Woman live-tweets raccoon destruction as family of animals drop through her roof and ransack apartment

Raccoons ‘can make a den just about anywhere in your house’

Haley Illiff shared live updates of the process of removing a family of raccoons infesting her Florida apartment on Twitter (Twitter/@WolfAlice)

A graduate student living in Florida live tweeted the aftermath of discovering a family of raccoons living in her apartment.

Haley Iliff, who is working towards a postgraduate doctorate in American Religious History at Florida State University, came home from a trip to New York to discover a family of raccoons had fallen through her roof and into her bedroom – and shared the entire process of getting rid of them on Twitter.

Ms Iliff’s documentation of her raccoon problem started when she “came home from New York and a racoon fell through the roof above my bedroom”.

She said she had been told to await professional help as the raccoon was a mother protecting her babies.

Ms Iliff posted, “Humane Society couldn’t help bc it was a mamma raccoon protecting her babies (probably living in our roof) so we’ve been waiting for someone to come since yesterday at 5pm.”

She said leaving a hole in the roof had attracted more of the neighbourhood pests to come in and make themselves at home in her bedroom.

“Since the roof is open to the sky, we have a multiplying raccoon problem. last count was 5 raccoons and they found their way to the office upstairs as well,” she said in an update.

In a picture of her bedroom, Ms Iliff showcased the destruction the raccoons had caused, saying they had “trashed my room, who knows what else they’ll do before we get them out. No idea how much this is gonna cost me, at the very least I’ll need new sheets.”

Judging by the photo, the animals appeared to have left droppings on her bed and knocked over a large portion of her belongings.

Ms Iliff acknowledged the role her supportive roommate, a fellow PhD student, played in the rescue of her beloved possessions.

“A huge thank you to my roommate @WolffAmerica for saving my most treasured squishmallow, gary jerry, from what would assuredly be a slow and torturous demise,” she wrote in homage to her friend.

When the animals were gone, Ms Iliff tweeted, “Ok all raccoons have been removed from the premises. i just got off work and i’m going to see what destruction they wrought.”

She called their farewell a “raccoon exodus” and described her roommate as “incomparable” as she shared a video of animal control taking away a total of five raccoons in a cage.

According to the Humane Society of The United States, a charitable organisation fighting animal cruelty across the country, raccoons are known to set up home inside your walls and roofs.

If you suspect there is a raccoon living in your home, the society suggests finding out whether it is a sole adult raccoon or a family. If it is just a lone raccoon, they state “mild harassment” is the best method to deter it from staying in your home.

According the charity, raccoons “can make a den just about anywhere in your house”.

The Independent reached out to Ms Iliff for comment.