Getting Rid of Raccoons in the Backyard
A backyard may be fenced but is still vulnerable during the night when no one is watching. Fellas like Raccoons may then come in search for food and shelter.
Quick View
Identifying a Raccoon
Why a Raccoon visits your Backyard
Keeping the Raccoon Away
Identifying a Raccoon
You may think at one point that, the noise in your backyard might as well just be the squirrels that live in your tree but what if that’s not the case? It’s a good thing that there are different ways to identify who visited your backyard during the night and this is how you can find out if it was a Raccoon.
A raccoon can easily be identified with their small body, the color on their face seemingly like a panda which has black around their eyes and a fluffy tail with dark rings. They are also known for their paws which seemingly looks like a tiny human hands.
You may identify the raccoon if you see it but sometimes it isn’t all that easy to catch them on the act especially if they only usually move during the night. But there are ways you can still find out if a raccoon was in your backyard, they can leave their tracks and although similar to an opossum a raccoon has different tracks from it. They also walk flat on their feet and their toes contain claws.
Raccoons can also leave holes in their visit to your backyard during the night, these holes are signs that they have been searching for insects as their food. They might do it anywhere in your backyard, even in your mulch pile if you have one.
Why a Raccoon visits your Backyard
If you want to get rid of a raccoon, the best approach you could make is to keep it away from your backyard whether it may be again or you just wanted to prevent the possibility of having a raccoon enter your backyard.
Similar to other animals, raccoons also look for sources which provides them food and shelter. Raccoons are known to be omnivores and a backyard can be such a great spot for them. One of the reasons would be if you have a garden, if you have a garden in your backyard and fully grown fruits and vegetables at that, it’ll definitely be something a raccoon would grab his tiny little hands on. If you have a garden, it’s not impossible that you would also own a fruit bearing tree, these can attract raccoons whether it may have fallen off the ground or are still hanging on the tree.
Usually, a household at least has one garbage can that’s located outside and sometimes it’ll be in your backyard. A garbage can may hold leftover food such as meat or even fish which a raccoon could eat. Got a bird feeder? When winter comes, raccoons can also grab a hold of the meal that’s for the birds. A bird feeder is usually placed in the backyard since it can easily be accessed by birds, it’s a bit problematic if raccoons reach out for it too though.
Keeping the Raccoon Away
To keep the raccoon away, you’ll have to figure out the reason why a raccoon is visiting your backyard. This would help you come up with a better solution to keeping raccoons away as you know what to focus on your backyard.
Raccoons are not fond of the light, that’s why they visit when the sky is already dark out. It’ll help to have lights placed in your garden, you can use several small lamps or even lanterns that you never used for that festival you wanted to go to.
If you have a garden, it’s best to put up another fence for it. Raccoons can be pretty smart animals and a normal fence might not cut out for salvaging your garden. What you can do is either put up an electric fence, a wired fence, or put the two kinds of fences together for increased safety.
On the other hand, if you have a bird feeder, it’s best if you empty it out during the night to take away another food source for these raccoons. If you want to deter the raccoons from even going near your fruits and vegetables. You can create powdered solution such as chili powder mixed with crushed garlic both being equal in proportion or get some wood ash. Sprinkle it to places where a raccoon would like go near to take a bite of food. Lastly, do not forget about the garbage can in your home. It’s best to seal it tight after using it.
