Effective Methods & Natural Deterrents To Get Rid Of Raccoons

Raccoons are the cute furry animals which are well-known for their destructive acts. They are mostly found in woody areas. You can also see them at places with water and abundant vegetation. Raccoons love eating fruits, vegetables, mice, and may even feed on garbage. Before raccoons set up their den in your home, use the following methods and natural deterrents to get rid of them.

Trapping raccoons

A good raccoon trap is by far your best bet for raccoon removal. Just keep in mind that trapping and relocating raccoons is illegal in most states unless you have a permit. When picking out a live trap, find one that is at least 12″x12″x32″ and very solidly constructed. Since raccoons will eat anything, you have your choice of baits. Canned cat food and canned tuna work well, but you may end up with the wrong animal (like the neighbor’s cat). Most fruits will work well too. When relocating, take the coon at least 10 miles away to a raccoon-friendly environment. Be very careful.

Protect your trash

An important aspect of raccoon control is keeping them out of the garbage cans. There’s no reason for them to leave if you constantly, but inadvertently, feed them. For starters, get yourself some good, solid metal trashcans, some bungee chords, and a cinder block or two. It’s kind of a pain in the backside, but you will need to cover your garbage, bungee the lid down, and place cinder blocks on top of it every night. Even if you use a city-provided garbage bin, you can still use the bungees and blocks. Even though I’m opposed to the wasteful nature of this idea, it is quite common for people to double bag any waste meat products so the alluring smell won’t be as strong.

Make them feel unwelcome

Putting up a fence is a great way to control raccoons. Unfortunately, they are great climbers, so it will have to be an electric fence. Almost any fence can become electrifying simply by adding one strand of wire about eight inches up from the ground and eight inches back from the fence and connecting it to a pulsating fence charger. This same method can be used around your gardens, fish ponds, shrubs, trees, etc. The only difference is that you would want two strands. One at 6″ up from the ground and one at about a foot. Also, you should only need to run them at night. One final thing, clear away any brush, wood piles, old logs, or anything that a coon might be able to use as cover.

Employ scare tactics

Devices designed to be scary oftentimes work quite well to get rid of raccoon problems. The biggest problem, however, is that raccoons are pretty dang smart and realize relatively quickly that whatever you put out there can’t really do them any harm and therefore become useless. The best thing you can do in this situation is to switch up the scare devices regularly so the coons (hopefully) don’t become accustomed to them. There are a variety of motion-activated devices available you can use including flood lights, radios (set them on talk radio, as raccoons avoid human voices…especially if the human voices are talking about politics), sprinklers, and utlrasonic noisemakers.

The Best Natural Raccoon Deterrents

Ammonia

Because raccoons are such clean animals and will not usually go to the bathroom in their dens, it’s a good idea to soak towels with this natural raccoon deterrent and toss them either into the dens or place them at den entrances. Ammonia is found naturally in urine, and the smell of it can trick the raccoons into thinking their den is soiled. This may cause them to desert it.

Predator urine

This raccoon deterrent is readily available at most sporting goods stores and many online retailers. Look for urine from wolves, coyotes, bobcats, or mountain lions, and spray it around areas where coons are hanging out. This is supposed to trick them into thinking predators are nearby and scare them off.

The Scarecrow

I’m a big fan of using this product as a means to get rid of raccoons and other pests. It is a motion-activated sprinkler. When a raccoon trips the sensor, the sudden noise and action of the sprinkler startles raccoons and scares them off. They also get good and wet. And that’s just funny.