How to Get Rid of Raccoons

Raccoons are very intelligent, bold and curious omnivorous mammals, with a clever ability to open closed containers and doors.

They’re night crawlers, and known for being cunning and destructive.

They normally destroy cornfields, pull off siding and tear openings to get into houses, hence the general yearning to get rid of them.

Today, the best way to get rid of raccoons is to DENY them food and openings into your house. Restrict their access to birdfeeders, garbage cans, and entrances such as chimneys, which will eventually make the raccoon move to another area.

But, in case a raccoon has already taken up full-time residency in your house, maybe in your chimney, use a method called “exclusion” to get rid of it. This involves waiting until nightfall when raccoons are most active. 

When the racoon leaves to find food place a wire screen cover on the opening so the raccoon will have no way to get back in. And in case your garden is invaded, use fence wired with an electric to give them a mild shock everytime they attempt to climb over the fence.

Installing a floodlight is another proven method to get rid of raccoons. Setting up motion-activated lighting will discourage them from operating in the night. But it must be a strong flood light, like the quartz halogen fixtures used for driveway illumination and security purposes. Racoons really don't like these.

Alternatively, use chemical repellent that has a long-term effect, for at least 25 days, both indoors and outdoors. You can also get electronic repellent, which produces motion and heat sensors that trigger a fear responses from animals, including raccoons.

Furthermore, send fear into raccoons because they naturally have a high fear for both human presence and voice. So you can capitalize on this by placing a radio, protected from rain or water near their nest, tune the volume a bit high. Then leave it to play day and night, and it will definitely scare the raccoon away. 

Additionally, setting up live cage traps with a raccoon's favorite food as bait, will make the task simple. Different sizes of traps are available, but check up with your local community if you can use trap for raccoons.

Send them packing with ammonia. Raccoons are naturally clean animals; they ‘wash’ their food before eating and continually keep their nests clean. They also don't like strong smells.  Place a few Ammonia soaked rags near their nest and they should naturally go away.

You may also want to position some soaked rags near all suspected entrances, but if you have difficulty reaching the nest, then apply the ammonia near it with a spray bottle. Occasionally, re-treat the area with ammonia.

Finally, once any of the above methods work for you, and you're sure the raccoons are out, promptly seal off all access to your home, while you repair every hole and opening with heavy wire cloth, steel flashing or solid wood.

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