Raccoons are high on the list of things that go bump in the night for property owners. These furry mammals are familiar visitors to Texas properties, and they enjoy a good dig through trash cans. Understanding why raccoons love trash cans helps you create solutions to finding your waste strewn across your yard.
Understanding Raccoon Behavior
If you notice raccoons getting into the trash, they’re probably looking for a meal. Raccoons are omnivores with a keen sense of smell that tells them where they can find food, waste, or scraps. As human living areas extend into wildlife habitats, these mammals have adapted their diet to what’s available — and that’s often our leftovers. When there is food and other resources available on your property, raccoons will make their home nearby, this often means in the attic or crawlspace of the property owner.
Securing Your Cans to Keep Raccoons Out
The best way to prevent raccoons from getting into the garbage is to secure your cans. These critters have dexterous paws. They’re also physically agile and can hop onto lids or push cans over with ease.
You can buy self-locking trash cans or take steps to raccoon-proof your current ones by:
- Placing weights on the lids.
- Using bungee cords or thick ropes to tie lids down.
- Keeping them in your garage or a locked shed.
- Placing them on stable ground where they won’t fall over.
- Putting them under a bright or motion-detecting light.
How to Deter Raccoons From Your Yard
In addition to securing your trash cans, you can make these minor changes to keep raccoons away from your house and yard.
1. Clean Cans Regularly
To reduce strong smells from your cans, ensure you clean them consistently. With soap and a hose, you can remove the key attractant for raccoons — smell.
2. Strong Scents and Repellants
Wildlife and animal repellents use taste and scent to make animals feel unwelcome. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these deterrents have little to no effect on raccoons (or other animals) in your yard, crawlspace, or attic. Predator urines (i.e. coyote urine) have had mixed results when sprayed around your yard’s perimeter, garden areas, and wherever you keep your trash cans. You can also spray some onto cans and trash bags. Predator urine should be applied every few days to mimic the predator marking its territory.
Household items (i.e. peppermint spray, ammonia, mothballs, etc.) have no effect on raccoon activity around the yard.
3. Add Sensory Deterrence
Raccoons are nocturnal scavengers, which means they’re more likely to visit your yard in the night. They prefer darkness, still and quiet. You can disrupt these conditions and keep critters away with motion-activated lights or sprinklers. These methods usually result in a temporary reprieve from the activity. Eventually raccoons become accustomed to these disturbance and will return to their normal activity. Ultrasonic and supersonic sound devices have no measurable effect on raccoon activity.
4. Remove Other Food Sources
As scavengers, raccoons can eat almost anything if it hasn’t gone bad — including nuts, fruits, vegetables and other foods that may grow in your yard. To discourage them from these food sources, you can remove the ripe fruit from trees, any fruit that has fallen to the ground, fence your garden, or consider electrical enclosures. If you keep chickens, ducks, rabbits in the yard, it is best to ensure they are secure at night as they will feed on these animals (or their young) as well.
Get Professional Help With Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal
Did a raccoon make it past the trash into your attic or house? Turn to Urban Jungle for help with raccoon trapping and removal in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. Contact us to get started today.
