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How to Keep Raccoons out of Your Garden

Hungry and mischievous raccoons are getting into your garden, feasting on the literal fruits and vegetables of your labor. Find out how to keep raccoons out of your garden below. These simple tips, some that use materials you have around the house, will get to work protecting your garden immediately.

Spread Far and Wide

Use one or more of these concoctions to keep raccoons out of your garden:

  • Make your own spicy garlic spread. No, this isn’t a tasty food topping, but a mixture of one head of garlic (minced) and 2.5 oz (one spice jar) of chili powder. Sprinkle this mixture in and around your garden. Be extra careful once this mixture is out in your garden if you have pets and kids.
    Because the smell of humans has been known to deter raccoons, don’t throw your sweaty running clothes into the washer just yet. Use them to your advantage. Take your shoes and clothes out to your garden at sunset, just before raccoons, who are nocturnal creatures, become active.
  • The smell of dogs has also been known to ward off curious raccoons. If you have a dog, give them a thorough brushing and spread their hair in and around your garden.
  • Some other materials to try spreading in the garden are human hair, rags soaked in ammonia, wood ashes, and blood meal.

Lights

Light up your property and garden with Nite Guard Solar lights and motion-activated flood lights. Once you install a set of Nite Guard Solar lights (find out how to correctly install Nite Guard Solar lights for raccoons), the raccoon will never get close enough to activate flood lights. Still, it’s good to cover all your bases, so install motion-activated flood lights, too.

Fences

Constructing a physical barrier around your garden is another way to keep raccoons out. You can build a fence using ¼” mesh hardware cloth, which you can find at your local hardware store. Make your fence 4-5 feet high because raccoons are climbers. With a tall fence that wobbles the higher and higher they climb, a raccoon will climb back down, leaving your garden untouched.

Hide the Food

Removing all food sources from your yard is one of the easiest things you can do to keep raccoons away. Potential raccoon food sources include trash, compost, pet food, bird feeders, and fruit trees. Secure trash and compost using animal-proof containers or keep them locked in your garage or shed. Bring in pet food once your dog and cat are done eating. Store your bird feeder away in the garage each evening. And throw away or compost any fallen, spoiled fruit from around your fruit trees, if you have them.

Radios

Depending on where you live, and how friendly you are with your neighbors, leaving a radio on all night is something you can experiment with. Don’t have any neighbors? Go for it! If you have neighbors and you think they’ll be annoyed by medium-volume talk radio on all night, then skip this strategy because there’s plenty else you can do.

Traps

If you prefer to have your neighborhood raccoon relocated, you can set up a live trap and have animal control step in to help you relocate the raccoon somewhere far, far away from your garden.

Still need help?

The team of animal deterrent experts at Nite Guard can help you protect your garden from raccoons. If you have questions about keeping raccoons out of your garden, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-328-6647 or send us a message.

Categories: Raccoon