Raccoons!

[dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com]

Okay. First it was snakes (they seem to have moved on) and now I apparently have a family of raccoons (mom and 3 cubs) living in the back yard, inside the crevasse between neighbors' garages. Just saw them come out at dusk. They've been hunting in my trash barrels (knocked over, bags opened, etc.). While I enjoy watching all kinds of wildlife (yeah, even the snakes), I'm looking for ways to discourage the raccoons from hanging around here since I know they can be aggressive. Ideas, anyone?

Comments

[ron_newman]

Tagged 'pest control'; here's a possibly useful earlier post. (Or possibly not so useful; only one of the comments has real advice)

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Which now has a broken link.

[ron_newman]

Try http://www.cityofeastpeoria.com/_data/images/public%20works/Toter.jpg instead. (I left a comment over there too.)

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

We wanted to get trash cans like this (actually bought some and brought them home), but they are HEAVY. When I called the city, they said that there was a 50 lb limit on trash + trash can weight, so I returned them and went back to using cans that can be chewed through/knocked over. Cities that use them generally have garbage trucks that can lift them up automatically. When we lived in Columbia, SC in 2004, that's what the city distributed. Too bad Somerville can't catch up with that bastion of progressiveness...

[ron_newman]

But Somerville recycling bins look exactly like that photo.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

And they are picked up by different trucks.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I think recycling also tends to be lighter than garbage.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

They're not aggressive if you don't corner them, but they shouldn't be getting into your trash because the knocked-over cans can attract rats. Can you put your trash cans in a shed?

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

You are fortunate to know where they live. Find a friend with a dog to pee near one/both openings at night, when they are not at home. They might decide to find another home. If that's too awkward due to the location of the garages, get a dog to pee around your perimeter. If you don't know of any dogs, you can order wolf-pee or mountain lion pee from some gardening shops online. Another thing you might want to try is any of those sprays which discourage dogs from peeing in your home, but those don't last very long, uncertain if they'd last overnight outside.

good luck!

[witchdogtor.livejournal.com]

Ha - I was going to suggest that my dog would be delighted to pee in your yard. And your neighbors' yards. And the garages. And your trash barrels. And pretty much anything else that may need to be peed on. Or not.

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

I find it hilarious that both "dog pee" and "anti-dog pee" are solutions here.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Just don't use both at once or they cancel each other out

[dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com]

As luck would have it, I saw the neighbor's dog in my yard, and her owner entered and coaxed her out of that crevasse. This was about 20 minutes before my raccoon sighting. I'm hoping the dog peed in there! But if she did, it didn't discourage the raccoon family one bit. ... On another note, I just happened to catch a TV ad for minty flavored trash bags designed to discourage raccoons. Mint? Who knew.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Mint is also good for rats and termites

[toniamato.livejournal.com]

We have had a coon family in our backyard for six years. It's delightful to watch them, and they have never caused any real trouble. Yes, they are curious about the garbage, but we bungee the cans to our fence and bungee them shut. I, for one, would like to let what wildlife we have around us co-exist as much as possible.

[dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com]

I agree - I love watching the wildlife and always feel honored that they feel safe enough to hang out in my yard. Last year "Fred the Somerville Turkey" was a frequent visitor. Bungees are a great idea, if I can figure out how to bungee the lids on. The little rascals already know how to unlock the locking handles.

[toniamato.livejournal.com]

We have locking handles, too. Not enough, so I thread the cord through both handles, hooked onto on, and hook the other end into the fence so as to make enough tension to hold the lid down.

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

There are mint-scented trash bags that you can buy.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Do you know where?

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

http://mint-x.com/

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/animal-control/wild

[ron_newman]

Many of the links there end up redirecting to the same MSPCA Living With Wildlife page. They should be changed to go to the specific species pages that are linked from here. In particular, here is the raccoon page.

[dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com]

This has been an interesting discovery process. I've learned that Home Depot carries the Mint-X trash bags, that Tags now has what purports to be a raccoon-proof trash barrel (and it's not one of those heavy ones), and that the bungee cord idea really works - fastened one over the lid of the barrel yesterday and this morning the barrel was knocked over but the lid was still on! Woo hoo! The mspca web site has a good section on raccoon habits, etc. Thanks for the link. I'm hoping the critter family stays safe and has good hunting this summer, just hopefully not in my yard.