Raccoons are like eating machines, they just keep stuffing their face until they can hardly walk. Aside from the hilarious implications of having raccoons in your garden, they pose some serious threats. They can destroy your garden but they can also harm or even kill your pets. So it’s no laughing matter for too long. The issue also is, they tend to hang around in large families and they go foraging together. So if you find yourself staring at one raccoon in your garden, chances are his buddies are close by. So what do you do when you have an infestation of raccoons and how do you get rid of them?
First things first
Make your home an infeasible target. This means make it barren of any food the raccoons could eat. Keep your garbage safe from raccoons with an animal proof lock on the lid. Better yet, move your garbage cans into your garage or somewhere hidden inside. You want raccoons to keep moving as they forage, not stop and investigate. They have a great sense of smell so even a trash can they can’t open, they will stop, keep trying until they get tired. This could be for an hour or so, posing a threat to your dog or cat.
Identify them
Secondly, you need to identify what type of raccoon you have in your garden. Some are more likely to have diseases than others and some will be more aggressive than others. There are 3 main types in North America, Lotor Lotor, Loto Martimus and Lotor Salustus. Some are larger than others, so they eat more. Some will stay away from human food and others will not. This is key to understand as your garden and the things you might be growing in it do pose a different threat to the safety of your home from raccoons.
Get them out
Do not try to capture them yourself. They are aggressive most of the time and they will be quite confident in defending themselves. They move in packs so once again, the raccoon capture might call for his friends to help him and suddenly, one turns to 5, 5 turns 10 and so on. Work with professional racoon removal companies that can safely and consistently catch them. They can also determine whether they are rabid or not, so calling them in quickly is vital to protect your dog or cat from getting bitten.
Keep them out
The experts will inform you of how to keep the raccoons out but there are a few things you can do when they leave.
- Sprinkle some wood ashes around plants. Raccoons do not like the smell and they will not want to step on ashes.
- You should place dog or human hair around the garden. Marking your territory will help raccoons to realize when they have strayed too far.
- Put LED lights in the garden. It will dazzle them and cause them to panic and run.
Raccoons are funny to watch but when they are ravishing your garden, it’s not so funny anymore. These are some ways you can get rid of them, let us know how it went.
