If rummaging racoons are a common sight in your garden, there are a few ways to keep these racoons out.
As racoons are smart, you will need multiple tactics to keep them out for good.
As these racoons tend to come out at night to look for food, proper planning and execution are needed.
Legend has it that putting dog poop around the garden will help keep racoons away — but do they?
Read more to find out if this is true, and other ways you can keep these racoons away from your garden.
Why Must You Keep Them Out?
There are various reasons as to why racoons may be living in your backyard: hospitability and safety.
As racoons are agile creatures with nimble hands, it is important to keep them in check before they cause more problems.
Some main problems which you may encounter if you don’t keep them out include:
- Building nests
- Going after pets such as birds and fish
- Leaving a mess behind
- Leaving faeces around your backyard
As mentioned, these creatures are agile and if left alone may cause more problems.
How To Keep Them Out?
There are various ways to keep racoons out, from dog poop to repellents.
Here are a few ways to keep them out. It is encouraged that you use multiple tactics at once to prevent them from coming back again.
Using Dog Poop
One main way you can keep these racoons out is through your dog.
If your dog is big, they may be able to scare them away just by their presence.
Further, barks from your dog may also spark fear in the racoons.
As racoons have a strong sense of smell, you can use scents they dislike to repel them from entering your yard.
One scent which they dislike is urine and poop.
You can use your dog’s urine and poop to scare them away, forcing them to find a safer location.
As dogs mark their territory through peeing in places, this may allow the racoon to identify that they are in the marked territory.
Scattering your dog’s poop around the garden may, in fact, scare them away as they will know that other animals live among them.
If you intend on using your dog’s poop to scare away racoons, it is also important that you place them in the right areas, for maximum effectiveness.
As the scent will need to be close to the racoons, there are different places you can place it including:
- Anywhere near food
- Plants and crops
- Entryways
- Perimeter
Other Scents That Keep Racoons Away
As mentioned, racoons have a strong sense of smell.
If poop does not do it for you, there are some other scents that you can use to keep these racoons out.
1. Hot pepper
As hot pepper is a potent scent, using this can deter racoons and irritate their sense of smell.
This will deter them from coming back to search for food, especially if used regularly.
Remember to reapply hot pepper around common areas as racoons may return once the scent diminishes.
All you need to do is to sprinkle some pepper on areas the racoon frequently visits.
2. Onion and Pepper
This pungent scent can keep racoons away longer than hot peppers.
To make this, boil onion and pepper with an equal mix of water.
This scent is unappetizing for racoons, irritating them.
While this scent can last longer than hot peppers, it still only lasts a few days.
Thus you will want to spray this mixture around at least twice a week.
3. Peppermint Oil
Similarly, peppermint oil can help to deter racoons and has been profound across many industries.
Peppermint essential oils are also effective in keeping them away, however can be expensive.
As scents diminish over time, it is important to keep reapplying these scents to ensure that these racoons do not return.
Learn More:
Long Term Solutions That Keep Racoons Away
As mentioned, you will need to constantly reapply these scents to deter racoons.
Thus, there are easier and more long term ways to keep racoons away.
One long term solution would be to make habitat modifications.
This means making it harder for racoons to access your property by changing up the environment.
These includes:
Getting rid of smells that invite racoons
Getting rid of these smells and sealing food sources will get them away from your house, especially when adding some deterring scents.
Seal entry points that racoons use
Sealing your house and any access point which racoons can access will help drive them out.
This means sealing your chimney to fixing broken windows.
As racoons are able to squeeze through small spaces, you should seal small spaces thoroughly.
Overall Thoughts
If your property has a problem with racoons, you can indeed stop them with dog poop.
However, this may not be the best way to stop racoons from entering your home permanently.
As scents can diminish over time, try making modifications in your home for a long term effect.
Making these modifications, along with using poop and other deterring scents will be more effective in keeping these racoons away for good.
