How to Deter Raccoons and Keep Them Away Forever

For those of us that have shared our homes with those fluffy rascals called raccoons, we understand why you want to know how to deter raccoons. They are relentless when it comes to fighting for the ‘good life’ in human homes. They have no care about what they end up destroying in human homes, so long as they are comfortable and well provided for. 

But, is it not noble for us to go soft on raccoons and accommodate them because of their cute looks? No, we don’t think so. Those fluffy rascals and their destructive lifestyles have no place in human homes.

How to Deter Raccoons From Your Property 

Raccoons never walk away from a food source, and if your property is one for them, then you should prepare for their company. When raccoons find food on your property, they will want to stay close to it, which is why they will likely den there. But you can deter them from your properties by doing any of the following;

• First of all, remove their food sources from your properties. Anything raccoons find palatable should not be left uncovered. These include little aquariums with fish and leftover foods. 
• Seal off all entrances that raccoons can pass through. Raccoons do not have superpowers to penetrate walls, instead, they look for little openings to squeeze themselves through. And if you can find these openings and seal them off, then your properties will be off-limit for the fluffy rascals. 
• Install an ultrasonic motion detector that produces a raccoon-repelling sound. A motion-detecting sprinkler or light can also help to scare them away. The idea is to scare them away as soon as they step in, making your property a nightmare for raccoons. 

If you are looking for how to deter raccoons from your yard, or how to scare raccoons at night, then this third method is your best bet.

How to Deter Raccoons From Garden

If your home holds anything close to a promise of food and shelter for raccoons, then you are going to have fluffy housemates sooner than later. And the garden is one of those places where raccoons usually look out for a promise of food in human homes. 

So, when raccoons start paying visits to your garden, deter them by following these steps;

• Plant cucumbers in your garden. Raccoons are known to hate the smell of cucumbers in gardens. So planting them in your garden will make raccoons to avoid your garden.
• Use wood ash. Raccoons do not like wood ash, so putting it on your garden crops will deter them. Besides, the wood ash will add to the soil nutrient and cause your garden to bloom faster. 
• Blood meal also does the trick but you have to reapply at intervals, especially after a rainfall. When you have raccoons in the neighborhood, you do not need to buy just any fertilizer for your garden. Get blood meal, and be rest assured that its smell will send raccoons running far away from your garden
• Erect a high fence around your garden, using strong wire. In this way, the garden gets admired by all, including raccoons without them getting inside.  

How to Deter Raccoons From Bird Feeder 

In addition to sharing the bird’s feed and spreading rabies, raccoons can turn around and try to eat the bird if it’s injured or weak. This gives us more reasons to deter raccoons from bird feeders through any of the following methods;

• Change the location of bird feeder. If the bird feeder is too close to a bush or tree, then raccoons can easily sneak in and scare the birds away. Finishing what’s left in the feeder afterward. 
• Make the birds’ feed a little too spicy. Raccoons hate spicy foods and if you can make your birds’ feed spicy, raccoons will avoid it. On the other hand, if the raccoons end up eating the spicy feed, it will give them stomach upset which will serve as a lesson for them. 
• Do not put too much feed in the feeder. Ensure that you put only the amount of feed that your birds or visiting birds can finish before nightfall. If raccoons keep coming back to meet an empty feeder, they will get discouraged and forget about the feeder.
• Put the bird feeder on a high pole. Those beautiful feathered creatures can fly up to it and feed themselves. But so long as the pole is tiny and smooth, raccoons will not be able to climb to the top and reach your bird feeder. 
• Clear any feed on the ground. Birds can get messy while eating, and their mess will always draw raccoons to the place. So, clear up the mess after the birds. 

How to Deter Raccoons From Trash Cans

Raccoons are also called trash pandas because of the way they raid trash cans. As fascinating as it may be to watch them skillfully open a trash can and begin their search for food in it. Not deterring them from your trash is like an open invitation for the raccoons to come live with you.

Depending on how badly you want to deter raccoons, you can overlook how fascinating they appear. And follow these steps to deter raccoons from your trash can.

• Before putting leftovers in the trash can, wrap them up to conceal their food smells. Because these trash pandas are good at sniffing around the trash to pick out the smell of eatable stuff in it. 
• Cover your trash cans. If possible, try to put a heavy weight on the lid before going to bed. Raccoons are not very strong, so they will leave the trash can alone if they can’t move the weight off the lid.
• Spray raccoon-repelling scents like ammonia, raccoon eviction fluid, cayenne pepper, and onion or garlic paste on the trash can. This will send the intruding raccoons running away from the trash can.  

How to Deter Raccoons From Deck

To deter raccoons from a deck, you need to make your deck unpleasant for them. Do this by introducing those smells that raccoons hate, loud noise, and light. And raccoons will avoid your deck.

How to Deter Raccoons From Roof 

Raccoons usually follow branches of trees that are close to your house to your roof. So the best way to deter raccoons from your roof is to cut off any tree branch that they can follow to your roof. Raccoons are not expert wall climbers, so climbing to your roof through the wall is not likely.

How to Deter Raccoons From Chicken Coop 

For reasons best known to raccoons, they love to kill chickens for fun, and sometimes for food. So, leaving your chicken scoop without raccoon-proofing might not be a nice decision. You can protect your entire flock by ensuring that raccoons do not gain access to them. 

Do this by using strong wire to build your chicken coop. Raccoons will chew off the normal chicken wire, but a stronger one will keep them out. Also, cover the roof of your chicken coop and keep it locked. 

To ensure that raccoons do not dig their way to your chicken, erect a concrete slab all around it. 

In conclusion on how to deter raccoons, we understand that we have to treat raccoons fairly. This is why we suggest that you leave little food for raccoons outside your property to ensure that their search for food ends only outside your property. It’s a peace offering for the raccoons, since humans encroached into their habitat through urbanization and other human activities.  

But remember to seal off all openings to ensure that the raccoons do not end up looking up at your house. To know if there are more from where that peace offering came from.