I'm with Joe and Wink: at 40 y.o.a. I was a tenderfoot!
Now, the real point: how the heck do you inspect a building for an attic-dwelling animal like a raccoon without going up a ladder?? (Because I'm telling you: you WILL be missing entry points.)

Dave, this is just a hint. When you're standing on the ground, looking up at that two or three story apartment, the vent cover that is not perpendicular to the roof, is your entry point. ( And it only took me 25 years to learn this! )

x2 on what Paul said

I'm definitely a little dense. I'm not getting which vent this really is???

What vent is he referring to?

Okay, sorry I missed the question the first time. The vents I'm referring to are usually black but can come in a variety of colors. They are about 12 inches square and there can be several on an apartment building roof.

They may become a thing of the past since ridge vents are becoming quite popular.

A raccoon will grab an edge and lift it up and then crawl into the attic or crawl space. ( I would probably cut my hand if I tried to do that )

I once had a raccoon rip open 9 vents on three apartments and you could see all nine of those vents quite clearly from the ground.

To clarify Paul,

You are saying that if you see an attic vent that is pulled up instead of attached to the roof (meaning it would no longer be parallel) that it is the entrance.

Yes or no?

Well Eric, that would be a Yes and No. While the majority of the time, when you see a single vent cover reaching for the sky, that is your point of entry.

However, in the case of the nine vent covers on three different apartments being pulled up, this happened to be a very discerning female and she rejected all of those attics. ( Probably for one with a better view, I would imagine )

P.S. While this unusual behavior makes our jobs really interesting, it probably also explains my lack of hair follicles.