What to Do About Raccoons in Your Backyard

November 20, 2008

Question:I live in a residential area and raccoons have begun visiting my backyard at night. They are using my yard as a rest stop in their nightly urban foraging. Our backyard is landscaped including a grass lawn. I am looking for anything short of cages to discourage them. Is there any non-toxic substance I can spread near their entrance/exit point to discourage their visits? They do not appear to be eating or digging up anywhere in the yard, but they’ve adopted my yard as their restroom. Thank you in advance for any insight or suggestions you may have. (John W., Elk Grove)

Answer: We see an upsurge in raccoon sightings and reports this time of year because youngsters born in the spring are now independent of their moms and the adults are building up their fat reserves for the winter.

According to Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Associate Wildlife Biologist Jeff Cann, you should first remove all attractants from your yard such as pet food, dropped fruit, old garden vegetables, and securely close all garbage cans and compost heap containers. Even water can be an attractant this time of year, so if you have a fountain or fish pond, try to make it off limits (e.g. electric fence or dry it out). If the raccoons are coming in through holes in the fence, block those entry points with wire, wood or some other barrier.

Keep in mind that raccoons are excellent climbers and are capable of gaining access to yards by climbing fences or using overhanging limbs to bypass fences altogether. Cutting overhanging limbs may help to keep them from dropping in. If the raccoons are climbing over your fence, one deterrent could be to line the top with spikes or sharp tack strips. An easy way to do this is via carpet tack strips which are essentially a lot of little nails anchored in wood that carpet installers use to stretch carpet over. If you completely line the top of the fence with these then the raccoons will not use the top board as a transit way either. A “hot wire” from an electric fence charger at the top of the fence will greatly increase the effectiveness of a fence for excluding raccoons but you’ll need to find a way to properly ground it.

While these may all seem like extreme measures, the point here is to make your yard less hospitable than your neighbors so the pesky critters will move on.

DFG Senior Wildlife Biologist Terry Palmisano also offers that if you’re thinking about chemical detractors, there are no registered toxicants or fumigants that we are aware of available for control of raccoons, but Capsaicin (a chile pepper extract) is registered as a repellent for raccoons. It may be useful in deterring trash-raiding raccoons.

A great place for more information is the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program page on raccoons: www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74116.htm. Good luck!

Forget deterrents.  When the little bandits show up in my backyard, they are greeted with either an arrow or lead.  I have chickens, one of which has had a serious confrontation with one of the little bandits, but survived, thanks to human intervention.  That and the damn climbing critters love my cherry tree.  Hopefully, the local lion will feast on them.

  " Coon B Gone "     

a good sprinkling of Cayenne chili powder on anything they touch and they usually disappear for awhile. They like to keep their hands clean and once they get it on their hands, they dont want to return.
the powder will loose its kick after a few weeks, but it works. 

I've been tent camping at the lake recently and they mess with me at night, scratching my tent.  Perhaps my snoring is some type of mating call or they want to get in to get out of the cold?  I just hit the tent walls and roar which sends them running.  I roar instead of scream for help so my hunting buddies don't laugh too hard when they're woken up...

The absolute worst raccoons I've ever encountered live at Clear Lake State Park.  They are relentless.  They crawled all over every piece of my equipment, all over my kayak, into the bed of my truck, etc.  I know this because their wet paws deposited sand on everything.  I could hear them fighting outside my tent all night long.  They also went around the campground knocking over just about every garbage can in existence.

Needless to say, next time I camp there I'm packing a slingshot with me.

I do not like raccoons! They got me at Clear Lake too. They went into the water to get our minnows. Damn them. They also bother us at Lake Sonoma when camping. I've been setting mouse traps for them. I smile in the middle of the night when I hear a trap go off. It doesn't hurt them and it hasn't deterred them.
A Red Rider bb gun works pretty good. I think it just stings them.

Thick at Russian Gulch State Part too.  Last chore before bedtime, SECURE anything and everything.   

Plenty at gualala river too. Red rider BB gun only deters them for a few minutes. Don't ask me how I knoe, I just do. You'll need something that packs a bit more punch.

Bring back the 1920's. Racoon coats were in high style then.

A number of years ago I helped take a bunch of school kids to Tomales Bay State Park for an overnight field trip.
I decided to sleep under the stars in my sleeping bag. I was awoken in the middle of the night with a 30lb racoon standing on top of me.  When I pushed him off he just walked a few feet away. Wasn't scared of me at all. There was a group of 8-10 just shuffling around the camp.

real live coon defense stance by Ben Guitarzan.....they were pulling his tent down the cliff, when he had to grab it, and fight them back! i guess they'll do anything for a few "well placed" chicken wings.   
 

  Get 'em Ben! He's not messing around.

A number of years ago I helped take a bunch of school kids to Tomales Bay State Park for an overnight field trip.
I decided to sleep under the stars in my sleeping bag. I was awoken in the middle of the night with a 30lb racoon standing on top of me.  When I pushed him off he just walked a few feet away. Wasn't scared of me at all. There was a group of 8-10 just shuffling around the camp.

Tomales is loaded with them I remember camping there and one of us wanted to travel light and didn't bring a tent. We woke up and found him sleeping in a pit under three kayaks [emoji1] .

Found this one on our yard last week.

lazer eyes robo coon