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Gardening in Canada

Raccoons getting in my garden!! How to get rid of them?

6 years ago

Has anyone ever had raccoon problems?
I have a really bad raccoon problem in my neighborhood and I just don’t know how to make them go away. They ransack my garbage worse than crows do and they freak me out. Just the other night when I was coming home, a raccoon pushed past me after sniffling through some garbage I left outside. I think we were both equally scared! Anyway, it’s been really bad. One of my neighbors had a family of raccoons live in their shed. She didn’t want to evacuate them because they had babies. I had never seen such a disgusting amount of poop in my life when we walked in there. It smelled strongly of raccoon. They tore down that shed when the babies grew up.
My last straw was when they destroyed my garden. I built a square foot garden and grew a beautiful crop of corn. I woke up one morning to find stalks and half-gnawed corn everywhere. That was it!
I’ve heard that raccoons have the same tastebuds as humans do, so that probably explains their penchant for going through our garbage and garden.
Does anyone here have any suggestions for how to get rid of raccoons? I would really appreciate it!

Featured Answer

Smivies (Ontario - 5b)

6 years ago

First mistake is leaving your garbage outside and unsecured. You wouldn't do that in bear country and be surprised that you've got bears hanging around the house? Having smelly food garbage out attracts all sorts of animals.

If you live in an urban or suburban area, you're going to have raccoons around. That they were living in the neighbors shed is not really the problem...there will be others nearby regardless.

Yes, raccoons enjoy corn. Short of building a complete enclosure around your corn, you are going to have an issue with them. They also have good memories and learn from each other. So, unless you plan to take a multi-year hiatus from growing corn, you will have issues. After a few years, you may have success unless a raccoon stumbles by chance into your yard (the cycle will then start over).

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Comments (6)

lilysmile
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you Smivies. Besides the garbage issue, it is the fact that they just eat what I grow in my garden.

I am going to install raccoon spikes around my fence. I have heard positive reviews about De-Fence spikes and going to put them in my garden. No raccoons are going to stop me from growing my corn!
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ianna
6 years ago
get a motion activated sprinkler and see if that is effective. Others may try to deter them via smells and I'm told leaving rugs of amonia may help.

I also have a raccoon problem presently when its trying to eat our birdseeds.
splaker
6 years ago
we shoot them with 22s or bows in our neck of the woods but my guess is a lot of you will find this distasteful.
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We ended up paying over $500 to have a wildlife exterminator set traps around my deck when a lady skunk took up residence. Not cheap, but the skunks are gone.
splaker
6 years ago
hopefully u kept the tails for the rearview mirrors ;)

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