Raccoons are very intelligent and can be cute when viewed from afar. However, they can also be messy and feisty pests to have around. This is a guide about getting rid of raccoons.
I am a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and specialize in orphaned raccoons. I understand the frustration that occurs when raccoons (and squirrels) invade garbage cans and bird feeders. Raccoons are incredibly intelligent, and very dextrous with their little paws. I would like to impart a few ideas that may help you coexist with these marvelous little bandits. However, as you know, nothing is foolproof.
Securing the garbage can lid with a bungee cord can work wonders. I have never had a raccoon get into my can, and I live in a very wooded area. I also tuck a few unused fabric softener sheets in the can, since the sheets help mask the odor of food. The stronger smelling the sheets, the better.
Raccoons (and squirrels) do love bird seed, especially sunflower seeds. My bird feeders are on a tall pole and have a long piece of stove pipe secured under the feeder platform. Just make sure that the feeder is far enough away from trees, porches, etc. that a raccoon or squirrel cannot climb or jump to the feeder. I also only put out enough food each morning to last the birds throughout the day. That way if a raccoon or squirrel does get to the feeder, you are not losing as much food.
I discourage people from using the cayenne pepper type repellents, since the pepper gets onto the paws and can get into the eyes.
If you have planted annuals and perennials and come out the next morning to find them dug up, it is probably raccoons. However, skunks and opossums do also dig in the fresh dirt. They are looking for worms and grubs in the newly dug soil. I just try to make sure and check my new plantings early in the day, and tuck the plants back into their holes. I don't think I have ever lost a plant because the raccoons have "helped me", but I still do a bit of grumbling under my breath.
One more thing; please, please, do not live trap raccoons and "relocate" them. If the raccoon is a female, her babies will be left without a mother and cannot survive in the wild. My raccoons are not ready for release until they are around 22 weeks old. I receive quite a few raccoons that probably have had their mothers moved to another area. If they are orphaned in the wild, they are left to a horrible fate, even though they may look large enough to be on their own. The lucky ones manage to make it to a rehabilitator to receive a second chance.
It is not unusual to see nocturnal animals during daytime hours, when they are pregnant and nursing their young. They do prefer to be out at night, however, they are hungrier during these times and need to forage more. The possibility that an animal is ill is always a concern and humans should never approach a wild animal. However, seeing a nocturnal animal in the daytime can just be the animal foraging.
As we are invading more and more species habitats, there are more instances of wildlife and humans having a hard time living together. We just need to be the smarter species and try to find ways to coexist.
By Lilly M from NW Michigan
Coons love marshmallows. You can use mini ones or cut up a big one. Leave a trail to a cage and put quite a few in the cage. Try to drop them in the middle or the coons just stick their paws in there and grab them. My neighbor and I have just trapped #8.
By Joanie from Spring Branch, TX
"Spray cider vinegar around the plants to deter raccoons, put moth balls in small hardware cloth cages to deter skunks and put human hair around the garden to deter bunnies and deer."
By Robyn F. from Tennessee
How do I get rid of raccoons? We didn't know it at the time, but a neighbor family was feeding some wild raccoons. All we knew is that we had raccoons that were multiplying and becoming more and more curious and aggressive about their search for food. Before those neighbors fed the raccoons, the raccoons stayed up in the hills away from neighborhoods, but now they scour the neighborhood looking for food, getting into the trash, getting into people's garages, destroying things on people's decks, and so on.
We have trouble with the raccoons coming right into our home using the pet door for our cats and dogs to go in and out of. Yes, we have two cats and three dogs and still have trouble with the raccoons being bold enough to come right into our home. Anyway, I am writing this post for two reasons. The first is to let people know that when they feed raccoons, there often are consequences to pay down the road, and we neighbors are paying the consequences of this one family's decision to feed the cute raccoons (that family no longer feeds them because they, too, no longer feel the raccoons are cute).
The second reason is to ask if anyone has successfully gotten rid of raccoons once they have taken over a neighborhood. We have tried live traps, and the raccoons won't go in them. We have caught many neighborhood cats, though. Any other suggestions?
Tina from Ashland, OR
I am having raccoon problems bad. They are not scared of people. They are messing all over my deck. Animal control won't pick them up. I called the government place and they wanted $300.00 just to come out, plus $10.00 for each trap. I can't go that way. Can someone give me ideas to run them off, I don't want to hurt them, just scare them off. Thanks.
By cookie17 from VA
By Cookie17
08/11/2010
Hey, jrpaslay, kelreg, muttmom, & laramay, for all your great help in trying to help get rid of masked bandits. Man next store keeps feeding them so he can have them, lol. Thanks everyone of you. Cookie17
We have a family of raccoons, babies and all, that has started living in a shed we have by a house we are trying sell. Does anyone have any humane tips for getting these critters to find a new home?
We just put moth balls in our attic to ward away raccoons, but the smell is so strong. Will this go away or do I need to go back and get them out of there?
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