Exterminators in one Monmouth County town have been busy lately with raccoons.
Melissa Warar, of Ocean Township, had to call police after she heard noises coming from her attic.
"It sounded like someone was moving furniture and then I was watching TV in my room and I heard scratching at the door and heavy breathing," she says.
When police arrived and opened the attic door, the officer found a raccoon staring back at him. The critter had burrowed its way inside the home.
Matt Mirando of Cowley's Little Rascals animal control, showed up to capture the raccoons.
"I'm going to let him go," Mirando says. "Fish and Game require us to do it a mile and a half away, so I'll do that in a wooded area."
The Warar family home isn't the only one plagued by raccoons. Exterminators report getting 15 to 20 calls a week to take care of raccoons.
According to animal experts, female raccoons are seeking warm shelter to give birth to their babies away safe from predators. Unfortunately, that can end up being the insulation inside attics.
Raccoons often get inside through vents or rotting pieces of wood. Experts say to cover holes with metal or mesh to prevent the animals from getting inside.