Raccoons might be cute, but they’re no good for your garden: here are tips on how to remove them from your yard.
Keep Raccoons Away from Your Crops
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How to Identify Raccoons
Raccoons are small mammals 2 to 3 feet in length and weighing about 10 to 30 pounds. Raccoons have distinct black “masks” on their faces, which often characterizes them as bandits. They have fluffy, ringed tails, and their bodies are varying shades of gray, with hints of light brown. The forepaws of raccoons resemble tiny human hands with five toes, which makes raccoons very dexterous.
Raccoons are nocturnal creatures, meaning that they feed at night. This might make it hard for you to identify them, as you might only see the damage they cause. Looking for raccoon tracks near the damage might also help you to identify them. Learn more about identifying animal tracks.
Photo Credit: M. Sorrentino, University of Vermont. After a rainy night, five-toed tracks might appear in the mud around your garden. These raccoon tracks are easily distinguished from most other four-toed mammals.
Raccoon Damage
If your lawn has a lot of holes in it, or your mulch pile has a lot of holes, you probably have a nightly visitor. Raccoons will dig up lawns and mulch piles looking for insects to eat. They will also empty bird feeders, so keep an eye on your feeders to see if you have a raccoon problem. Additionally, raccoons are known to raid chicken coops, stealing eggs and even killing chickens.
Of course, if you have corn, there’s nothing more infuriating than finding stalks toppled and ears ripped open and half eaten. (Even more frustrating is the idea, offered by animal researchers, that raccoons are wasteful because they don’t really like sweet corn all that much; in fact, they seem to prefer sunflower seeds, dog food, and sardines.)
How to Get Rid of Raccoons
The persistence and proliferation of raccoons have inspired many solutions; one of them is bound to work for you. Here are tips from all our readers and staff! See what works for you.
- If your raccoon problem is persistent, you can set live raccoon traps in your garden and release the animal at least three miles away (check local and state laws first). Raccoons will eat virtually anything; try fish-flavored dry cat food, chicken necks, ears of corn, or whole peanuts for bait.
- To keep raccoons at a distance, try scattering blood meal around corn plants. Also, try sprinkling wood ashes around your plants.
- Grind up garlic, mix it with an equal portion of chili powder, and spread it around the garden. Frequent applications are needed.
- One reader says, “Hang shoes and clothes that smell of human perspiration around your garden or corn patch.” Similarly, “You can try to repel raccoons by putting dog hair or human hair around the garden.”
- Tune a radio to a rock station and set it in the middle of your garden and/or corn patch. Leave it on all night. The noise will scare away the raccoons.
- Put lights in the garden. A bright lantern will sometimes keep Sun-shy raccoons away.
- Plant enough corn for man and beast alike.
- Add some pinwheels and streamers to your garden to scare the creatures.
- Folk wisdom suggests that you spread newspapers around the perimeter of the garden.
How to Prevent Raccoons
- Build a good fence around your garden. Beware though, raccoons are agile and intelligent; make sure your fence will keep them out. You may need to install an electric fence. This is a good measure. A two-wire fence, with one wire four to six inches above the ground and the other at 12 inches, should be effective.
- If your home is near your garden, remove any possible food sources from the area, including pet food and bird seed. Buy garbage cans with locking lids and keep garbage inside if possible. Keep pet doors sealed shut between dusk and dawn. Cap your chimneys. Seal any holes or gaps in attics and roofs.
- Grow tall varieties of corn such as ‘Silver Queen’, ‘Kandy Korn’, and ‘Lancelot’. Taller plants bear their ears higher, causing raccoons trouble getting leverage to topple stalks and ravage them. They prefer shorter plants.
- You can also plant squash around your corn or other plants to deter raccoons; they don’t like walking on the prickly squash vines.
Do you have any more tips for getting rid of a raccoon? Let us know below!
Catherine Boeckmann
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Raccoons will lead a dog to water where they will wrap themselves around them and hold their head under water and drowned them they are notorious for this they are very smart .
A neighbor has allowed his beautiful Tudor style home to go to rack and ruin. He moved out, tried to sell the house, but wanted far too much, so no one would buy it. The house has been empty for over 5 years, and is now the dwelling place of many raccoons. Since he pays someone to cut the grass every few weeks, there is almost nothing to be done about the situation although many n our neighborhood have complained by phone and in writing to the Town Government and tot he County Board of Health. A few m onths ago, it seemed a repairman was at the house so I went over to ask if it had been bought, and if new owners were beginning restorations. The man replied the owner had wanted him to fix a gutter that is hanging off and to do something inside, but had placed the keys with our police department. When the repairman went to the police, they refused to give him he keys because of all the raccoons living there. They are afraid some may be rabid. Several of us called the Board of Health again, but nothing was done. I think this owner must be paying off someone with influence. Because we're in suburban Long Island, there are lots of laws, but the owner seems to be above them. We are grateful that his home is surrounded by large thuja trees and therefore we don't have to see the condition the house is in!
We have a cabin in a remote area of the mountains of NE Georgia and feed the birds.. We have trail cameras out and see the raccoons destroying ornamental plants and even scaling a squirrel proof bird feeder. As they dug up the feeder's pole; they are quite ingenious..
Originally, it was a family of 3 raccoons; now, it is down to one raccoon.. Although GA DNR will claim there aren't any cougars, period. As I have a picture of a 75-80# one, my trail cams disagree.. I have a picture of a large footprint also which implies an even bigger cougar...
As I can't expect the cougars to protect our container plants; I take the dogs out to urinate by the containers which has proven to be effective.
Trap and release is only giving someone else your problem. Trap with live trap using marshmallows and shoot them. Dispose of properly. Put them in a thick trash bag and roll up tightly and tape securely. Put in deep freeze until trash day and they will be gone.
I've lived in this house about 15 years now, and although we live in a small city, there's a ton of wildlife in my neighborhood. My neighbors and I joke about our "pet coons and groundhogs" and find the squirrels entertaining, as well as the rest of the wild life. It wasn't a problem until last year, when my next door neighbor took a fancy to a family of feral cats and started feeding them on his porch day and night. The coons love cat food, and started coming around and eating with the cats, scaling the houses, and playing on the roofs - keeping us up all night long. We trapped a few and relocated them, but I finally begged my neighbor to please only feed the cats in the morning, and not both morning and night. He did, for a while, then started to sneak & feed them late at night (I would hear him - our houses are very close). Long story short, one of the coons got pregnant and ripped a hole in my roof to get in and have her babies in the attic. The noise was deafening!! First, the sound of roofing and wood being torn apart, then the birthing, then the babies and the mewling and skittering and scratching, all night long. We couldn't figure out exactly where they were, because the noise seemed to be everywhere, until I was talking to another neighbor one day and looked up to see a large hole in my roof, surrounded by debris. Since then, we've had two "critter guys" and three roofers out here to get rid of the problem. It took about three months, but the coons are finally gone, but the three roofers have all refused to climb my steep roof to fix the hole (I live in a 100 year old faux-Victorian farmhouse), so there is always the possibility of another coon family moving in, not to mention the possible further damage from inclement weather. Anybody have any suggestions. Still looking for roofers, too...
I have twice had raccoons as pets and consider myself as partial to them. But, now consider them an overpopulated nuisance. I can't keep chickens anymore because they kill every bird. Yes, they do occasionally kill cats, especially kittens. They will usually just eat all your cat's food.My cat hides from them. They will steal from your garden too. When something is in season that they like such as sweet corn, watermelons, canteloupe, tomatoes, etc; they can come in your garden several families together and wipe you out in a couple of nights. I have trapped alive many coons but finally gave up and kill them when I can.The best way to keep them at bay is an outside free roaming dog. Which can cause other problems...
I have raccoons that visit frequently, usually in the wee hours. They get up on my shed and cruise my yard. I do not have a veg garden. I do not keep pet food or bird feed out. Tonight I tried spraying with water to scare them off. It looks to be a family. I think the parents are out and about looking for food and the kids are holed up under my shed, then come out to play. When they see me, they go back under the shed, but keep coming back out. They’ve been at it for 3 hours tonight.
I see muddy footprints on my pool deck (look like 3-4 toes) in the a.m. here in Florida not sure if it's going in the pool too, some mud in the pool but for sure deep holes in the dirt part of the back yard. How about moth balls? Does anyone know if that works? Ty
Although some older sources mention mothballs as a raccoon repellent, it is no longer recommended, now that we know more about pesticides. Unless the label says otherwise, mothballs are meant for indoor use only (as a pesticide, it is regulated by the EPA). One concern is that placing them outside can leach toxic pesticide chemicals into the environment (soil, water, plants). The mothballs can also be poisonous to children, pets, and all wildlife. In addition, even for adults, prolonged exposure to mothballs can be hazardous, and can cause mild to serious health issues. As an alternative, you might try mustard oil, which is said to deter raccoons in certain cases.
I was told (here in CA) that raccoons were an endangered species. Can anyone tell me why??????? They have already killed 6 feral cats in my backyard. How can I tell you ask - because they rip them apart. Hate these critters.
