Raccoons and other Pests

[RiversideLen]

This is a first for me. Where I live it's not uncommon to see raccoons, skunks, coyotes etc. Yesterday afternoon I opened my garbage bin (it's a plastic tote on wheels with a hinged lid, provided by the garbage company) and saw a raccoon in it. I was hoping it would leave overnight but no, it is still in there. Apparently the inside of the bin is too slick to get a grip on and there are not enough trash bags in there to give it the height it needs to crawl out. So I opened the lid and dropped in a wood post so it has something it can climb up on. Hopefully it leaves this evening.

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[BakerAunt]

Can you turn the bin on its side, Len? That's what we had to do to help out a juvenile raccoon that was in our garbage bin, although at least ours was empty.

We have found that our bins (trash and recycling) and the neighbor's two bins that are next to it, need to be set up so that the raccoons cannot stand on one side to flip the lids up to get inside the bin next to it. I hope the raccoon gets out.

[RiversideLen]

BA, yes, I've thought about that but I'd rather not be around when he leaves so I thought I'd try this first.

I read someplace that they don't like the smell of vinegar so I'm thinking about tossing an ounce or so of vinegar in the bins once this guy leaves.

[BakerAunt]

When my husband pushed it over, the little coon scampered out and went up the nearest tree.

[Italiancook]

Our trash collection company will give racoon-resistant bungee-type cords to secure the cans . . . free. We have to call and ask for them. They mail 2 or 3 to the house at a time. No charge. The extras are because they sometimes end up in the garbage truck when trash dumped in. They're easy to install and easy to remove the hook to thrown in bags.

[Mike Nolan]

Our previous house had a workshop in the back part of the garage, with an exterior door that was the only entrance to the workshop.

Though we didn't use the workshop much, it did have some tools in it and we sometimes kept bird seed in it.

I think we must have left the door open at some point on a fall day and a family of possums got in, probably drawn by the seed. We think the door then blew shut, trapping them. We didn't discover this until some time later, I think the following spring. To say the workshop was jumbled around would be an understatement, and the remains of the possum family were decomposed. I probably spent more time in the workshop cleaning up the mess than I did in most years.

[RiversideLen]

The little skew climbed out overnight. Now he can go annoy some of my neighbors. I hope he learned his lesson, knock over the can but don't climb in it!

[RiversideLen]

I was mowing the lawn yesterday when this gal came strolling along. Probably was looking to raid someone's garden. She didn't seem to be bothered by people and the noise from the lawn mower.

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[Mike Nolan]

I recently read a story where larger animals like deer and mountain lions are becoming more urbanized, they're willing to avoid or ignore the cars and the people to get to easier sources of food, water and shelter.

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