Suburban Raccoons

The picture on the left shows what can happen if you do not get rid of raccoons in your area and especially your home.  In this case, they have made a hole just above the eaves trough, pulling away from the shingles and part of the wooden backing that should run all the way down to the edge of the roof.

In this case, there may not be too much rain damage, however, in many cases, severe leaks are noticed in consumer’s homes causing a great deal of damage in addition to the hole in the roof. Raccoons also make a mess of your insulation, leave feces and other material in your attic, so dealing with them quickly is a necessity.

Trapping etc. Does Not Work

We have written at length on this blog about how to get rid of raccoons. Basically, you need to wait until the babies are old enough to travel on their own and then install a one-way trap door over the opening so that all raccoons can get out but not back in. Once they are out you can then make permanent repairs and install heavy gauge wire mesh as well to prevent them from making another hole.

Trapping the raccoons, poisoning them, loud noise, bright lights, shooting them just does not work in the long run. Sure you might get rid of the current occupants if you are lucky, but then another family will just move in again in a few months and you have the same problem all over again. Poison works on raccoons as well as other animals including family pets. You cannot use a gun in urban areas and they are pretty good at avoiding traps. Read some of our other posts about this subject to get more detail. In the meantime we want to discuss how to get rid of raccoons by making your yard and home less attractive to them, so they do not come around the area.

How to Get rid of Raccoons by Other Means

Raccoons are looking for two things: food and shelter. If they are in your house you really need to do something to get them out as discussed above. If they are in your area and your yard, digging up the lawn for grubs, etc, then they are there because there is a good food source nearby. There is a poison that can be purchased to kill the grubs and remove that particular food source for them.

Remove all potential food sources that may be available to the raccoons. Package your garbage in a manner that prevents them from getting into it. Encourage your neighbors to do the same thing. We only put our garbage out in the morning on the day the garbage collection takes place to prevent them from getting into the garbage and finding food.

If you have trees such as acorn or walnut trees, you may want to pick up all of the nuts that fall to the ground before the raccoons get into them. They can leave quite a mess and then you are also eliminating that food source. This applies to apples, grapes, and any other kind of fruit that raccoons love.

If you have a large dog and can stand the noise, leave him out at night to chase away raccoons and other animals that might get in the way. This may be annoying to yourself and the neighbors if he barks a lot, but then it is probably better than having them in the area.

Getting rid of Raccoons is Really a Neighborhood Challenge

While we’re doing some research for this post, we came across one fellow’s problem that involved his neighbor. Basically, this writer indicated that the raccoons were in his backyard a lot. He really wanted to get rid of them. His neighbor on the other hand saw them as being cute. They should be allowed to wander wherever they wanted. His neighbor would put out food for them. They objected to any efforts to remove them or deal with them in a permanent manner.

When neighbors take this sort of approach there is not a lot you can do. Other than some of the things we outlined above. You can hope they do not get into your home and that maybe they will get into your neighbor’s home. They can see what a significant problem it really is to have raccoons in the attic. It is not that we wish any harm to anyone. It is just that sometimes people must have their own experiences before they understand all of the issues.

Good luck with keeping raccoons out of your area and remember to eliminate as many food sources as you can for the raccoons in order to get rid of them.

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