Raccoons might be cute and furry, but they are notorious for digging through the trash. If you’ve ever woken up in the morning to find your garbage cans overturned and trash strewn across your lawn, you might have a raccoon living nearby.
Repeated garbage can invasions can be stressful, especially when you have to clean up the garbage the raccoons leave all over your yard. Thankfully, there are ways to prevent raccoons from getting into your trash again.
First, you should secure your trash cans so that the raccoons cannot open them. It’s also a good idea to double-up your garbage bags, as raccoons use their sense of smell to find potential food sources. Other tips include using motion-activated sprinklers to scare them off or sprinkling baby powder around your cans to prevent them from coming near.
If you cannot stop raccoons from getting into your trash, it might be time to call a wildlife removal expert. Additionally, raccoons might start living on your property if they realize your garbage cans are a readily available food source. A professional wildlife removal technician can trap and relocate them, while teaching you how to prevent attracting raccoons in the future.
How to Keep Raccoons Away From Trash Cans
Raccoons will get into your trash cans to snack on your garbage if you give them the chance. Thankfully, there are a few ways to prevent them from being able to access your garbage.
Tips for keeping raccoons away from your trash cans include:
Secure Your Trash Cans
Raccoons are omnivores, which means they’ll eat both plants and meat. If you have either of those types of food waste in your trash, raccoons will come to snack on them. Because raccoons are dexterous, they can easily pry open the lids of trash cans.
You can use a heavy-duty metal can with a secure, tight-fitting lid. If you have trash cans provided by your county, consider using a bungee cord or a lock that is specifically intended for trash cans. Raccoon-proofing your trash can involves a lot of knowledge, so you might want to hire a professional wildlife removal expert for assistance in securing it properly.
Double-Up Your Bags
Raccoons have a keen sense of smell, which means they’ll be able to pick up the scent of your garbage from far away. If you are trying to prevent raccoons from being attracted to your trash, you could double-up your trash bags to reduce their ability to smell your garbage.
In addition to doubling up your trash bags, you could try introducing scents that deter raccoons. For example, they don’t like the smell of ammonia or mothballs. If you place these scents in your trash can, raccoons might steer clear.
Motion-Activated Lights and Sprinklers
While raccoons are highly motivated scavengers, it isn’t hard to scare them off. They tend to stay away from anything that could be a sign of a predator. One of the best ways to scare raccoons away from your trash cans is by installing motion-activated sprinklers and lights.
When a raccoon approaches your garbage, the lights or sprinklers will suddenly turn on. This startles them, causing them to retreat and stay away from your garbage.
Try Baby Powder or Sand
A natural home remedy to prevent raccoons from opening your trash can is baby powder or sand. Raccoons don’t like having dusty paws, so if you place baby powder and sand around your trash cans, they’ll turn around as soon as they walk on it.
Contact a Professional
If you keep trying to prevent raccoons from returning to no avail, you might need professional help. When raccoons frequent your trash cans, they’ve likely taken up residence nearby. A professional wildlife removal company can trap, remove, and relocate raccoons away from your home.
At Nuisance Wildlife Rangers, we use a humane and ethical approach to pest control. Instead of harming animals like raccoons, we safely trap them and relocate them to an area in the wild where they can thrive without human interference. In other words, if you have grown fond of the raccoons but want your trash cans to be safe, we are the right company for you.
Get Connected to a Raccoon Removal Service
If you are dealing with a raccoon problem, Nuisance Wildlife Rangers are here to help. Whether the raccoons are simply getting into your trash or they’ve invaded your home, we can trap and remove them from your property. Because raccoons are important to the local ecosystem, we will only use humane raccoon removal methods.
Nuisance Wildlife Rangers have a reputation for using humane animal removal techniques. We will consider the best approach that is beneficial to the animals and the humans. We use solutions that are meant to leave an insignificant impact on your property and nature. Our professional wildlife control methods provide long-lasting results. We are practical, and we will do all that it takes to remove and relocate all nuisance pests.
Contact us today for more information on how to keep raccoons away from your trash can and how Nuisance Wildlife Rangers can solve raccoon infestations.
