How to Get Rid of Raccoons in Your Home

If you’re familiar with the kind of damage that raccoons can cause, you’ll understand how important it is to address the problem as soon as possible. Far more than knocking a few things over or causing a bit or racket, raccoons can get extremely destructive and aggressive.

You should immediately contact a pest control company if you have a raccoon problem in your home. Here are nine steps and procedures on how to get rid of raccoons in your home.

1. Determine the size of your raccoon problem

Before you can do anything to fix it, you need to assess the scale of the problem you’re facing. Due to the fact that raccoons are nocturnal animals, they can be hard to detect in the early stages of their invasion. The best way to set about finding them is to keep an eye out for the signs they leave behind.

You’ll want to look for evidence of feeding, tracks, and droppings. With the latter two are self-explanatory, you can track evidence of feeding by looking for tipped trash cans, damage to your garden, knocked over bird feeders, or a disturbed compost pile.

2. Eliminating food sources

The best step on how to get rid of raccoons is to eliminate any possible food sources that might be encouraging them to hang around. You can start by securing your trash can, which is by far the largest and most accessible attraction for hungry raccoons. Ensure you have a heavy, secure lid, or even consider using a bungee cord or piece of wire to keep the lids in place.

3. Feed your pets inside

Any pet food or bird feeders should always be brought inside at night. Otherwise, you’re just asking raccoons to wander into your yard and eat right out of pet’s dish. If your birdfeeder is in a place that would make it inconvenient to bring inside, make sure you get one that is designed to keep out unwanted visitors.

4. Take precautions against female raccoons

If you’re dealing with a female raccoon who is looking for a place to nest, she’ll be willing to do everything from tearing off shingles and rooftop ventilation to get inside your attic. If she succeeds, you’ll likely be facing some pretty serious damage to your home, not to mention a heck of a mess and increased exposure to a host of parasites.

Chimneys, crawl spaces, and the area under your deck or porch are all also vulnerable, so it’s important to act fast if you sense that racoons may be lurking nearby.

5. Put a fence around your garden, fishpond, and compost piles

Be mindful of the fact that gardens, fishponds, and compost piles are also temptation zones for raccoons. Although it may sound extreme, the best way to keep raccoons out of these areas is by installing an electric fence. Basic fences simply don’t hold up well due to the fact that raccoons are able to dig under, climb over or find a way through them.

However, an ordinary fence can become raccoon-proof by adding a single electrified strand of wire 8 inches above the ground and about 8 inches out from the base of the fence.

6. Reduce potential nesting sites

Once you’ve gotten rid of readily available food sources, you’ll want to reduce access to potential den sites. If they’re unable to find a place to settle, raccoons will likely move along quite quickly. The most basic way to eliminate den sites is simply by cleaning up your yard and getting rid of any piles of wood and overgrown shrubbery.

You should also trim tree branches to reduce access to your roof. Ideally, you should try to cut overhanging branches so that there is at least a 5-foot gap between your roof and any surrounding trees.

7. Seal off your chimney

A favourite nesting spot for raccoons, chimneys should always be covered with a spark arrester or chimney cap. You’ll want to ensure that the cap is tightly secured upon installation so that they won’t simply be able to pull it loose once getting on top.

If you suspect there has been raccoon activity around your property, it is critical to ensure that there are no animals inside the chimney before covering the opening. In the event that a family of raccoons has already started to make themselves at home, you’re going to need to hire a professional.

8. Seal off other common entry points

Although chimneys are the most vulnerable spot, raccoons will also be looking for other ways in. In order to prevent them from discovering these spots in the first place, you should take precautions to seal them off before you have a problem. You’d be well advised to close off open spaces beneath structures, such as porches, decks and garden and tool sheds, with 10-gauge 1/4- or 1/3-inch galvanized hardware mesh.

9. Organize at a community level

Keep in mind that if you live in a densely populated area with a known raccoon problem, it may be beyond the individual homeowner’s ability to control the issue. In this case, you might need to get together with neighbours to form a task force to address the problem or share the cost of hiring a team of professionals.