Keeping raccoons out of your yard is a very difficult thing to do. There are some basic practices you can follow to make it less common. Raccoons are mammals that are carnivorous in the summer, fall and spring but omnivorous in the winter. They can eat essentially any biomatter from long-dead animals to root vegetables. They have a powerful digestive tract and can consume food that has been rotten for a long time. They are attracted to your property for many reasons. This can include finding a place to nest, accessing food or water on your property or breaking into your attic, shed, deck or garage to raise babies. This season starts in the early winter, often by February, the season starts and then continues through most of the summer. The season stops around the fall but that does not mean mobile babies may still be living with their mothers at this time. Female raccoons are familial with their children and raise them like other animals, however, the male raccoon is not familial and will spend the baby season hunting other male babies and killing them. This is a way the raccoon species increase the survivability of its own young, by killing the young of other males.
Keeping raccoons off your property is very difficult and no matter what you do they will sometimes come to defecate at the minimum. The best way to prevent this is to limit their access to food and water on the property. Make sure to lock up your garbage tightly and store it in the garage, do not leave it outside as raccoons are capable of using tools and can also push the garbage container breaking the lid off. Storing the garbage in the garage or a shed will help prevent this. Weighing the garage down with bricks and rocks does not work. The second main reason a raccoon will come to your property is for water. They will find a leaky hose and drink from it. The dog’s water bowl and food bowl if you feed them outside. And even a birdbath will attract animals to your property. Bird feeders and other animal feeders are a serious problem and so are fruit trees. Anything on your property that an animal can eat, it will eat. And it won’t take long before you have raccoon feces on your property so seal off the hose, get rid of any animal feeders and store garbage safely and responsibly. Getting rid of unwanted plants and shrubbery, clearing detritus from your property and keeping your lawn trimmed can all help keep animals and rodents off your property.