Racoons - How do you keep them away?

[funhouse8]

We have a deck off the second floor in Queens and for some reason the racoons like to hang out here at night. They go to the bathroom and make a mess of the yard. Is there something that they don't like besides dogs. Can I buy some kind of spray? Don't know what is bringing them up here. There is no food around. Please help. Thanks.

 

[golfgal]

Is there some way to enclose the deck, screens or something, to keep them off? I don't know if this will work but what about putting out a lot of crumpled up aluminum foil? It works for cats anyway?

 

[soxfan11901]

Up here in Maine we find that a shotgun works pretty well. And then you've got dinner as a bonus

 

[monkeyboy]

Trap them

Good eating

 

[FredinFL]

How about a sensor light that goes on when they come on to the deck? And one of those Halloween sensor things that shrieks or laughs when you get near it?

 

[ols386]

We live in a very wooded area almost out in the middle of no where, and there are a lot of racoons. DH shoots them and then disposes of them. Of course, you probably can't do this in Queens.

We even had one that came up onto our deck right beside our patio door during the middle of the day. They are incredibly mean and often can carry rabies.

 

[Gigi22]

OP, you and your neighbours don't have any garbage cans nearby? We get roving bands of racoons in our area, usually at night, they are mainly out to raid garbage cans or fruit trees. We just keep our garbage cans in our garage. Nothing we can do about the fruit trees, except keep them pruned.
How about putting up wind chimes?

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Call a wildlife agent with the state.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

We have trapped them then released them in a wooded area a few miles from our town. Not sure if that is possible for you. I would try to see if there is an animal control number you could call.

 

[cglaura]

I put a fabric softener sheet in my trash can lids...sort of half in half out squished with the lid if that makes sense. I used Bounce, not sure if brand makes a difference, that is just what I use normally.

If you can figure out how they are getting up there, maybe you can put some at the entrances to their paths.

Haven't had a raccoon since.

 

[Buckalew11]

I have two traps in my backyard as of last night. Just to trap and escort him somewhere else--at least until it becomes a problem! Then, DH will have to take care of them, I guess. :/

Last night, I sat at the window with the flashlight on him and watched him. He was probably 6 ft. away from me! He managed to get the stuff out of both traps and walk away. We'll have to better than this! lol

 

[mamacatnv]

Here in NV Animal Control will not get involved
We can trap but only to kill, relocating is illegal and I couldn't kill one.

Animal control told me that as long as all the food sources are gone they will eventually move on.

I'm the idiot who thinks they are cute and throws catfood onto the back deck in the winter then sits in my dining room at night to watch them eat and play.
My neighbor had a fish pond, since the racoons ate all the fish they have moved on, haven't seen them now in over a year

 

[Kycha]

There is something attracting the raccoons to your deck. Do you have bird feed out there? Or trash cans? We live in a very rural area. So, raccoons are a nuisance. But once you figure out what they are after and get rid of it, they will stop coming around.

Last Halloween, we got some dried indian corn to hang as decoration on our porch door. The raccoons stripped every last piece of corn off the cobs and left it hanging there pretty as you please. I didn't even notice until a day or two later. I was coming in the door and thought to myself "Why did I buy indian corn without the corn?". When I told DH that, he was the one who told me that the raccoons ate it.