Raccoons are one species of animal pests that you do not want around your home. They do not only tip the trash can and litter your yard; they also harm pets, deface structures as they search for a suitable nesting site and are potential health hazards because they carry a lot of pathogens and parasites.
Keeping raccoons out of your house may be a great task, especially if you are in a neighborhood that has a high population of raccoons. This article will discuss how you can control and exclude raccoons from your house and yard.
You know that you have a raccoon problem when you see frequently tipped garbage cans, raccoon tracks, and raccoon droppings around your house. Raccoons are nocturnal animals, and so they are hard to detect, but they leave trails and evidence of feeding behind.
You can keep raccoons away by doing the following:
Remove Food Sources
Raccoons, like other wild animal pests, are always in search of a food source, and when they find food on your property, they keep coming back, or they settle down in your yard and become your new housemates.
A primary food source for them is your trash can, and so you should have a proper lid for it. Do not leave trash bags outside overnight, and make sure you dispose of your waste properly.
You should also avoid leaving out your pet food overnight and try to feed your pets indoors. You should also keep an eye on your bird feeders, especially at night, or bring them indoors.
You should always clean your yard and garden and pick up fallen fruits promptly. It would be best if you never allowed fruits to rot on the ground because they attract raccoons to your garden.
Close Burrow Openings
You can discover and fill the exit and entry points of the raccoons. That may take time and effort because they may have many of such openings. In destroying their tunnels, you will frustrate them into leaving your house and yard.
You should also clear and reduce the clutter in your yard. Get rid of woodpiles, cut the grass, and trim trees. By doing this, you will reduce the nesting sites of raccoons and reduce their access to your roof.
It would help if you also used screens to seal off the attic and chimneys as these are entry points for the raccoons.
Build Fences
Raccoons will search for food anywhere from gardens, stores, fish ponds to greenhouse manures, and compost piles. Build fences around your yard, garden, and pond. Your fence becomes even more raccoon-proof when you add a layer of electric wire around it. That keeps the raccoons out of the yard and will likely keep out other animal pests. You can also add this to your fish pond, especially if you have exotic fish that you want to keep away from raccoons.
You should never intentionally feed raccoons because they will always come back for more, and you will soon have to deal with an infestation problem. Implementing humane removal methods of raccoons is important to ensure their safety.
In addition to the methods introduced in this article, http://humaneraccoonremoval.org/ offers more tactics to handle raccoon issues while respecting the animals. To remove raccoons from your house, especially humanely, it’s often best to involve a wildlife removal specialist or call the wildlife control center in your state.
For example, Nuisance Wildlife Pros are the experts, visit their website at 413wildlife.com. Other organizations, like wildlifeanimalpest.com, have locations all over the United States to assist you with your wildlife removal needs. Professionals such as these will also advise you on the best ways to keep raccoons out.