Having a raccoon on your property is never ideal. While the animals may look cute and cuddly, they often enter homes in search of a warm place to raise their babies. Raccoons can be aggressive when they feel threatened, and they also spread dangerous diseases through their feces. Keeping them out of your home is important for the health of you and your family.
Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control is here to help. Not only can we help with raccoon removal, but we can also help you make your property unappealing to raccoons. Here are four tips to help you get started.
Install a Chimney Cap
One of the simplest ways to keep raccoons out of your chimney is to install a chimney cap when you are using your fireplace. Raccoons can’t use chimneys as entry points if they are covered. You should also cover any holes and cracks in your home’s exterior with steel wool or wire mesh. Even if you think a hole is too small for a raccoon to fit through, you should know that the creatures are extremely dexterous and can easily claw at tiny holes to make them big enough to fit through.
Avoid Leaving Food Outside
Food is the biggest attractor of raccoons. The masked bandits eat a vast variety of food, everything from fish and berries in the wild to chicken eggs and food scraps in urban areas. If raccoons find an easy a convenient food source, they take up residence nearby. The best way to keep the furry creatures off your property is to eliminate as many food sources as possible.
Refrain from leaving pet food outside for outdoor dogs and cats. Adopt a feeding schedule instead. You should also secure your trash cans by locking the lid. Secure vegetable gardens with a sturdy fence, and do your best to collect eggs every day and predator-proof your coop if you have chickens. If you make raccoons work to find food, they are more likely to move on to another location.
Keep Property Maintained
Raccoons are more likely to inhabit properties that offer numerous hiding places. Yards with large piles of leaves and tall grasses conceal raccoons from humans and other predators. The creatures also use low-hanging tree branches as highways to access roofs and chimneys.
If you want to keep raccoons off of your property, make sure to maintain your yard. Trim tree branches away from your home. Cut grass on a regular schedule, and properly dispose of large leaf piles in your yard.
Install Motion-Activated Lights
Like many other types of wildlife, raccoons are afraid of bright lights. They are nocturnal creatures that prefer to hunt under cover of darkness. Making your home an unappealing environment for raccoons is the best way to deter them. Consider installing motion-activated lights on your property to keep raccoons away.
Having floodlights in your yard can also be effective, but raccoons are notoriously clever and can figure out how to stick to the shadows if your yard has a constant light source. Motion-activated lights are often a more effective method for deterring raccoons because they only come on when they detect movement.
Trust a Professional With Raccoon Removal
Raccoons sometimes find their way into homes despite your best efforts to deter them, so if you find a creature living in your chimney, it’s time to call a professional for wildlife control in Madison. At Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, we have years of experience getting rid of all types of animals, so we can help whether you need bat removal near me or raccoon control. Contact us today to schedule an appointment for humane raccoon removal.
Loading...
