Raccoon Prevention - How to Keep Raccoons Away

Raccoons are not really wild animals. They are urban animals. Raccoons are FAR more common in cities and suburbs than they are in undeveloped natural areas. Just like rats. Thus, raccoon-human encounters are very common. Raccoons are smart, curious, and agile, so in short, there's really no way to simply keep them away. NOTE: I have received so many requests for professional help with raccoons, that I have spent hundreds of hours compiling a complete United States directory of people who can help. Click here for a complete listing of hundreds of professional raccoon removal experts serving every city in the USA. How to Keep Raccoons Out of Your Yard: Impossible. Only a really good fence will do the trick, and I doubt you're going to install a prison-grade fence just to keep raccoons out. You can also try a motion sensitive water sprayer (but that doesn't really work very well), or trapping and relocation. What you want to do is minimize the damage the raccoons are causing in the yard. Is it your garbage they are after? Bird feeders and bird seed? A pond with fish? A deck or shed they can live under? The key is to eliminate the things that attract the raccoon. I'll discuss these below. Oh, and there is absolutely no such thing as a raccoon repellent that works. Those high-pitch ultrasonic noise making machines are totally bogus - the FTC issued a warning against them - and even if you can't hear them, many people can, so you'll be bothering a lot of neighbors - an old couple down the street from my house set one of those stupid machines, and I could hear it 6 houses away. So could the neighbors, and they got the old couple to remove it - it wasn't keeping the raccoons away anyway. How to Keep Raccoons Out of Your Garden: This is a tough one, because raccoons are so intelligent, strong, and crafty. Only a real, heavy duty fence will do the trick. You can also try a motion sensitive water sprayer, or trapping and relocation to keep raccoons away for good. How to Keep Raccoons Out of Your Garbage Cans: You can try to make your garbage cans raccoon proof by strapping the lids down with bungee cords, or keeping them in the garage until garbage night. Or you can get locks, heavy covers, etc which will prevent raccoons from getting into the garbage for food. How to Keep Raccoons Out of Your Pond: A little decorative pond with fish is irresistible to a raccoon! Install some large gauge steel mesh and put it over or in the pond, for the fish to hide in and under. Or you can try trapping and removal. How to Keep Raccoons Out of Your Pool: Coons like to swim, bathe, and poop in swimming pools. You can try trapping and removal. Or you can get planks of wood and pound a bunch of nails into the bottom of the wood so they stick through the other side, and place those boards upside down on the pool steps, so that there's a bunch of spikes sticking up, and the raccoons might not want to walk on those steps. But what if you have a raccoon somewhere in or on your home? Well, that's a situation that can definitely be taken care of with 100% results. I have written excellent guides covering several areas. Click any of the below articles: How to keep raccoons out of your basement. How to keep raccoons out of your crawl space. How to keep raccoons out of your walls. How to keep raccoons out of your ceiling. How to keep raccoons out of your attic. How to keep raccoons outside of your house. How to keep raccoons off of your roof These are just some of my raccoon prevention tips to keep away raccoons. You can email me if you have more questions. Or you can hire a pro in your area, from my list of raccoon experts. ........... Actual Situation: David - I live in Prince William in Montclair and we have a raccoon hitting our garbage cans on a frequent basis. I’ve seen him and he is pretty big. Set out a humane trap before reading your article and he tripped it yesterday. It’s a 30 inch size and I suspected it might be too small – I was right. He got in, ate the bait (tuna fish), and backed out with the door closing behind him. Then he ate some more out of the trash can. Need to know what your prices are for trapping/removal. Thanks, Dan My response: Dan - I do think hiring a pro would be a good idea in this case. Trapping is difficult for amateurs. Please look at my nationwide directory, and you'll find a company in your area that I recommend. You can also try to make your garbage cans raccoon proof by strapping the lids down with bungee cords, or keeping them in the garage until garbage night. ........... Actual Situation: Hello David, I hope you can help me, I'm at my wits end. I have an animal literally tearing up my back yard. I am 99.9% sure it's a raccoon. I have seen raccoon tracks on my back patio; I am familiar with what their tracks look like. Every so often I will see a raccoon in the back of my home. (I live in Florida just outside of Daytona Beach. I live next to a canal, and have woods beyond my property line in the back.) I've tried mothballs, but as I just read in your article these don't work unless it's in an attic. I learned that the hard way after spreading 6 boxes all over the back yard and still having my yard dug up. I have spread a mixture that I bought at my local Lowe's that is supposed to kill bugs in the dirt. I know the coons are digging for bugs to eat. That does not stop them from digging. I also bought another mixture I spread that is supposed to repel a long list of animals including raccoons for up to 2 months. The second night after spreading it I had more new holes dug in my lawn. It didn't work. I recently bought a Havahart trap. The first night I put cabbage leaves in it (of course, always beyond the trap trigger). The next morning the cabbage leaves were still in there, the trap door was down, but no animal inside. The next night I put a piece of Parmesan cheese in the trap. Next morning no cheese, and the trap door was not even down. Last night I put another piece of Parmesan cheese in the center of the area beyond the trap trigger with an X cut partway down into the cheese. I tied the cheese to the cage floor sinking the string into the X to secure it, and tied it with a square knot. Next morning, no cheese, string uncut, trap door down, no coon. Like I said before, I'm at my wits end. Can you offer any help, please? Thank you. Sincerely, Colette My response: Trapping is hard if you don't have a lot of experience. It's no so simple as just setting a Havahart trap. You can try raccoon problem prevention, but you might want to call someone in your area. The number I have on file for Daytona Beach is 386-506-8730.