A family daycare in Saint-Jean-Baptiste, at the foot of Mont Saint-Hilaire, interrupted the use of its fenced backyard after the discovery of a raccoon that regularly entered the play area and had begun digging under the outdoor toy shed. The person in charge of the daycare, aware of the health risks for the children who attend the playground on a daily basis, immediately requested professional intervention. Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a municipality in the Montérégie region neighbouring Beloeil and Mont-Saint-Hilaire, is a mix of residential areas and farmland crossed by green corridors that maintain constant pressure from wildlife on inhabited areas. The health requirements specific to child care settings required a rigorous, documented and timely approach. The team of certified exterminator in Montérégie responded to this call as a priority.
Inspection of the yard and identification of accesses
The inspection focused on the perimeter of the yard fence, the toy shed, and the immediate surroundings of the property. The fence had two areas of weakness: a broken wooden blade at the bottom of a panel and a gap between the fence and the shed foundation. Under the shed, an excavation of about twenty centimetres began the formation of a burrow. Characteristic footprints in the soil, hairs on the edges of the fence, and droppings near the excavation confirmed the recent activity of an adult raccoon. The extermination team in Saint-Jean-Baptiste assessed the situation as requiring a quick intervention, given the daily presence of young children in this space. The absence of an active nest in the shed indicated that the animal was looking to establish a habitat rather than already having one, which made it easier to resolve the problem.
Safe capture in child care settings
Capturing raccoons in a daycare requires special precautions to avoid contact between children and the traps or captured animals. The live-trap cages have been placed exclusively out of reach of children: one cage under the shed accessible only from behind and a second against the fence on the outside. Both traps have been secured with tie-downs to prevent accidental movement. The early checking of the traps took place before the children’s arrival time, every morning without exception. The raccoon, an adult male, was captured on the first night and immediately relocated to the wild. A 72-hour surveillance without additional activity confirmed the absence of conspecifics in the area. The entire process was documented with photos and a written report for the daycare’s compliance records. Consult our work on a similar sensitive environment to see our operational rigour.
Decontamination of the yard and playground equipment
The decontamination was carried out according to a protocol adapted to environments frequented by children. The excavated soil under the shed was treated with an approved contact disinfectant. The droppings present in the courtyard were collected and disposed of in airtight bags. The child-accessible surfaces of the shed were cleaned with a certified disinfectant for daycare spaces. The outdoor toys in the contaminated area were washed and disinfected one by one. An enzymatic deodorizing treatment was applied to the animal’s areas of activity to neutralize pheromones and prevent any recolonization. Our decontamination and disinfection service applies certified protocols adapted to each type of environment, including childcare spaces. A decontamination report was submitted to the person in charge for her regulatory compliance files.
Closure of access and sustainable prevention for the daycare
The broken fence blade was replaced and a strip of galvanized wire mesh was installed at the bottom of the fence along the entire perimeter to prevent future excavation. The space between the fence and the shed foundation was filled with compacted gravel protected by a metal curb. Under the shed, a skirt of galvanized wire mesh buried twenty centimeters deep has been installed to discourage any further attempt at burrows. The manager received recommendations for preventive management: avoid leaving any food outside, inspect the fence regularly and immediately report any new signs of animal activity. Our port of entry closure service can be called upon each fall for a complete preventive check of the perimeter of the property, before raccoons seek shelter for the winter in this agricultural area at the foot of Mont Saint-Hilaire.