How to Get Rid of Raccoons Permanently
Identifying a Raccoon Problem & Getting Rid of Them for Good Can be Tough, But Can Also Save You Lots of Cash
Raccoons are classified as a nuisance pest due to their ability to easily adapt to human-dominated landscapes, which in turn contributes to their expansion in population and the areas they call home.
Here are some tips on how to know you have raccoons and how to keep raccoons away:
Signs of Raccoon Activity
Raccoons, unlike other home invading pests, are not subtle about their presence in and around your household.
Because raccoons are one of the largest animals you will come across in an urban setting, they tend to sound like a small person, especially when roaming around your attic. They make unusual, high-pitched noises, and are very vocal when their young are present.
Raccoon activity can be detected based upon the time of day and season in which you hear noises. These nocturnal animals will make the most noise attempting to get into your house late in the evening hours or even overnight.
During early spring, mother raccoons look for a warm quiet place to birth and raise their young. After birth, the family will stay put until the babies are strong enough to move on their own. For this reason, it is vital to seek professional help ASAP before housing newborns for a few months.
Raccoons are lenient when it comes to materials used for nesting their newborns. Look for nesting materials in and around your attic to determine if a visiting raccoon is preparing to have young. Potential nesting materials could include leaves, twigs, insulation, and cloth found in or around your property.
Like everything else they do, raccoons are very obvious with the damage that they inflict on your house. Their sharp teeth and claws dig into support beams, tiles, and drywall causing aesthetic and structural damage. Even worse, if a raccoon feels trapped, they will claw their way out, destroying everything in their path.
Raccoons will eat quite a bit. If you find food scraps in your attic or notice that food in your house and garden are going missing, that can be a sign of a raccoon infestation.
5 Raccoon Riddance & Prevention Methods
- Secure Garbage Cans
Most raccoons invade human space when they are on the hunt for a source of food. Don’t let last night’s scraps serve as tonight’s delicious garbage meal.Effectively secure garbage can lids by pressing lid into place, tying with rope, topping with bricks or storing them in a secure location if need be. If the food supply is easier to obtain elsewhere, they are more likely to leave your property alone.
- Overwhelm Their Sense of Peacefulness
Install motion activated outdoor lighting near any site of suspected raccoon activity or keep bright lights on inside a part of your house that is most visited by raccoons.As nocturnal animals, raccoons do not like bright light and will avoid it when possible. As an additional measure of protection, you could keep a radio on and tuned to a talk-show program as a means of deterring them.
- Test Their Sense of Smell
Spray a small amount of ammonia in and around all garbage cans. You can also leave a bowl of vinegar inside a part of the house that raccoons may visit.Raccoons don’t like the smell of either of those liquids and will be discouraged from digging in your trash or attempting to enter your residence.
- Keep Pet Food Indoors, or in a Sealed Container Overnight
Raccoons will eat almost anything, out of just about anywhere. Remove all pet food from accessible outdoor locations by sundown to prevent unwanted activity.Additionally, if you are feeding wildlife in your yard, such as birds and squirrels, stop leaving food out for a while to deter raccoons if they haven’t made residence yet.
- Remove Water Sources
Raccoons aren’t the only pests who hang out by the watering hole. With the exception of water that is necessary for pets, turn off and get rid of all sources of water by sundown.
If you believe you might have a raccoon problem, schedule your free pest inspection today.