Keeping raccoons away, 10 effective tips!

2. Light and motion sensor

If you have a problem with raccoons at night maybe motion sensor type lights could be the solution to your problem.

Indeed, since most of the raccoons’ activities are nocturnal, it would be appropriate to install motion detectors that will quickly turn on the lights when the raccoons move. As simple as it sounds, the light beam will scare raccoons away from your property boundaries.

Motion detectors are also very effective in preventing other animals such as skunks or neighborhood dogs and cats from prowling around the house at night.

3. Garbage cans and raccoons… Watch out!

One of the main reasons raccoons are seen approaching homes at night is because of garbage cans or worse because of your compost bin.

It’s no secret that raccoons and skunks eat almost anything around the house, so imagine your trash cans and your leftovers in the compost bin. It’s a real buffet for raccoons in search of food during the night.

So if possible, get trash cans with tight-fitting, locking lids to prevent raccoons and other wildlife from emptying your trash cans. You can also simply place a rock or heavy object on the lid of the bin to hold the bin tightly closed.

This trick is also good for groundhogs!

Groundhogs also love trash cans and food! Here is another article with several tips and natural repellents to try: How to keep groundhogs away?

4. Bird and raccoon feeders

Did you know that raccoons love to eat birdseed? Believe me, if you have one or more bird feeders in the garden you are likely to see raccoons eating all the seeds overnight.

But the problem is that the raccoons may break your feeder so it is better to prevent them as quickly as possible from climbing to reach it.

But how? It is possible to buy a saucer-shaped accessory that protects the bird feeder mainly from squirrels, but why not raccoons as well?

5. Ammonia as a repulsive odor

There are certain smells that raccoons hate and ammonia is one of those smells! So how do you keep raccoons away with this product? Easy, here’s how:

• Soak a ball of wool in the ammonia (you can also use a tennis ball or an old sock).
• Hang the ammonia ball on a fence post.
• Repeat a few times during the summer to be really effective as a repellent.

Be careful, however, not to put in contact with your pet because it can be very dangerous for him!

6. Castor oil as a natural repellent!

A trick that seems effective in keeping raccoons away is to concoct a recipe based on castor oil or if you prefer castor oil! For this raccoon trick you need:

• Castor oil (castor oil)
• Some water
• Liquid dish soap

Mix the 3 ingredients in equal parts and spray the mixture on your garbage cans, along the terrace or along your garden to scare away the raccoons once and for all! If you don’t have castor oil at home here is some below. You will be able to use this castor oil to hunt raccoons but also to concoct homemade recipes to have beautiful hair, to reduce wrinkles and even to take care of your skin.

If this homemade repellent does not work well then go to the next remedy which may be even more effective in getting rid of raccoons thanks to cayenne pepper! ?

7. A homemade anti-raccoon recipe

A bit like tip #5, the next tip consists of concocting a strong and spicy recipe to effectively scare away raccoons from your land, your garden and your garbage cans. Here are the ingredients to make this grandmother’s remedy against raccoons a success:

• 2 liters of water
• 1 cup hot sauce (very hot)
• 4 tablespoons cayenne pepper powder
• 1 cup dish soap

Mix well all the ingredients of this homemade repellent and spray in the different places where raccoons hang around the house. Repeat once a week to get rid of raccoons and other wild animals for good.

8. Watch out for bodies of water near the house

Did you know that raccoons but also other wild animals like bodies of water to take a dip at night?

Indeed, I had the experience for my part, several years ago when my son, about 2 years old, had a paddling pool that I left filled on the ground all night. Once night fell, the raccoons came to wash their food there and sometimes did some small damage and even a little swim.

So avoid keeping a body of water accessible to raccoons because you risk having visitors every night unfortunately.

9. Noise to scare away raccoons

If you want another effective trick to chase raccoons away from home then noise is definitely one of the best free tricks to try out!

So if you want to scare away and scare the raccoons that hang around your garbage cans and your patio, why not install a radio? A simple radio turned on for a few nights will chase raccoons and other unwanted animals away from the house and your garbage cans.

Simple, effective and free!

10. Catch a raccoon!

If you want a quick and effective solution to prevent a raccoon from settling too close to the house then why not capture it? The cage is the trap par excellence to catch raccoons but also to catch marmots and cats for example.

Of course it is important to choose a trap that is large enough to effectively capture raccoons. 10 Tips offers you this very popular raccoon trap model online:

If you are also looking for tips against skunks take a few minutes to read this little guide: Skunk repellent.