How To Keep Raccoons Away, According To An Expert
Here’s how to keep raccoons away from your home and garden.
Getty Images / Diane Jackson
With their prominent “bandit” masks, furry ringed tails, and stout bodies with a waddling walk, raccoons are easy to spot. These mammals are found across North America, residing in every kind of habitat from hardwood forests to coastal plains to swamps. Unlike some wildlife species, raccoons (Procyon lotor) thrive even in urban areas.
One reason for their success is because raccoons are clever and adaptable. “Raccoons are excellent climbers and can grasp and manipulate objects with their feet,” says Sheldon Owen, PhD, wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University. “But they can be destructive. If a raccoon finds a one-inch crack in siding, for example, it will dig, chew, and figure out how to pull off boards to expand the hole for a new den.”
Meet The Expert
Sheldon Owen, PhD, is a wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University.
Understanding Raccoon Behavior
Raccoons are opportunistic feeders, chowing down on whatever’s readily available. While they’re mostly nocturnal, it’s not unusual to see them out foraging during the day, says Owen. They eat plant and animal matter including acorns, seeds, fish, frogs, crayfish, eggs and young birds, insects, berries, and occasionally, carrion. They’re also notorious for digging through garbage cans, raiding chicken coops, and ripping apart vegetable gardens. They’re geniuses at exploiting new food sources and will teach their tricks to their babies.
While raccoons are fascinating creatures to observe (when they’re not tearing things up), you don’t want them close to or inside your home because they can carry fleas, ticks, and lice and several serious diseases and parasites. “They’re a common carrier of rabies,” says Owen. They also may transmit canine distemper, which can affect unvaccinated dogs and wild canids, as well as ferrets, weasels, and skunks.
When nesting under your porch or deck or in a crawlspace, chimney, or attic, raccoon waste will accumulate and cause odors. In addition, raccoon feces may contain Baylisascaris roundworm eggs, which can infect humans and lead to nerve damage or blindness. Kids often are more likely to become infected because they play on the ground and may put hands in their mouths.
Why Do Raccoons Wash Their Food?
Raccoons often are seen rinsing off their food, or dipping it into water before eating, if they’re near a water source. While it seems like these animals are “washing” their food, it’s actually thought that water helps make their paws more sensitive to what they are feeling, says Owen.
This may help raccoons more easily identify edible and non-edible objects, especially when foraging in streams. However, washing isn’t mandatory, and a raccoon still will dine if there’s no water nearby. It’s just another way these clever creatures have adapted to every environment they inhabit.
Related: How To Get Rid Of Skunks, According To Experts
Read on to tell if you have a raccoon problem and how to keep them away:
Signs Of Raccoon Activity
If you find your trash can upended and garbage strewn everywhere, there’s a good chance a raccoon is to blame, says Owen. You also may see their tracks, which have long, slender toes and claw marks with foreprints about 3 inches long and hindprints that are 3 to 4 inches long.
You may see raccoons coming and going, or you may hear them whining or growling when they’re living in spaces such as your chimney or attic. Or you may notice nesting materials blocking chimneys, under your deck, or in other sheltered areas on your property such as a shed.
Creating A Raccoon-Proof Environment
Prevention Methods
There are no effective repellents or devices that frighten away raccoons. “When they learn there’s no real threat and there’s still food available, raccoons ignore these methods,” says Owen.
Removing potential food sources and excluding raccoons from an area are the most effective means of keeping them away from your home. If they’re not causing damage and are keeping their distance, it’s fine to leave them be. But if they are too close for comfort, you can make your yard less appealing to them, with these tips:
Seal openings. “Raccoons use multiple dens throughout the year, so look for holes in and around your home, shed, or crawlspace that could be enlarged to provide access to a warm, safe spot for a new den,” says Owen.
Cut back limbs that touch the house, which makes entry to your attic too easy.
Install chimney caps.
Don’t leave pet food bowls outside. That’s a sure way to invite not only raccoons but other unwanted guests such as mice, opossums, and skunks.
Keep poultry indoors at night, and seal any gaps. Raccoons can reach through and pull chickens out through holes.
Remove birdfeeders if you suspect a racoon is raiding them.
Keep trash in cans with lockable lids, or use a bin with a lockable lid. “Raccoons are stronger than you think and dexterous enough to work bungee cords off a can lid,” says Owen.
Keep your pet’s vaccines and worming medications up-to-date since they can be exposed to rabies, canine distemper and other parasites from raccoons and their waste.
Professional Assistance
For persistent raccoons or a mom and babies denning in your home, you may need to hire a nuisance wildlife specialist for removal, says Owen. Expert help is recommended because a mom, if cornered, likely will defend her offspring. You also don’t want to leave babies behind accidentally because they will die inside your home if you remove the mother.
Remember that raccoons can transmit rabies to people and pets and distemper to unvaccinated pets, so they should never be handled alive (or deceased). If you find a raccoon that is acting disoriented, lethargic, or aggressive, or is stumbling or curling up and sleeping in exposed areas near your home, contact your state’s wildlife department.
Related: How To Keep Opossums Out Of Your Yard, According To Experts
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