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How do I get rid of raccoons

rapmarks

rapmarks

TUG Review Crew: Elite
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They are taking over my deck. They ripped my screen to shreds. They have tried to take my blankets into the woods. They poop all over. There are too many of them to trap.
supposedly they don’t like strong odors. False. They actually drank my apple cider vinegar and they ignore all the scents I have put out.
leaving the lights on doesn't work
I can live with the deer eating my flowers, and the red fox, but I detest the raccoons
 
We "relocated" quite a few of them using a "have a heart" trap. (bought at Agway I think ~ any hardware store) I put peanut butter on bread or crackers to lure them in. They were "relocated" to a wooded area about 10/15 miles from our house. Ready for the next,,,,,,,,,,,,, sometimes 2 in 1 day. Works on pesky squirrels too!! ;) Good luck ~ they are such a pain!!
 
We have had raccoons using our pool for a toilet. Put a plastic sheet across the steps at night and don’t leave pool toys laying around, bird feeders tend to lure them. My daughter thinks they are cute. Nothing cute about them. We have trapped them but animal control no longer takes them.
 
silentg said:
We have had raccoons using our pool for a toilet. Put a plastic sheet across the steps at night and don’t leave pool toys laying around, bird feeders tend to lure them. My daughter thinks they are cute. Nothing cute about them. We have trapped them but animal control no longer takes them.
Click to expand...
Did the plastic sheet work?
 
So far, it’s actually a ceiling light panel. No raccoons since we use it.
 
My mom used to buy household ammonia, put it undiluted in a spray bottle and spray the heck out of the deck, the posts under the deck, the back porch and the ground around some surrounding trees at the cottage every evening before sunset. It was a bit of a pain but it seemed to keep them away as they had also torn screens, when windows were left slightly open, we think to get in at the dogs food. The ammonia smell had dissipated by morning and eventually the racoons moved on to other cottages.

I have used ammonia in a spray bottle on our trash bags to keep the crows from ripping them open. We thought it was neighbourhood dogs but DH was up really early one morning and saw 4 of them at our garbage and they had already torn the neighbour's open. We have big animal proof bins now with a fancy truck that picks them up with a mechanical arm and dumps them in the truck.


~Diane
 
If you are live trapping you had better check with your State Department of Fish and Wildlife (or whatever your State Agency is called). Here in Salem Oregon we can trap nuisance animals like squirrels but it is illegal to relocate them. Your only legal choice is to kill them. Even our City Parks Department got into trouble for live trapping invasive squirrels and relocating them. Now they hire trappers once or twice a year to trap and kill them.
 
moonstone said:
My mom used to buy household ammonia, put it undiluted in a spray bottle and spray the heck out of the deck, the posts under the deck, the back porch and the ground around some surrounding trees at the cottage every evening before sunset. It was a bit of a pain but it seemed to keep them away as they had also torn screens, when windows were left slightly open, we think to get in at the dogs food. The ammonia smell had dissipated by morning and eventually the racoons moved on to other cottages.

I have used ammonia in a spray bottle on our trash bags to keep the crows from ripping them open. We thought it was neighbourhood dogs but DH was up really early one morning and saw 4 of them at our garbage and they had already torn the neighbour's open. We have big animal proof bins now with a fancy truck that picks them up with a mechanical arm and dumps them in the truck.


~Diane
Click to expand...

The "off the grid" Discovery reality shows use ammonia to keep the critters away.
Don't know if it really works
 
It's a WHOLE LOT easier and more effective to trap and relocate ONE raccoon than a well established family group with young and reproducing females.

We don't have raccoons (knock wood), but we do have what we call 'rock chucks'. Marmots, actually. but whenever I see one lurking under my deck or elsewhere in the yard, I check out a live trap from city animal control and remove them out into the desert.

Jim
 
moonstone said:
My mom used to buy household ammonia, put it undiluted in a spray bottle and spray the heck out of the deck, the posts under the deck, the back porch and the ground around some surrounding trees at the cottage every evening before sunset. It was a bit of a pain but it seemed to keep them away as they had also torn screens, when windows were left slightly open, we think to get in at the dogs food. The ammonia smell had dissipated by morning and eventually the racoons moved on to other cottages.

I have used ammonia in a spray bottle on our trash bags to keep the crows from ripping them open. We thought it was neighbourhood dogs but DH was up really early one morning and saw 4 of them at our garbage and they had already torn the neighbour's open. We have big animal proof bins now with a fancy truck that picks them up with a mechanical arm and dumps them in the truck.


~Diane
Click to expand...
It’s weird but they do not go near my trash cans. My previous cans had claw and teeth marks
 
When we were in our Victorian home, the raccoons would climb the loquat tree to gain access to our upper porch. We cut the tree down to keep them from climbing up there. They are vicious— ripped open a friend of a friend’s sturdy bunny cage to get at the rabbits. All that was left was blood and a little fur. About half a dozen surrounded the elderly cat of a client who was luckily home to intervene. Smart too. Looked out at 6am to see a raccoon in our humane trap (we were trying to catch a “bad cat”), but by the time we showered and were downstairs a buddy had helped him push the trap door in and then up.
 
A few years ago we had a problem annually with returning bats, which made a habit of getting behind our second story window shutters on the house,
and each time within a week there seemed to be a hundred bats underneath. It remained that way for 2 weeks.
Nothing helped until I saw a product in our local Lowe's store called Stay Away Rodent Repellent.
I knew of course that bats were not rodents, but I read about the product and decided to try it.
I placed a couple of "tea bag"-type units behind the shutters (very carefully) from an open window.
The next morning they were all gone. WOW. The same scenario happened the following year---they came, they formed a "community" behind one shutter,
they stayed about a week before they started multiplying a LOT, so I bought more Stay Away and placed the product again,
and once again to my amazement they were completely gone the next morning.

We also noticed that the squirrels that usually played in our back yard had suddenly disappeared, and didn't come back for about a week after the bats left.
I know again that neither bats not squirrels are rodents, but they apparently dislike the product enough to "leave town".
Actually it has a decent "spruce-like" natural scent, not bad at all.

After three seasons of bats returning to our shutters, we decided to take down those two shutters on the end of our house (weren't that noticeable anyway, decoratively),
so now we haven't had bats return at all for about the last 6-7 years, and I'm sure they won't. Seems they only liked North-facing "shelter".
A neighbor of ours down the street had bat problems too, long before ours, and they spent $2500 to have a pest control company come in to eradicate them.
Not sure if they ever returned, probably not, because after our experience, and knowing what they had gone through with the expense, we told them
about Stay Away and we've heard nothing else since. I'm sure they bought and used it.

Anyway, the point is, if I were you I would get some Stay Away and at least try it----hang some "tea-bag" Stay Aways in the area, perhaps double the number,
and see if it works for Raccoons too. The product would be worth its weight in gold if it does.
All small wild animals have very keen senses of smell, and it just might offend them enough to help you. let me know.


Product called Stay Away Rodent Repellent.

www.earthkind.com

Stay Away® Rodent - Botanical Mouse Repellent Pouches

EarthKind's Stay Away® Rodent repellent pouches keep mice away from homes, cars & more. Plant-based ingredients. Lab-proven to be effective. Shop here!
www.earthkind.com
 
Has anyone tried wolf urine? You can even buy it on Amazon.

Kurt
 
@rapmarks , I'm so sorry you are having raccoon issues, what a bummer and I hope you find a solution to get rid of them...
 
I used the hava-heart trap and took them to the other side of the lake behind our house. Frequently.
 
You need one of these. https://www.amazon.com/ScareCrow-Motion-Activated-Animal-Repellent/dp/B000071NUS.

Several years ago we had a terrible problem with raccoons making a mess in and around our pool. Nothing that I tried worked. I hired a pest control company and they didn't have much luck either. Then I saw one of these sprinklers.

We used to hear them at night outside the bedroom window. DH set up the sprinkler and the first night we heard the tsh, tsh of the sprinkler turning on, a loud yowl and that was the end of the raccoon visits. I don't know if the fact that there is a face on the sprinkler means that the raccoons recognize it in some way. We eventually just turned off the water altogether and left the sprinkler where is was and it was enough of a deterrent.
 
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I trapped and relocated several. It was a home made trap. Just a wooden box with a door that would drop vertically. It was held/armed in place with a pin attached to a string wrapped over a pulley dangling in the back of the cage. For bait I used a paper towel that my wife used in a microwave to soak up grease from some bacon. The raccoons liked the smell and would tug on the paper towel and the door would drop. One time I actually got 3 in the same trap at the same time. I relocated a family of them in about a week.

I'm not sure if it was legal for me to trap them. So, if that is the case, I just made up this story as amusement. Ha ha.
 
clifffaith said:
It’s not legal to trap skunks. Ask me how I know!
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on the state. We’ve trapped skunks and relocated them in the past. We have a neighbor that’s decided back yard chickens are the best way to get fresh eggs plus we live near a nature park. I’m going to keep the idea of the sprinkler in the back of my mind as I’m certain the way they’re doing things will attract raccoons eventually.
 
Get a dog.
 
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