Are you looking for a sure-fire way to get rid of raccoons? Is there a proven way to keep raccoons away from your home? What scares raccoons? DIY raccoon removal methods are an all-time favorite across the U.S. Just Google raccoons and you’ll quickly realize the incredible amount of information available on the subject.
Finding a successful way to scare raccoons away may not be as easy as you think. People who can’t stand raccoons will suggest approaches that are entirely opposite — and often illegal or cruel — to the approaches offered by people who love animals and want to treat them humanely. Companies will try to sell you gadgets to scare wildlife by feeding you success stories and amazing results that, so they claim, can be easily achieved.
Now, just take a few seconds and think about it.
If getting rid of raccoons is as easy as so many claim, why are there so many raccoon removal companies? If raccoons can be easily scared away, why do so many people experience raccoons problems in their homes and spend huge amounts of money repairing raccoon damage?
Here at Get Raccoons Out, we have been dealing with raccoons for many years, and we know all too well what scares raccoons and how to keep them away from your home.
We also know that raccoon problems come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Scaring the raccoons away might be the solution for some people, but it may not work for you, as we will explain.
Let’s talk about the best techniques to scare raccoons away and when you might use those techniques.
A Few Things That Scares Raccoons
Of course, as living creatures, raccoons are scared of a few things. You too are probably afraid of something, especially if it is unexpected or out of your comfort zone. But you also have the ability to analyze a given situation, and what seemed scary at first might not be so frightening after a while.
Raccoons are somewhat similar to you. Raccoons are pretty smart creatures and experts at finding solutions to problems. You may find something that scares a raccoon, but he might have good reasons to rethink the situation, find a way around it, and keep visiting your house anyway. Later, we’ll tell you exactly what might prompt a raccoon to keep roaming around your house despite your best efforts.
For now, let’s consider what scares raccoons.
Personal face-off. A personal confrontation is often a quick solution that scares racccoons. When you see the critter in your yard, turn on the light, grab an object like a broom or a stick and walk or run toward the raccoon brandishing the object. Make as much noise as you can and, if you really want results, grab a hose and spray the raccoon. More often than not, you will see the critters running away like the wind. Problem solved for now.
Scaring a raccoon away through a personal face-off has some pros and cons. On one hand, the raccoon will usually disappear in just a few seconds, solving your problem instantly. On the other hand, a scared raccoon can turn into an aggressive raccoon. If during the confrontation the raccoon feels trapped or cornered, he will attack you.
You need to be extra careful not to put yourself in this situation, because a raccoon attack could lead to serious injuries and severe health issues, as raccoons are carriers of potentially fatal diseases.
Another con is that, though effective, a personal confrontation requires you to be awake at night and wait for the raccoon. A single encounter will not discourage a raccoon forever; it may take several confrontations for the raccoon to stay away. How many nights are you willing to lose sleep waiting for your opponent to show up? (Not to mention that in many cases, as we will explain later on, even a series of confrontations won’t produce any significant results.)
Floodlights and noise. Just like other nocturnal creatures, raccoons like to operate in the dark. If they can, raccoons also avoid direct contact with humans. For these very reasons, floodlights and noises may be useful in scaring raccoons.
For floodlights to be helpful, you have to install them all around your house at the proper distance from each other, which depends on the model you decide to buy. The important thing is to make sure that the whole area is saturated when the lights are on. If the lights are not powerful enough, the raccoon will not be scared away. So as not to painfully increase your electric bill, our personal suggestion is to buy LED floodlights and couple them with a motion sensor that will turn them on and off automatically as needed.
As for noise, the most popular method is a radio tuned to an all-night talk station. The sound of human voices is a real deterrent for any raccoon. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this approach depends on the size of your property and the density of your neighborhood. A large property may require several radios to get results. Most important, you should only use this method if you do not have any neighbors nearby — you don’t want to scare away your raccoon but then face an annoyed neighbor knocking on your door in the middle of the night.
Once again, these methods may be effective, but chances are the raccoon will grow accustomed to the lights and noises, realize they are not a real threat and keep coming anyway.
Electric fencing. Raccoons are excellent climbers, so regular fencing may not be the right solution to your problem. A regular fence needs to be high enough to prevent climbing and has to extend well into the ground, as raccoons are also good at digging and can easily sneak in underneath a fence.
So if you opt for a classic fence, you need to use chicken wire soft enough to make climbing unsafe. The chicken wire has to be installed at least 36 inches high and extend at least 1 foot below ground. With these stipulations in mind, you can see why installing a raccoon-proof regular fence requires a lot of work, takes away from the beauty of your house and, in the end, may not even be up to the task.
A far more effective and less invasive option is an electric fence. This might be more than what scares raccoons as it will inflict pain. It is enough to install a wire 6 inches above the ground, with a second cable a bit higher, and the work is done. Once a raccoon touches the wires, he will get a shock and cease his attempts to enter your garden. Unlike other methods, the raccoon will never get accustomed to an electric fence. Once installed, this system is always useful for keeping raccoons at bay.
The advantages of an electric fence are that it is quite easy to install, the final result is almost invisible and it consumes little power. Additionally, to save money, you can turn on the fence only at night when raccoons are around.
Big dogs. Raccoons and big dogs will never be best friends. If a dog is around, chances are raccoons will avoid the area. Still, having a big dog is not always a perfect deterrent for raccoons.
Dogs are by nature aggressive when strangers invade their territory, especially if the stranger tries to steal their food. If an argument erupts between your dog and a raccoon, most likely the critter will flee. However, if your dog corners the raccoon and the creature has no way to escape, he will not think twice before attacking your dog.
A raccoon’s claws and teeth are very sharp weapons, and your dog is not likely to get the best of the critter. Raccoons can severely injure even big dogs, sometimes with fatal consequences. Plus, for your dog to protect your yard, you would need to leave him outside during the night when you cannot supervise what’s going on or intervene if need be. Before using your dog to scare raccoons away, you should think carefully about the possible dangers to your pet.
Motion-activated sprinklers. These are irrigation sprinklers that turn on only when the raccoon is passing by. The sudden jet of water will scare the raccoon and push him to leave.
As with other deterrents, raccoons may get acquainted with the trick pretty quickly and find a way to avoid the sprinkler. To get better results, you should change the sprinkler position every night or install several of them to cover a big area. It is quite a lot of work, and the result is not 100% guaranteed.
Repellents. You will find a variety of repellents on the market. They range from coyote urine and homemade repellent solutions to moth balls, predator lights and electronic repellents. The offerings seem endless, and new gadgets are launched every now and then.
Doubts about the effectiveness of these repellents are as numerous as the repellents themselves. They may be successful in certain situations. Generally speaking, however, when used in the open, repellents hardly ever bring home the bacon. Raccoons quickly get accustomed and lose their fear after a few days.
What You Should Know About What Scares Raccoons
No matter how efficient or inefficient these methods may be, knowing what scares raccoons will not provide a permanent solution to your problem.
What scares raccoons is like curing the symptoms of a disease without eliminating the cause of it. If raccoons are visiting your house, it is not by chance. Something about your property is attracting them.
Unless you eliminate whatever attracts the critters, you will end up facing the same problem over and over. Maybe the raccoon you scared away will not come back, but a new one will be drawn to the same bait that attracted the first one, such as a source of food or water.
Even though what scares raccoons may be a quick fix to your immediate problem, you should not waste your time putting Band-Aids on the issue. Instead, act immediately to cure the disease once and for all by making your house uninviting for raccoons.
You can find a complete guide to keeping raccoons away from your home here. Read it carefully and you’ll discover all the little things about your house and yard that are irresistible for a raccoon living in your neighborhood.
When dealing with raccoons, time is critical. Do not waste too much time trying to solve the problem by yourself. If your first attempts prove unsuccessful, do not hesitate to call a raccoon removal specialist like Get Raccoons Out. Don’t give raccoons a chance to enter your house and wreak havoc inside.
Call us today and we will assist you in raccoon-proofing your house and putting an end to your problem, a minor investment that will save you a lot of money in the long run.
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