Raccoons are prone to raiding gardens to find food. Place trash in receptacles with tightly sealed lids or double bags, and never leave your trash outdoors. Avoid leaving pet food or leftovers outdoors, either. Raccoons are drawn to the smell of rotting fruit, so store it in a container that can be locked up at night. This will keep raccoons from entering your yard or causing damage.
Another effective method of deterring raccoons is to place loud sound devices around the area. While they are not particularly frightened by loud noise, they are easily shaken. Combine a loud sound with flashing lights and they will be frightened away. Use motion-activated speakers that emit raccoon distress calls and sounds of natural predators to startle them.
One of the most effective scents to deter raccoons is hot pepper. Hot pepper is highly irritating to the rodents’ sense of smell and discourages them from roosting on your property. Besides being highly effective, hot pepper is widely available in households. You can buy a five-pound bag of cayenne pepper to make enough for your garden or garbage bin. This repellent can be diluted with water and spray it around the property’s entry points.
In addition to using smell-based deterrents, you can also use live traps to catch the mother raccoon with babies. The raccoons will be dissuaded by the smell, leaving the nest area untouched. You should also avoid trapping the mother raccoon if she has already left her babies in the nest area. If you have a pet, keep the food indoors or call a pest control technician to do the job.
Another good repellent for raccoons is ammonia. This smells like urine, and they cannot stand it. This repellent will keep raccoons away for a few weeks. If you have a lot of raccoons, place ammonia-soaked cloths near the garbage can, so that the smell will be more intense. If the smell doesn’t deter the raccoons, you can also place a bowl of ammonia around your trees and trashcan. Moreover, you can use a sprayer from the Hudson brand. You can buy the Hudson brand at Lowes, Menards, or Ace.
Raccoons are known to carry diseases. They can cause serious harm if they bite someone. If you are unlucky enough to get bitten, you could become the victim of a rabies infection. Rabies is a fatal disease that is transmitted through the bite of a raccoon. If you do manage to catch a raccoon, it will be euthanized.
Another way to repel raccoons is to use ammonia, vinegar, and spices. Raccoons can’t stand the smell of spices. So, you can mix cayenne pepper and hot sauce in water and spray it around the perimeter of the chicken coop. Another effective repellent is Epsom salt. If you have a vegetable garden, sprinkle the salt around the vegetable patch.
