Most people have infestation problems with regard to rodent creatures like rats and mice and even the odd termite or ten. Raccoon infestations are common, especially if you live in an area that is surrounded by woods for some reason unknown to you which attracts various forms of wild life. Just be sure to thank your stars that it is only a raccoon problem and not a skunk problem. The formula for ridding yourself of raccoons is rather similar to that for ridding yourself of any rodents or rodent like creatures.

Don’t Give Raccoons a Place to Stay

First things first, take a good look at your backyard, front yard areas, if it is a mess, it is the last time you are ever going to see it the same way. Why? You may ask, well raccoons like any other creatures like messy woody places, the one sure fire way to get rid of them is to make it unbearably clean for them.

On your immediate to-do list…

• Clean up the house.
• Any leaves outside are to be raked and stored in a drawstring bag or burnt or disposed off in the way that your neighborhood approves.
• Keep some steel cans with tight, note tight lids, it does not make sense to have a closed can but a lid that the raccoon can throw off and get into anyway.
• If there is any organic material, double wrap it and spray it with something that disguises its original smell. Raccoons are particularly attracted to meaty scents so those in particular a good spray of eau de cologne would do well to mask it.
• If you find that the lids are still not tight enough use a heavy weight to keep it down, one that cannot be rolled off by the raccoon. A good solid rock will do just fine.

You want to remember that a raccoon is a living, breathing animal and you don’t just want to kill it if you can avoid it.. You want to get it away from your property that is all. In some places it is actually illegal to kill it and you can be jailed for it. So make sure to check with your local authorities or animal control regarding laws about harming/killing raccoons. In areas like under your patio, where raccoons or any other small animal for that matter can nest is an area, you can place irritating smells like a cloth soaked with ammonia around the area. Avoid at all costs trying to shoo the raccoons away yourself physically, you may end up encountering a mother with new born babies and she may pose a larger threat.

Use a Dog

Getting a dog if you do not already have one is another way of doing away with the raccoon problem. The dogs tend to scare off the raccoons with their barking and chasing. Remember also that areas with pipes and hoses tend to leak and create pools that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes or a good drinking water supply for the raccoons.

Reasons to Get Rid of Raccoons

Some other reasons to get you to eliminate the raccoon quickly, they cause many types of infectious diseases with rabies ranking high on the list. If you have children living with you, this is great motivation. Round worm and leptospirosis are other infections that can be caught by mere contact with the feces of the creature.

Don’t Attract the Raccoons

Important information to be kept in mind if you have a bird feeder around is that the seeds in that are attractions to the raccoon. It is your choice in this one, the birds and the raccoons or neither. If your problem still isn’t solved, contact your neighborhood pest control.