Evidence check: raccoon encounters, DIY attempts and professional help in Centennial
Most raccoon advice online repeats the same unsourced claims, so for Centennial homeowners the statements below are tied to specific surveys, studies and published cost guides, and each one says what it does and does not prove for a Centennial property. In the 2022 wildlife-perceptions survey by Puri and colleagues (1,006 respondents in a southeastern U.S. metro area, published in People and Nature in 2024), 23.4% of those with raccoons nearby preferred a small decrease, an opinion measure and not an infestation rate. Some 22% of residents who reported raccoons nearby wanted a large decrease in their numbers, according to Puri and colleagues' 2022 survey of 1,006 people in a southeastern U.S. metro area (published 2024), a measure of neighborhood opinion rather than home infestations. For Centennial, Colorado the relevant figure is this: just 7.4% of residents who reported raccoons in their neighborhood wanted a small increase in their numbers, according to Puri and colleagues' 2022 survey of 1,006 people in one southeastern U.S. metro area (published 2024); the question was about neighborhood wildlife, not homes. The national picture, which Centennial has no reason to escape: four hundred dollars is the typical cost of a raccoon-removal project in the U.S., according to HomeAdvisor's June 2026 cost guide, a publisher estimate rather than an observed customer bill, and local quotes vary. The same question comes up in Centennial: among respondents to HomeTeam Pest Defense's March 2022 online survey of U.S. homeowners ages 25β75 who had attempted DIY pest control, 64% reported the problem persisted; the sponsor sells professional service, so read this as self-reported experience, not a controlled comparison. None of these sources surveyed Centennial specifically, so read them as national and regional context; the local facts that matter most are the ones an inspector documents at your Centennial property, meaning where activity is, what is attracting it and how it is getting in.