Found a raccoon in the living room — now seeking a tech solution so it doesn’t happen again

Well, that was an enjoyable early morning!

I got up around 2:20 a.m. today to the noise of what became a feline recipe diminishing the system in our dining-room, left to the living-room, and was stunned to discover a huge raccoon recalling at me.

It’s vague that was extra terrified, the undesirable intruder or the drowsy person that located it, however my screams sent out the raccoon scampering back out the feline door to the yard– which was the ways whereby it had actually accessed to begin with, as we discovered after evaluating our Ring electronic camera video.

A closer evaluation of the video clip archive (see listed below) revealed that the raccoon (or possibly its buddy) had actually remained in and out formerly regarding an hour in the past, evidently remaining in your home for regarding 10 mins unnoticed.

Surprisingly, we have not located any kind of damages, and both of our felines appear penalty.

Long time visitors and fans will certainly remember this as the most recent in a series of urban wildlife encounters captured on our yard cams.

Yet this newest one was a shock. We have among those expensive integrated circuit pet dog doors, under the SureFlap brand name, that in theory permits just our 2 felines to get in.

With their tiny and dexterous hands, it ends up that raccoons can tear the door open up the various other means (the instructions it typically turns when a feline leaves), which does not call for an integrated circuit to unlock in our specific design.

There is a remedy in the gadget itself, an “trespasser setting” that secures the pet dog door both methods briefly when it identifies an effort to get in without an integrated circuit. I have actually currently triggered this, and it appears to be functioning, as I found when both raccoons returned for one more tried raid regarding 2 hours later on.

Nonetheless, this makes me anxious regarding accidentally stopping our very own felines from coming back in your home. We have actually utilized this feline door for a couple of years, and like the principle. The felines obtain the flexibility ahead and go as they please, however remain primarily in the yard, and can promptly run back right into your home if they really feel in danger.

The door does have a clock attribute to stop gain access to at hours of our finding, however I hesitate to present brand-new limitations on our felines, after years of unlimited freedom.

It has actually been an excellent arrangement, however just like all advancements, there are advantages and downsides, as I was advised today! Right or wrong, my propensity in these scenarios is to increase down by seeking one more technology service. I have actually been looking into motion-sensing lights, and various other feline doors with two-way integrated circuit capacities.

Allow me understand if you have a much better concept:todd@geekwire.com In the meanwhile, I think I’ll be oversleeping the living-room, paying attention for a scrape at the door.