I'm mainly a lurker in this group since my museum is a zoo, so our collection is live and "wet," and I deal with very different pests than most of the rest of you. I do deal with raccoons quite frequently, and I would like to do so with exclusion, but they are very agile climbers. You could try to install some kind of noise making device, even just a radio set to a talk station, but I would guess that NYC raccoons would be less deterred by this than other populations. I wish I had more encouraging advice for you; I trap and euthanize.
On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 3:54 PM Lisa Bruno <[email protected]> wrote: > The closest we came to this was a big grey squirrel. Somehow he got into > our walls, was heard running around the 6th floor above Development, > Administration and the Boardroom. Luckily, he never was near art. He > found a pathway into the Boardroom and one of our engineers tracked his > movement for a few days, and eventually caught him and put him in a > carrier/cage and two other staff members released him in the park. The > squirrel seamed relieved. > > > > Second story – a juvenile red-tailed hawk – got into the galleries from > skylights. He was found sitting on the frame of a Sargent painting. He > was beautiful but the talons! We isolated the gallery, and eventually > called people from the Prospect Park Zoo who sent over staff who caught him > and removed him for release. > > > > Hope that helps. > > > > Lisa > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On Behalf > Of *Nau, Morgan > *Sent:* Thursday, August 28, 2025 3:39 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [PestList] Urban Raccoons > > > > Hello All, > > > > I’m writing to the group about a “pest” that’s new to me - raccoons - and > I’d love some thoughts and advice from the group. > > > > We are located in Central Park, so there is a significant amount of > wildlife all around us (a coyote showed up on the 5th Ave side just a > couple months ago!). This spring, a raccoon family moved into a tree right > next to the museum and made themselves quite comfortable. For the last > month one of the juveniles has begun exploring the exterior of the museum > and he’s been found on the roof garden, on ledges, and most recently has > turned a construction site into his personal jungle gym. He stays away from > people, doesn’t appear sick or rabid, hasn’t caused any damage or made any > messes, and is clearly just very curious (I’ve attached a few pictures of > the little bandit in action). So far, I’ve advised people to give a wide > berth and to keep the site clear of food and trash, which they have, and > the construction crew haven’t had any problems. > > > > Unfortunately, work is beginning on our skylights in a couple of weeks (so > I’m on a time crunch!) and there is concern that it could find a way into > the building and cause general chaos and serious damage, especially given > his adventurous nature - which we absolutely don’t want. The major concern > I have though is that according to NYC law, when a licensed wildlife > professional traps a raccoon, they cannot relocate it, but are required to > euthanize it (source > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/ee5b6d24/9tRVwZZpqEW433PHL9gTlw?u=https://www.nyc.gov/site/wildlifenyc/animals/raccoons.page>). > And the last thing I want to do is have a healthy, nondangerous animal put > down if it isn’t necessary. > > > > We have a great pest management vendor who is aware that he’s been around > and I’ll be alerting them to this latest development to brainstorm next > steps. I’m also working on connecting with the NYC Parks department to see > if they can help me come up with solutions. And I was hoping that there > might be members in this group who have experience with this kind of thing > and might have less lethal suggestions as well. Feel free to message me > off-list if you’d prefer - [email protected]. > > > > Thank you all for any insight and thoughts! > > Morgan > > > > > > -- > > Morgan Nau > IPM Program Administrator > Director's Office > > > * The Metropolitan Museum of Art* > 1000 Fifth Avenue > New York, NY 10028 > @metmuseum > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/cf5a805e/ha3Ef6BeTUSRS2gmb2_qcQ?u=https://www.instagram.com/metmuseum> > metmuseum.org > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/edb5a1f9/a6FnJ0wv5U65tSS7hl46PA?u=http://www.metmuseum.org/> > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MuseumPests" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://link.edgepilot.com/s/d7e474ee/Hru4UwgKvkeTPjf0IMOj1A?u=https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/SN6PR05MB55994064AC10F75417EBF080883BA%2540SN6PR05MB5599.namprd05.prod.outlook.com > <https://link.edgepilot.com/s/914c7e26/N1X9rH5so0utdN9QcPMrXA?u=https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/SN6PR05MB55994064AC10F75417EBF080883BA%2540SN6PR05MB5599.namprd05.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email%26utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MuseumPests" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/BY5PR05MB707412EE5DE9A85E820E316DE53BA%40BY5PR05MB7074.namprd05.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/BY5PR05MB707412EE5DE9A85E820E316DE53BA%40BY5PR05MB7074.namprd05.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. 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