COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County family says they are living in fear because raccoons have invaded their apartment.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was at the apartment, where the family says a pest control company that management hired has already caught one raccoon.
Right now, the family keeps a machete next to the front door and a baseball bat next to the bed because they say there are still raccoons in the ceiling.
In a video shared exclusively with Channel 2 Action News, the family living at the Five7Five Riverside apartments in Mableton said you can see a raccoon peeking through a hole in the ceiling.
The video also appears to show the raccoon’s claw.
“I’ve seen the raccoon,” tenant Denise Woods told Newell.
Woods gets emotional when she talks about the terror she says her family lives in.
“At some point, I was not sleeping for months,” Woods said.
Woods showed Newell the machete by the front door and the bat next to her bed.
“I have this to hopefully fight it off,” Woods said about the machete.
“My bat is right there,” by her bed, she showed Channel 2 Action News.
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Woods said she’s had a raccoon infestation since 2023.
“At one point, they did send someone out and they caught one and you can clearly hear them say, ‘Oh, the mother got away again,’” Woods said.
But Woods told Newell there are other raccoons running through the ceiling, the vents and clawing at the walls all night.
She said the video shared with Channel 2 Action News was taken earlier this year and that management from the apartment complex patched up the hole.
“Recently, we’ve heard approximately three or four raccoons,” Woods said. “I have doctors’ notes stating that these rodents are dangerous and harmful to our health.”
When Newell stopped by the leasing office, a Fire Marshal’s order was taped to the door.
The sign on the door said the office was closed in late January. Another sign states that tenants can use another location for their needs.
Newell tried to call the property management group but hasn’t heard back.
Woods said she pays her rent on time but can’t afford to move her family because she is disabled and on a fixed income.
“It’s terrifying to have to endure something that can be fixed,” Woods said.
Woods told Channel 2 Action News there is raccoon feces and urine on the ceilings. She gave Newell a note from her doctors that says the raccoons are detrimental to her health, as exposure to raccoon feces can contain roundworm eggs that can cause serious illness if inhaled and, in rare cases, lead to other life-threatening problems.
The city of Mableton’s Code Enforcement department says the property management company has a quote for a pest and rodent removal company. The code enforcement director plans to meet with the regional property manager next Wednesday to discuss the problem.
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