How to get rid of raccoons (from house, yard, shed & more)

get rid raccoon

Raccoons are extremely intelligent creatures that love exploring due to their curious nature. Their curious nature, however, is what gets these furry mammals some people call bandits because of all the trouble they can cause around a yard, inside a home, within a picnic area, and even on campsites.

These little trouble makers love dumpster diving and will eat any kind of food if its in reach of their little tiny paw-like hands that can open up a jar of peanut butter or jelly if this snack of choice is the only thing available to them when they’re hungry.

Raccoon mother and baby raccoon in a shed
Raccoon mother and baby raccoon in a shed

For these reasons, people try to find ways to get rid of raccoons from their yard or place of business, but before we get into the methods found the most useful for ridding these creatures away it is time to learn exactly what raccoons are to help better understand them.

What are raccoons?

As mentioned, raccoons are furry mammals that are highly intelligent. These beings are twelve inches tall and average around forty inches long while weighing nearly twenty-three pounds as adults. The lifespan of these creatures on average is around three years but do live longer when in captivity. The furry beings are commonly known as black-eyed bandits and this is because of the black circles around their little eyes that look like a thief’s mask.

Raccoons also have long cat-like tails with between four to seven black rings around it and a grey fuzzy body with a black snout and dexterous front paws for handling food and climbing. Raccoon are commonly found throughout the United States, but now places in Europe and Japan have begun noticing them living there as well.

Three raccoons climbing the same tree trunk
Three raccoons climbing the same tree trunk

What habitats do raccoons prefer?

Raccoon prefer living in habitats that are heavily wooded with ample trees and vegetation. Raccoons also love being close too water and areas that are easy to dig into the ground to make burrows to live in or already abandoned burrows that raccoons can sneak into and rest. Most of the time, you can find these creatures nesting in hollow trees, but they can also be extremely adaptable beings which is one of the reasons you can now find them in the suburban and urban areas making their home in people’s homes. In fact, some of the areas inside and outside a home raccoons love living in are:

  • Attics
  • Crawlspaces
  • Barns
  • Sheds
  • Garages
  • Woodsheds
  • Greenhouses
  • Sewer Drains
  • Workshops
  • Picnic Areas

How can prevent raccoons from making your home their home?

There are countless ways you can use to prevent raccoons from making your home their home. Some of those ways are:

  • Keeping trashcans sealed up with lids and tightly locked up in sheds or the garage.
  • Always keep outdoor picnic areas clean.
  • Avoid installing doggy doors and remove any that are installed already since raccoons use them as entrances into your home so they can dine in your kitchen or at your pets food bowls.
  • Seal up crawlspaces and attics well.
  • Replace any broken windows.
  • Install motion sensor sprinkler systems to scare raccoons away when they enter your yard.
  • Always keep woodsheds sealed up tightly as well as barn doors when you aren’t in these areas.
  • Seal up sewer drains tightly with proper covers.
  • Place reflectors or motion sensor lights in gardens to spook raccoons away when they try dining on your vegetables, fruits, and herbs.
  • Remove water sources from the yard.
  • Always clean up fallen nuts, fruits, berries, and bird seeds from the yard.
  • Avoid hanging bird feeders in easy-to-reach areas.
  • Always put the grill away after cooking.
Video showing how to remove raccoons from attic

How to remove raccoons from house

If a raccoon ends up making their home inside or around your home it is essential to call Fish and Game to remove them physically from your property. Trying to remove the raccoon or even the raccoon from the yard yourself could potentially be dangerous since raccoons can carry bacterial diseases or even parasites that can be transmitted to humans and pets. Some of those diseases and parasites are:

  • Roundworm (also known as Baylisascaris procyonis)
  • Rabies
  • Salmonella
  • Leptospirosis

If you do get bitten by a raccoon while trying to rid of and trap it yourself it is extremely important to seek medical attention right away since some of these diseases can be deadly without medication. One particular one being rabies. Thankfully, there has only been one known death from a diseased raccoon that has bitten a person within the United States. Overall, raccoons do not attack humans and tend to run off when they do come across us.

What are some other ways to keep raccoons away from your home or yard?

Other known methods that help keep raccoon away from your home and yard are raccoon repellent sprays that you can get from garden shops, hardware stores and home improvement stores. Repellents need to be applied properly to your yard or foundation of your home after every rainfall and as instructed on the labels of the bottles they come in for the repellents to work effectively.

Video explaining some DIY raccoon yard deterrents

However, if you do not like using chemical repellents around your home for repelling raccoons away you could always use electronic repellents that spray water at the raccoon when they enter your probably to effectively frighten them away.

Otherwise, raccoons are adorable funny creatures to watch from a distance when you can the opportunity to share a space with them that is in Mother Nature’s woodland areas and not within your home.

Frequently asked questions about getting rid of raccoons

Video explaining how raccoons get on roofs
Published
Categorized as Raccoons

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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