How to Keep Raccoons Out of a Garden

Aug 3, 2015 • Published by in Raccoons

Of all the pesky little critters that can visit and enjoy the fruits of your garden labors, raccoons are perhaps some of the most intelligent, crafty, and persistent of the lot. For these little masked bandits, one taste will simply not be enough. Once they find your garden, they will make themselves at home to return again and again. This article is intended to help you remove raccoons from your property.

Identify the Creature

Raccoons are nocturnal feeders. This means that they eat at night. As a result, even though you might rarely see one, doesn’t mean he hasn’t been there and made a meal of your crops, especially sweet corn, but they also like fruit trees, potatoes, and other vegetables. For a raccoon, gardens are an easy source of food, but most raccoons favor food sources where there is also a source of water nearby.

Simply stated, if you have holes in the ground, open areas in your mulch piles, or other places that a raccoon can hide during the day, chances are good that this is what the problem is. Raccoons can be very destructive, so as soon as you determine that a raccoon is making your garden into his smorgasbord, take action.

Getting Rid of Raccoons

  • There are several steps of getting rid of raccoons. Following these will help.
  • Build a fence. Make sure that any fence you build is strong enough to prevent a raccoon from entering. You might even want to install an electric fence.
  • Use traps. If your raccoon hasn’t gotten the message that he is not welcome with your fence, you could try to trap them. These are available for sale, or some county or city governments will provide them at no charge. Once you have captured a raccoon, let the law be your final guide on what to do with him.
  • Get a dog, especially one that likes the night shift. Raccoons hate dogs.

Try going natural

There are several natural items that raccoons hate. Among these are blood meal and wood ash. Try sprinkling these around your garden to prevent raccoons. A mixture of garlic and chili powder will also deter raccoons. Other natural deterrents include human hair, loud noise such as music, and lights. Another method is to plant squash around your garden. Raccoons don’t like walking across the prickly vines. You can also put up pinwheels and streamers to scare the little rascals away.

Between one or more of these ideas, you should be rid of your raccoon problem in no time.