Raccoons are curious creatures that can find their way into all kinds of places, like your home’s attic, chimney, and especially your trash. If these pests are making a mess of your garbage or home, you may need professional raccoon removal. Here are some tips to help keep them away from your trash before the nuisance escalates.

5 Tricks to Raccoon-Proof Your Garbage 

1. Choose a Strategic Location 

If possible, move your trash container to a fenced-off part of your yard, where it could be harder for a raccoon to access. Make sure the fence is several feet high, locked, and closed at all times. If you don’t have fencing, find another secure area, like in the garage. Wherever you put it, don’t keep it on a pallet or any other raised platform. Leaving it flat on the ground makes it harder to tip.

2. Try Lights 

Since raccoons are nocturnal, they’re not fond of light. Wherever you place your trash container, install a motion sensor light or spotlight so that the scavengers will be frightened away. You could even string some lights around the trash can itself. There’s no need for raccoon removal if they’re too scared to approach your trash in the first place. 

3. Secure the Container 

Although raccoons are dexterous, they have limits. If you attach a rubber bungee cord on one handle and stretch it across the lid to fasten it to the other, most raccoons are unlikely to undo it and open the container. Additionally, installing D-rings on the side of your house and tying the garbage bins to the wall prevents raccoons from tipping them over. 

4. Don’t Leave It Out Overnight 

Because raccoons are nocturnal, they go after your trash at night. If you usually put your trash by the curb the evening before pickup, try leaving it secured by your home until the morning, when the raccoons will be sleeping. 

5. Use Chemicals 

Buy a liquid animal repellent from the store or use ammonia, which you may already have at home. Spray either onto the trash bags and containers each time you take them outside. You can also use the ammonia to clean out the container itself. Raccoons can’t stand the smell, but they’re not harmed by it, so it’s a humane form of raccoon removal. 

 
To get professional help with raccoon removal or any other type of wildlife control, contact TAAP Pest Elimination in Rochester, NY. With 25 years of experience and specialization in residential pest control, their certified exterminators have the skill and commitment to ensure that your home is completely protected from rodents, ants, bees, and other pests, using methods that are both humane and affordable. Schedule a visit today by calling them at (585) 723-­6542 or messaging them online.