Raccoons

Raccoons in the garden? Here are tips on how to combat these masked bandits!

Raccoons are nocturnal feeders that eat your sweet corn, though they also eat fruit trees, peas, potatoes, and grubs.

Even though wild raccoons prefer areas with trees and a source of water, more and more of them are raiding gardens because gardens are an easy source of food. 

How to Identify Raccoons in your Garden

If your lawn has a lot of holes in it, or your mulch pile has a lot of holes, you probably have a nightly visitor. Raccoons will dig up lawns and mulch piles looking for insects to eat. They will also empty bird feeders as well, so keep an eye on those to see if you have a raccoon problem.

Of course, if you have corn, there's nothing more infuriating than finding stalks topped and ears ripped open and half eaten. (Even more frustrating is the idea, offered by animal researchers, that raccoons are wasteful because that don't really like sweet corn all that much; in fact, they seem to prefer sunflower seeds, dog food, and sardines.)

The persistence and proliferation of raccoons has inspired many solutions; one of them is bound to work for you.

How to Get Rid of Raccoons

  • Spread newspapers around the perimeter of the garden and then spread mothballs on the newspapers.
  • Scatter blood meal around corn plants.
  • Tune a radio to a rock station and set it in the middle of your garden and/or corn patch. Leave it on all night. The noise will scare away the raccoons.
  • Put lights in the garden. A bright lantern will sometimes keep Sun-shy raccoons away.
  • Plant enough corn for man and beast alike.
  • Grow tall varieties such as 'Silver Queen', 'Kandy Korn', and 'Lancelot'. Taller plants bear their ears higher, causing raccoons trouble getting leverage to topple stalks and ravage them. They prefer shorter plants.
  • Build a good fence around your garden. Beware though, raccoons are agile and intelligent; make sure your fence will keep them out. You may need to install an electric fence. This is a good measure. A two-wire fence, with one wire four to six inches above the ground and the other at 12 inches, should be effective.
  • Add some pinwheels and streamers to your garden to scare the creatures.
  • Grind up garlic, mix it with an equal portion of chili powder, and spread it around the garden. Frequent applications are needed.
  • You can try to repel raccoons by putting dog hair or human hair around the garden.
  • Try sprinkling wood ashes around your plants.
  • Hang shoes and clothes that smell of human perspiration around your garden or corn patch.
  • You can also plant squash around your corn or other plants to deter raccoons; they don't like walking on the prickly squash vines.
  • If your raccoon problem is persistent, you can set humane, live traps in your garden. Raccoons will eat virtually anything, so traps baited with fish-flavored dry cat food, chicken necks, ears of corn, or whole peanuts may attract them. If raccoons don't enter your trap after a few nights, try switching the bait. If you trap a raccoon, use caution when handling the trap, and be sure to release the animal at least three miles away.
  • Keep a dog in the yard—a good dog who doesn't mind the night shift. This will save you a lot of corn, but, on the other hand, you may be too tired from lack of sleep to pick it.

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Comments

I have little problem with

By Michael Moore 2

I have little problem with raccoons in my garden. They visit some and eat a few ears of my tall Golden Queen, but not enough to be a worry. My problem is with squirrels. They devoured at least one fourth of our sweet corn last year. HELP!!!!

See our page on squirrels for

By Almanac Staff

See our page on squirrels for tips on how to control them: http://www.almanac.com/content/squirrels

What About Squirls?

By SS

What About Squirls?

Please see our squirrels page

By Almanac Staff

Please see our squirrels page at
http://www.almanac.com/content/squirrels

I just read another article

By S in FL

I just read another article that stated it was illegal in all 50 states to use moth balls to deter raccoons?? I didn't know that until reading it but we used mothballs last night-propped a large piece of plywood supported by shovels against the ripped screen on our porch with the mothballs scattered across the ground. The raccoon pushed the plywood out of the way & might as well have just spit on the mothballs..clearly, they didn't work. I've been reading that ammonia & cayenne pepper works, we will be trying those tonight!!

Thanks for the info about

By Doreen Mann

Thanks for the info about getting rid of raccoons. We have one that is pretty big but he stays away from us. ANy ohter idea's on how to get them not eat the potatoe plants?

Thanks

Give them a lead pill.

By Tony Soprano

Give them a lead pill.

Perhaps plant broad beans

By Almanac Staff

Perhaps plant broad beans around your potatoes. The heavy vines are a deterrent. Otherwise, all the tips above work! You could also invest in a predator protector. See: http://www.almanac.com/product/predator-preventer

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