2 Ways To Help Control Raccoons

Raccoons may look cute on videos with their little bandit masks and clever paws, but in real life, they are much less cute. They can be downright destructive. Raccoons will chew on the sides of your house, sneak into your attic or crawlspace to nest, and destroy your house by urinating and defecating everywhere as well as chewing up insulation and wiring. If you have raccoons, you need to get rid of them as soon as possible so you don't have to pay for costly repairs as well. Call an exterminator who works with wildlife and have them come work their magic. In this case, it is much better to let the professionals do the job from the start. But, there are things you can do to help get rid of the animals and keep them from coming back. 

Secure Your Trash

Raccoons love your trash bins because they are an all-you-can-eat buffet that is very accessible to them. Securing your trash so that they can't get into your bins is going to help eliminate a food source. You may have to try a couple of different methods until you find one that works for you. One easy thing to try is a combination of a heavy object and bungee cords. You run bungee cords through the handles of the trash bin and over the lid, tightly. Then, you put a heavy object like a rock or cinder block on top of the lid. The combination is reasonably inexpensive, which makes it a good first step to take. 

Clean Up Any Food

If you eat outside, grill, or feed your pets outside, there are going to be crumbs and spills that can attract raccoons. When you are done eating, wipe down things where food residue might be, and sweep to get all the crumbs. Deposit any crumbs into a trash receptacle. If you have outdoor pets, then you feed them outside. The trick here is to feed your pets at a scheduled time and leave the bowl out for your animals to eat from for a set number of minutes. As soon as that time is up or their bowl is empty, take the bowl back into your house and clean up any spilled food. 

Raccoons can look awfully cute, right up until you have one living in your attic or crawlspace. An exterminator can safely perform raccoon removal, but there are things you can do to help make your house less attractive to raccoons. 

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