they won't leave their dens all winter long.

Torpor is more like taking a really long nap when it gets cold outside. Raccoons and skunks go into torpor when temperatures drop really low, but they wake up regularly, especially when the weather goes back and forth between warm and cold. Their body temperature only drops a little bit, and they can be up and moving around within just a few hours when it warms up.

Tips for Dealing with Winter Wildlife

Get rid of anything that might attract hungry animals. Use trash cans with tight lids that wildlife can't open. Bring pet food inside at night. Keep your grill clean.
Find and block any spots where animals might get into your home before they discover them.
Check areas where temperature changes might have made new openings. Look for loose roof shingles, holes in your siding, or gaps around vents near your foundation.
Take care of any wildlife problem right away. Removing animals in winter is often harder than in summer because they're more desperate and might already have offspring (especially in late winter).

Professional Winter Wildlife Removal and Prevention

Let Conserv Pest Control & Wildlife Removal Help Today

Don't wait until the weather warms up to handle wildlife issues. If you're hearing strange sounds in your attic, noticing weird smells around your property, or seeing animals where they shouldn't be, now is the time to act.

Handling wildlife during the cooler months takes special skills, the right tools, and knowledge about how these animals behave during different seasons. Our team of certified pest control operators, wildlife biologists, and trained technicians are equipped to handle any wildlife issue.

Get Started

So get in touch with the nuisance wildlife removal experts at Conserv Pest Control & Wildlife Removal today to check out your Florida property and create a plan to keep animals out. For emergencies, call our 24/7 line at 888-686-9811.

Get a Quote

Raccoons & Skunks in Winter