Suburban Raccoons


How to Repel Raccoons

How to Repel RaccoonsYou have raccoons in or around your home and you are wondering How to Repel Raccoons. There are a right way and a wrong way to repel raccoons or remove them from your home’s attic which was the situation we had to deal with. Some methods simply do not work while others if done properly will work every time.

This raccoon on the left was obviously threatened or was worried about their young babies and was going to fight back. There is no need to confront them and cause an attack. You do not want to endanger yourself or your family. If you try to get yell at them or chase them they will just run up a tree and then stare at you. If you corner one, you are going to get a reaction like this one above and they will fight to defend themselves so back off and let them escape. They can bite and claw you which can cause some damage to your person. Then because you have been bitten by a wild animal you will need to be treated for rabies whether they have it or not just as a precaution.

How to Repel Raccoons – What does not Work to Repel Raccoons

The following list of items has been tried by the  writer as well as some friends and found to be very ineffective:

  • Chasing them
  • Loud noises
  • Using mothballs or some other evil-smelling stuff
  • Trapping them, more just come along later
  • Poison, not considered humane and there is a risk to pets

There are all kinds of solutions that are discussed on various websites, the above included and they simply do not work. Even if you are successful at driving away or destroying the current residents, more will just come along later. You have to find a permanent solution that will work and keep them out of your home.

Lots of my friends said just shoot them. This is just boastful talk from people who do not know what they are talking about.  Well first of all you cannot fire a gun in a residential area and many people would say that it would not be humane. Besides other families of raccoons would just come along later. There are many families of raccoons in residential suburban areas. They have adapted to living with humans very well.  The same is true for using poison, with the added disadvantage that they could die inside your attic or you might kill the family pets or the neighbors!

How to Repel Raccoons?

The best way is to install a one-way trap door over the entrance to the den after the young are old enough to travel. With this approach, they can all get out of the den, but this family and any other family of raccoons cannot get back into the den. Nor can squirrels or birds for that matter.

Make sure that the babies are old enough to get out by themselves otherwise you will have very worried parents who will do almost anything to get back into the den including tearing your roof apart. There are other posts on this website that show the kind of damage they can cause.

The picture above shows the general construction of the one-way trap door. You will have to change the design to accommodate your situation and the location of the entrance to the den. This approach works well for skunks as well as raccoons and groundhogs if the den is under a building or deck. Note that you will have to block off all other possible entrances to the den as well.

How to Repel Raccoons – Use heavy Gauge Chicken Wire

Use heavy gauge chicken wire. Also, make sure you seal all holes to avoid water damage if you need to screw nail the chicken wire into the roof. This approach is by far the best way to stop raccoons from entering your home. You may not repel them from the area. But you will definitely keep them from entering your home’s attic or making a den under your shed for example.

If you are uncomfortable or not handy enough to build this kind of trap door, hire an expert. Make sure they also fumigate your attic to get rid of any odor that might remain.  The feces from the raccoon can cause disease and sickness to humans. If they are in your attic, you will need to take special precautions on entering the attic. Also, take precautions if cleaning it or if you decide to remove the insulation. Avoid entering the den of any animal including raccoons without protection.

 


You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

2 Responses to “How to Repel Raccoons”

  1. that picture of a raccoon really looks fierce. And I thought they were so cure until they started digging up our lawn looking for grubs and trying to get into our house. This article really helped us to deal with the raccoons around our place.

  2. suffolk seo Says:

    Hello to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this
    webpage; this blog consists of amazing and really good information in support of
    visitors.

Leave a Reply

?>