# how to get rid of raccoon problems??



## lilysmile (Aug 17, 2016)

Has anyone ever had raccoon problems?
I have a really bad raccoon problem in my neighborhood and I just don’t know how to make them go away. They ransack my garbage worse than crows do and they freak me out. Just the other night when I was coming home, a raccoon pushed past me after sniffling through some garbage I left outside. I think we were both equally scared! Anyway, it’s been really annoying. One of my neighbors had a family of raccoons live in their shed. She didn’t want to evacuate them because they had babies. I had never seen such a disgusting amount of poop in my life when we walked in there. It smelled strongly of raccoon. They tore down that shed when the babies grew up.
My last straw was when they destroyed my garden. :vs_no_no_no: I built a square foot garden and grew a beautiful crop of corn. I woke up one morning to find stalks and half-gnawed corn everywhere. That was it!
I’ve heard that raccoons have the same tastebuds as humans do, so that probably explains their penchant for going through our garbage and garden.
Does anyone here have any suggestions for how to get rid of raccoons? I would really appreciate it!


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Yes, I've done plenty of racoon hunting and trapping from the corn field. If field corn is planted with an occasional row of sweet in the mix they'll find the sweet corn and ruin every ear if allowed to.

I've found this trap to work well, especially mounted on a piece of corrugated steel roofing with steel posts driven in to prevent trap rolling and digging under. It works so well may 82 year old sis uses one.


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## Rough Rooster (Feb 7, 2015)

I use live traps baited with water packed sardines. (partially opened can) Once they are in trap I shoot them with .22 LR hollow point and then feed them to the buzzards. By the way, the buzzards love me and follow me when I haul the dead '***** away from house.
Sound harsh? It works. Got 50 something first year and now several years later only get 20 or 25 a year. The little rascals have destroyed too much garden stuff and stolen too much cat chow for any mercy or forgiveness.

RR :smile::smile:


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## 47_47 (Sep 11, 2007)

.22-250


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## lilysmile (Aug 17, 2016)

Thanks for your tips seniorsitizen and rough_rooster. I'm not sure if I would want to trap raccoons and/or shoot them. It seems a bit harsh. Besides, I do not own a gun.

I have heard raccoon spikes work well. Has anyone ever tried them? I am going to put up De-Fence spikes up around the perimeter of my fence so they can't get in my property. I figure it would look more subtle than a metal cage in my yard. It is probably more kind to deter them in the first place. I am not going to let raccoons stop me from growing my corn!


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

.177 pellet right between their beady little eyes.

Silent but deadly, and fairly inexpensive to buy at any Wal-mart. 

Then haul the carcass away. 

You might try Moth Balls, in an old sock tossed around your yard. 

I knew a barber that used all the old clippings in old socks tossed around his yard, deterred all the little critters, Racoons, rabbits, chipmunks, etc.


ED


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## KarenStein (May 30, 2016)

I love animals, and the ambience they can give to your yard ... until they start making trouble.

Set aside your gentle nature. Raccoons can cause serious property damage. Once they get to about 30-lb. in size, they fear nothing, and can harm family pets.

Areas they frequent, or nest in, can be seeded with moth balls to discourage them. This isn't really much use, as raccoons often nest in the branches of trees.

Stoeger makes a very nice .22 pellet (air) rifle that comes with a scope and a built-in silencer. "Zero" the scope by shooting pellets into a soda can across the yard, until the pellets are hitting where you want them. Best of all, you can do all this without upsetting the neighbors with loud noises.

Animals will typically flee when you shoot them, but I've never had one come back. I expect they died after a short sprint.

Traps? I've had them tear live traps apart. More important ... what do you do with a trapped one? What if you get a skunk by mistake?


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## lilysmile (Aug 17, 2016)

I agree raccoons are quite vicious creatures, and they are intimidating when they get large. I've had them snarl at me before. 
Thank you for your suggestions on how to shoot them, though I think I will use a more humane method. Hauling their carcass away would be another problem in itself.

I will post an update on how my raccoon problem progress goes with the de-fence raccoon spikes. They seem to be the best and cheapest option. Plus it would deter other pests like cats


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

If you really have problem raccoons, the deterrents will not work. Might eliminate a couple non-problem animals, but they won't handle the real problems.

Nothing short of trap and euthanize will. (In my state, you cannot relocate a raccoon that is being trapped as a problem animal.)

If you cannot do it yourself, try calling your county animal control officer. In some areas they will trap, remove, and euthanize them. In other areas, they can provide the names and numbers of professional pest removers that will.

If you find that as too harsh, you better get used to them. 
(especially, if you keep growing sweet corn.)


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

If you are not willing to kill them all, you are just wasting time and money.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

For those of you that trap raccoons, using corn as bait mostly eliminates trapping the house cats, skunks, opossums, and porcupines etc.


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## Trapper1965 (Dec 25, 2017)

There is no County or government agencies that remove raccoons. County animal control agencies strictly deal with domestic animals, such as cats and dogs.


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## Trapper1965 (Dec 25, 2017)

There is no County or government agencies that remove raccoons. Nassau County animal control agencies strictly deal with domestic animals, such as cats and dogs. [Nassau County animal control
="http://http://www.nassaucountyanimalcontrol.net/"]http://http://www.nassaucountyanimalcontrol.net/[/URL]


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> There is no County or government agencies that remove raccoons.


Ayuh,... Up here, just mention the word_ Rabies_, 'n the Dec, or County animal control will be knockin' on yer door, before ya can hang up the phone,....
Add the word _Child_, 'n every cop in the county will be parked on the road out front,...

I've had '**** problems here for the 12 years I've been here,....
A gal down the street aways feeds 'em, which is the Real problem,...

I trap 'em with leg-hold traps on a chain,....
I put the traps in their pathways, no bait necessary,....
Bein' on the water, when I catch 1, I untangle the chain, then take 'em for a walk out my dock,....
I tie the chain to the furthest cleat, 'n come back after awhile to pull 'em, 'n bag 'em,....
Then it's a trip into town to be dropped off in a big green steel box,....

Caught 1 a couple weeks ago, 'n had to pop 'im with my BB gun,....
Water is frozen solid, no dock walks this time of year,....


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

"They ransack my garbage worse than crows do and they freak me out. Just the other night when I was coming home, a raccoon pushed past me after sniffling through some garbage I left outside."


NEVER leave garbage outside, it needs to go into a steel container with a lid, preferably with a lid that can be locked down,and i don't mean a padlock, your just asking for trouble and contributing to the problem if you don't.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> NEVER leave garbage outside, it needs to go into a steel container with a lid, preferably with a lid that can be locked down,and i don't mean a padlock, your just asking for trouble and contributing to the problem if you don't.


Ayuh,.... Great point,.....

A rubbermaid plastic trashcan, holds up good, so far, especially with a bungee strap, handle to handle over the cover,....


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

I catch them often around the house at nightime, not in traps, but on my security cameras. So far they have not harmed anything, and I don't have a garden. I have the city furnished heavy duty roll around trash cans, and so far no raccoon's have gotten in to them yet.

If they get to be a problem, my city has an animal control dept. They will come out and set traps and get rid of them for me, if I call them. My wife and I enjoy watching our night critters while playing back the security DVR from the previous night. 

We get to see deer, fox, opossum, and the other night...a coyote. And we live in a 1200 home, suburban subdivision ....with the houses just 40 feet apart.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Aw, you guys would shoot or drown these little guys and gals ? :smile:


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I've always found a well placed .22 was the most effective method. Any cuteness they might have disappears once you've had to clean up behind them a time or two.

Funniest **** story I know was when my wife walked out onto the front porch and was face to face with one. She screamed and the **** stood up and raised his paws as if to surrender. By the time I got there both my wife and the **** had vacated the porch.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

mark sr said:


> I've always found a well placed .22 was the most effective method. Any cuteness they might have disappears once you've had to clean up behind them a time or two.
> 
> Funniest **** story I know was when my wife walked out onto the front porch and was face to face with one. She screamed and the **** stood up and raised his paws as if to surrender. By the time I got there both my wife and the **** had vacated the porch.


Off topic a bit but related, about when raccoons become ugly. The home we bought in 2008 that we moved from in 2015, was a foreclosure. When we put our offer in, we were told by our realtor he thought the house had only been on the market vacant for 6 months. We later found out it had been vacant for* 18 months. 

*We bought it while knowing we had a LOT of work to do on it, but it had one project we did not know about. The first night sleeping in the house, we hear scratching noises and "chirps" above us in the attic. So the next day I go up in the attic and find a disaster. All the fiberglas insulation in the attic had been trampled down to just 2 inches tall. Raccoon scat was literally every 3 sq. ft. in the attic. 

So I call in a pro animal removal guy. He investigates our attic and then tells me there is a Mama raccoon with her litter living in the attic. He then shows me how the Mama got in to our new homes attic. She had pushed an access hole in through a power attic fan's vent's plastic shroud screen. So I asked him how he was going to get the hairy family out of our attic. 

I then learned something new. That evening he put a cloth soaked with male raccoon urine on the ventilators screen. That night, as we lay in bed we could hear ALL shorts of chirping and grunts from the Mama and litter in the attic. Within minutes, the attic became quiet. Mama and litter had left our attic. 

The varmint control guy returns the next day and tells us the critters are gone. So he gets our $200.00 for his knowledge and male raccoon urine, and I get an attic to clean out. I cleaned out all the insulation, scat and disinfected the whole attic and blew in new cellulose insulation. Nasty, nasty job.

So folks, these critters getting in to your garden and trash cans, is just a nuisance. If they can somehow get in to your home's attic, some real problems will have to handled. Be sure your soffit material stays in good condition and your roof's vents powered or unpowered...have good, solid, wire mesh on them. 

Even if you have to do what I did and remove the plastic mesh and install a double layer of galvanized 1/4" opening hardware cloth, on the power attic fan vent shroud. Raccoon's and squirrels LOVE having a nice, warmer, secure home from other predators to raise their litters in... which is your attic.
All JMO


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## Dave Sal (Dec 20, 2012)

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> He then shows me how the Mama got in to our new homes attic. She had pushed an access hole in through a power attic fan's vent's plastic shroud screen.
> 
> Be sure your soffit material stays in good condition and your roof's vents powered or unpowered...have good, solid, wire mesh on them.
> 
> ...


Good advice. Been there, done that. About 10 years ago I had a raccoon bend a couple of the power attic fan blades to gain access to the upper attic. We could hear it walking around above the ceiling at night. The next morning I peeked up into the attic and couldn't see anything but realized that whatever was up there would not be able to climb back out because the distance from the attic floor to the opening was almost 5 feet. I borrowed a trap from the local police department and put it up there below the ceiling fan, and after a couple days found that the raccoon had used it as a ladder and was able to climb out. I then installed some heavy gauge wire mesh below the fan to prevent a recurrence.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Your screen jobs works well and I thought of doing my fan that way. But I was afraid a critter would get trapped in it and the fan come on automatically
= Instant chopped squirrel or raccoon ...ready to serve.


So I put my beefed up metal screen on the fan shroud, where it was installed at the factory with the plastic screen. .


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