For the past week raccoons have been lifting the tops off my compost bins. I know it has to be raccoons cause my neighbour told me she has seen 2 huge raccoons around at night. Anyhow this really freaks me out - I don't want raccoons in my yard. Luckily they don't make a mess but still....it just grosses me out. I am trying to figure out a way to get the lids tied down but do you any of you have any home remedies or anything to keep them at bay???
Any tips on getting rid of raccoons?
A Coon Hound? (Sorry - I couldn't help myself.)
Geez thanks LOL
I just feed them, they love bread soaked with syrup.
Learn to live with them - A Coona Matata!
yup, there's worse things you could have getting in to things.
I pour some household ammonia in my garbage can.and it keeps them away for while.When the smell wears off repeat.AG
Hey but I don't want to live with them....they don't pay me for taking my compost stuff out LOL Those little brats!!!
The main reason for not wanting raccoons in your yard is rabies and other diseases. They eat carion, among other things, and along with skunks are more likely to have rabies than many other animals. So, I wouldn't recommend feeding them or doing anything else to encourage them to be in your yard . . .
At one point we didn't have anywhere inside to store our trash cans. We had to bungie cord the lids on very tightly to keep the raccoons out, and they continued to try to get in anyway, chewing away at the plastic until the lids needed to be replaced with thick wooden ones. So you may be able to fasten lids on your compost containers if they are made of solid enough materials. For a while we had problems with coyotes and a neighbor's dog in our compost. I found if I buried my new additions in old compost of nonfood material like leaves or grass clippings, I didn't have so much problem.
Even though I had a pet raccoon as a child (Charlie), along with a possum (Peter) and a flying squirrel - the best thing you can do it trap them, drive to a secluded area, and shoot them! Sorry, but it works!
Forgetting any moral or political issues that your solution raises, PrimroseSue, if you trap and shoot them you are risking exposure to disease, and not just rabies. Don't forget they often have fleas, which can be transferred to you easily, and the fleas carry all kinds of nasty diseases!
It is incredibly frustrating to deal with critters that destroy your hard work. I have a real hatred growing towards some noisy, destructive squirrels, but I try to remind myself that this is the way of nature and they (the critters) were here long before I came along.
I have found that using the product called "Deer Solution" discourages critters from eating my veggies and bulbs. I find the smell disgusting (it reminds me of vomit) but then again, so do the critters. It is non-toxic, but it tastes dreadful (I discovered this from using it on my strawberries: even when the smell wore off the flavor simply would not wash away). It might do the trick to keep the bandits out of your compost heap.
This should do it very nicely:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,raccoon,FF.html