Raccoons
Raccoons rarely exhibit a fear of people or civilization, since they are born and raised in our neighborhoods. They have replaced their former nesting places with attics, crawlspaces, hot tubs, decks, tool sheds and storm drains. Dog and cat water bowls; swimming pools and ponds have replaced water sources such as creeks and springs. Raccoons are nocturnal animals that roam their neighborhoods each night looking for food. They are opportunistic feeders, dining on insects, fruits, vegetables, acorns, seeds, fish and small mammals, as well as dog and cat food and garbage that is left out overnight.
The only long-term, permanent means of coping with troublesome raccoons are to exclude them from areas you do not want them. If they cannot get a meal at one place they will look elsewhere, and they will remember where they can and cannot expect to have their hunger satisfied.
Motion-sensitive lighting kits and motion-sensitive oscillating sprinklers can also effectively deter nocturnal raids on trashcans or gardens.
Repellents: Ro-Pel ® contains both a bittering agent and a penetrating agent to allow it to better absorb into plant tissue or other material. It works by imparting an extremely bitter taste to anything it contacts. Get-Away ® uses extracts of oil of mustard and capsaicin as both an odor and taste repellent.
Regular household ammonia stations can be placed around your yard in the areas frequented by raccoons. Take a shallow dish or bowl, place a rag in it and pour ammonia over the rag until completely saturated. Place enough ammonia in the dish so the rag will continue to wick the ammonia up through the night. Avoid lawn areas, as ammonia will burn grass.
Use a metal trashcan and secure the top with a thick rubber strap with hooks on the end, available at most hardware stores. You can also secure the can to a fence. Place piles of cayenne pepper or a repellent where raccoons are digging in your recently sodded lawn for worms and grubs may discourage them.
Situations with raccoons in chimneys and attics involve raccoon families; a flue makes a cozy den for giving birth. When a mother raccoon with young is present, we recommend leaving them alone for the few weeks that the young are helpless. Monitor the raccoons to determine when they have moved on their own accord, and then secure the entrance to the chimney or attic to prevent re-entry. Trapping and moving the family will almost always lead to separation and probable death of the young.
Important! If you have a female with babies, give her extra time to relocate her entire family before you close the entrance. Raccoons have several den sites within their territories, so she will need to check for a vacancy, then move the young one by one, taking possibly two or three days. Do not lock the mother out, since she will return to retrieve her young and may damage your house to reach them. There is also the possibility that the young may die, leaving you with a smelly mess.
Capping your chimney will prevent a raccoon from inhabiting it. Because raccoons are nocturnal, the best time to use repellents or frightening strategies to get them out of a chimney is right before the animal would normally start his nightly routine.
Check your property regularly to make sure that screens barring entrance into your home, basement or crawlspace is intact. Lock dog and cat doors at night and place ammonia stations in front of the locked door.
If a raccoon should establish himself under your house, place a radio near his nesting place and keep it on loud during the day. Locate all entrances and exits. Block them off except for one and use repellents or frightening strategies to encourage the raccoon to leave. To be certain the animal has departed, sprinkle flour at the exit and watch for footprints that lead away from the opening. When the raccoon leaves to begin his nightly hunting (usually two hours after sunset) block the remaining entrance.
Ponds should be three feet deep. Horizontally submerging wire mesh around the circumference of the pond can provide the fish with protection since the raccoons will most likely stay off the flimsy wire. Placing a single "hot" electric wire around the perimeter of the pond from four to eight inches off the ground will not only discourage raccoons, but neighborhood cats. It can be made removable so family members can enjoy the pond during the day.
