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Your One Stop Shop for Raccoon Control since 2001
Low Prices • Large Inventory • Fast Delivery • Satisfaction
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Your One Stop Shop for Raccoon Control since 2001Low Prices • Large Inventory • Fast Delivery • Satisfaction |
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Raccoon Problems and Solutions Raccoons eat both animals and plants. In the garden their first true love is corn, with grapes running a close second. Melons are also very popular and when these are not available they will eat various other fruits or vegetable at or just before their peak ripeness. On the farm they are well known for raiding chicken coops, killing fowl, eating eggs, and ravaging a wide range of food stores. The situation can be hard to deal with, because the best answer (removing or interdicting the food source) may not be an option, and raccoons are talented at breaking into food stores that have been boxed in, locked up, or otherwise protected. And in this context repellents are not much use because hungry raccoons will overcome their aversion to repellents in order to reach food. Shooting, where it can be done and is legal, tends to yield uncertain or incomplete results (guns are dangerous, and a gun only works while someone is attached to it). A better answer is to trap the varmints, because raccoons are easy to trap. That’s no perfect solution, because raccoons often travel in groups, so in many cases a fair number must be trapped. Also, raccoons are territorial, so removed troublemakers may be replaced. For these reasons it’s probably better to use a coordinated approach. First trap raccoons familiar with the food source, then begin to trap on the outskirts of the invaded area and also install one or more motion-activated electronic or ultrasonic devices and perhaps apply a repellent like Shake-Away™ or Critter Ridder near the food source–to scare off or repel exploring invaders not yet familiar with the source. For vegetable gardeners looking to protect corn, melons and other crops, the best answer is a Mr. McGregor’s Fence® System. This effective and economical device puts a low barrier fence just behind two pet-safe, child-safe charged wires–so that a raccoon or other small animal seeking to go over or under the barrier will come into good contact with the charged wires, get zapped, and go home. Since animals are terrified by electricity - much more than by repellents - this solution works 100% of the time–and it works not only against raccoons but also against woodchucks, ground squirrels, rabbits, skunks, opossums, and virtually all small animals. Easy and quick to install, it can be moved to protect crops that ripen at different times. Mr. McGregor’s Fence® can also protect poultry houses and farm food stores, because it is only 18 inches high and needs no gate. Grapes are a raccoon favorite and the vexing thing is that they will eat them just as you’re happily contemplating whether to turn your crop into jelly or wine. But regardless whether your vines are on a backyard arbor or in a sizeable vineyard, the most effective way of keeping raccoons away from them is with an electric fence. Mr. McGregor’s Custom Electric Fence for Ponds & Vineyards is ideal for protecting an open vineyard. If your vines are part of the landscaping, you may be able to protect them with a motion activated water sprayer or by electrifying the arbor. Raccoons will attack pond fish and may also damage pond plants. A good way to keep out raccoons - as well as heron and kingfishers - is with a motion-activated water sprayer. Trapping and removing the offenders also works though it requires some patience and time during which fish could be lost. Repellents like Shake-Away™ or Critter Ridder® are effective until the intruder figures out that there are no predators in the vicinity and are best used as an interim measure or in an integrated approach. However, the most effective way of protecting a pond is with a Mr. McGregors's Electric Fence® for Ponds. Raccoons and opossums will dig up lawns to get grubs. Because their paws are very sensitive, raccoons are finicky about what they touch and they don't like the feel of polypropylene netting. Black and unobtrusive, bird or pond nets can be spread out over the lawn and quickly taken up when it's time to cut the grass. Alternatively, If the area is small and the digging is relatively minor, try treating the area with Dr. T's Whole Control, a castor oil derived product which works by upsetting the critter's stomach but does not harm it. If there is a water supply nearby then an excellent way to deter raccoons is with a motion-activated water sprayer. Since raccoons and opossums are nocturnal another effective way of deterring them is to scare them with a motion-activated Deer Chaser. If the critters persist or if the area is very large and the digging intense, you can try trapping. In that case you should follow this up, once the raccoons familiar with the food source have been removed, by treating a large area around the digging site with Shake-Away™ or Critter Ridder® and/or by installing an ultrasonic or electronic device or a motion-activated water sprayer. Raccoons are notorious for raiding outdoor garbage pails, but it doesn’t really matter whether it is raccoons, opossums, or some other critter, because the best answer is essentially the same: if you can’t remove the food source, make it unpalatable by spraying garbage bags or the garbage itself with Ro-pel® which is designed for precisely this purpose. Ro-pel® will make the garbage taste terrible to whatever is going after it, and will generally stop the attacks. Ro-pel® will also stop raccoons, opossums, and others from digging in mulch piles, chewing lawn furniture, etc. Rather than soiling their den areas, raccoons establish "latrine" sites where they will defecate repeatedly. An excellent way to get raccoons to move their latrines is to install a motion activated water sprayer placed close to the latrine site. When the motion detector senses activity it will spray any animal that comes near the site with an unpleasant blast of water. If water isn't handy then a motion activated Deer Chaser can do a good job. If raccoons have moved into some confined space in your attic, chimney, wall spaces, or into the rooms of an unoccupied building, there are ways to evict them. An innovative and highly effective new tool called the Evictor, is much easier to use, very humane and more effective than the traditional trapping method. It's also a good way to get rid of other invaders like roof rats, squirrels and mice. The unit is non-toxic, safe and harmless to animals and the environment. Using an ultra high-intensity strobe light that flashes 90 time per second, the Evictor targets the animals' sensitive eyes and makes it unbearable for them. They usually vacate the premises in 1-2 days. And even if the offending raccoons' home is in a wall, so long as they need to cross an open space to reach food or water, you can place an Evictor along their route. The traditional method of evicting raccoons is by trapping the offenders. Place a live trap near their entry way and bait it. Once caught you should release them far away-some say as far as 20 or 30 miles away-in order to ensure they don't return. Although effective, this is not a humane means of eviction for by taking them outside their own territory and into unknown areas the animals have a very slim chance of survival. Once the infested area is clear put out Critter Ridder® or Shake-Away™ (hung in net bags or tied-off sections of nylon stockings or placed on paper plates) or install an ultrasonic device like the Yard Guard in the formerly infested area and seal up the entrance. Then spray the sealed up area with Ro-Pel. Do not poison the raccoons unless you have a high tolerance to the ungodly smell of decaying flesh.
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