Maintaining a garden can be both, difficult and time consuming- particularly if pesky raccoons are destroying the fruits of your labour. Raccoons love both vegetables and fruits: among their faves are corn and grapes. Many of them forage right before your harvest is ready to be picked, therefore pay extra attention right before harvesting the crop.
So, just how can you ensure your garden will be plentiful and raccoon-free? There are various ways to keep them from your garden without doing harm to them. I may not want the raccoons to consume my garden produce, but I do not necessarily want to harm them either! With that in mind, here are a couple of ways to keep raccoons away:
- One pro-active approach to thwart raccoons is scattering wood ashes or blood meal around your plants. Likewise, grinding garlic, together with equal portions of chili powder, has been said to work. Bear in mind, though, that this remedy calls for frequent application.
- Use physical barriers when possible. You can purchase a mesh covering from the hardware store or garden center or use wire cages. Be sure to bring the netting to the ground so raccoons can’t get to the food from underneath. By using mesh, the plants can continue to absorb the water and sunlight they need but the raccoons are kept away.
- Tie strings to pie plates or aluminum cans and hang them up around the garden. The shiny metal and noise often scares raccoons away.
- When only one or two raccoons are the problem, consider a humane trap. Use a catch and release trap and after that release them into a rural area that’s far from home. While raccoons in your garden could be a bother, there is absolutely no reason to poison them! Humane methods work when you are persistent!
- Trapping Raccoons. This is yet another effective technique you can use. When trapping, get a cage type, heavy-gauge trap that is at least 10 x 12 x 32 inches. You can bait the traps with anything from canned fish flavored pet food to fresh fruits. Captured raccoons need to then be transferred to a suitable area. Remember though that is illegal to release raccoons into federal land and parks.
Prevention and Precaution is best.
As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” The simplest way to keep raccoons from your garden is to first prevent attracting them. How do go about that?
- Keep your garden thoroughly clean and remove any vegetables and fruits that fall to the ground.
- Store away trash containers in the garage or some other closed-off area.
- Also, for those who have outdoor pets, do not leave their food out over night.
- Raccoons love dog/cat food! And lastly, do not intentionally feed your raccoon visitors. Although they may be cute, raccoons can be extremely dangerous.
Lastly, remember that the key to dealing with raccoons in your garden is acting quickly: Step in on the first indication of raccoon damage, since one taste probably won’t be all they need. And when everything else fails, call in the pros- experience always trumps even the most intelligent pests. The best way to remove raccoons from you garden call raccoon removal Oshawa they will help you to settle this problem.