How To Get Rid Of Raccoons On Roof

Drive Them Away With Foul

Raccoons have a strong sense of smell. We recommend using this to your advantage. Place something with a strong odor in and around your attic or under the chimney to get them out of the house. One odor that raccoons especially hate is ammonia. Try putting the ammonia in a bowl or using an ammonia-soaked rag to drive the raccoons out of the home.

How To Stop Raccoons From Pooping On My Roof

There are a million and one devices, sprays and traps on the market to catch and fend off raccoons. Not one of them works. There are wives tails and internet blogs that will tell you laying plastic down will get the raccoon to leave you alone, they will just start a new latrine a new location. One thing that does work is waiting all night for the raccoon to show up while holding a pressurized hose. Spray the raccoon and dont stop spraying till they are off your property. This may work but you will have to keep it up for a good week and that means no sleep. So if you have a raccoon on your property pooping on the roof you may have to call the professionals.

If you are dealing with raccoons, the likelihood that they leave behind feces is very high. They can transfer diseases and viruses that can be damaging to your health. Contact a professional raccoon feces cleaning and removal service.

There are many ways people claim to get rid of raccoons or to prevent them from defecating on the roof. Sadly most of them wont work and will be very hard to accomplish. Stapling plastic sheets to the roof is nearly impossible for someone who does not do it professionally and trying to go up there to spray wolf urine is ineffective as the urine will just be washed away and be destroyed by sunlight.

How To Make My Property Less Attractive To Raccoons

Weve talked in the past about the extensive damage raccoons can do to your property. They can destroy walls and insulation can create a breeding ground for bacteria and even pose a risk to you and your familys safety. So today, we thought wed look at some easy ways to make your home less attractive to raccoons.

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How Can I Keep Animals Off My Roof

• Habitat Protection

Raccoons and squirrels are excellent climbers and may be wanting to get onto your roof for a number of reasons, including to gain access to your attic or chimney, or maybe just to simply pass by. To help keep raccoons, squirrels and other animals from gaining access to your roof, there are a few things you can do:

How To Tell Youve Got A Raccoon Problem

Raccoons are nocturnal, meaning theyre only active at night. As a result, their presence can be difficult to detect.

The best way to tell that you have a raccoon problem is to pay attention to the clues they leave behind.

Here are a few things we recommend keeping an eye out for:

• Evidence of raccoons feeding. Raccoons are messy, ravenous eaters, and they leave a trail behind after mealtime. Common signs of raccoon feeding include knocked over trash cans, damage to your lawn or garden, empty, spilled, or moved pet food bowl, disturbed compost piles, and empty or broken bird feeders, among others.
• Tracks. The tracks of raccoons and possums look similar. Raccoons walk flat-footed, like humans do, and have claws on all their toes. The differentiating factor is that raccoon tracks move in a diagonal track pattern like deer do. Their tracks have a longer heel on the rear foot and tend to be 2-3 wide on the front feet, and 3-4 long on the rear feet.
• Droppings. Racoon droppings are cylindrical with broken or rounded ends. They tend to be dark in color, although the color varies depending on the animals diet. The scat typically contains berry seeds and may contain signs of trash.
• Strange sounds. You may notice strange sounds around your property at night. Raccoons make noises that include mewing, whistling, and growling.

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Get Rid Of Raccoons By Being Annoying

Yes, you read that right. Generally speaking, raccoons dont like humans, nor do they like our noise or bright light when all they want is to sleep. Use that to your advantage by annoying them enough that they decide to find a new home. Granted, this doesnt tend to be as effective as other methods, but youve got nothing to lose by giving it a try!

If you know where their nest is, make sure its well-lit. If you can do this without bothering your neighbours, set up a radio nearby, tuned to talk radio, so that your furry guests cant get any peace and quiet. You never know, it just might work!

Seal Off Your Home And Yard

Dealing with raccoons in your garden or attic can be a nightmare, so its wise to try preventing that situation from ever happening in the first place. Physical barriers around your entire property or specific areas can eliminate easy entry points.

You can also use barriers around your garden or individual plants that attract raccoons. This is a simple and inexpensive way to protect your vegetation. Simply purchase a mesh screen and use it to wrap a perimeter around your plants. Make sure to dig the screen deeply enough into the ground so that the raccoons cant dig it up.

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How To Protect My Pets Or Chickens From Raccoons

One of the foremost concerns for pet owners whose pets interact with raccoons is the risk of contracting diseases. Raccoons are known carriers of diseases such as rabies. They also cause injuries to pets by launching strategic attacks on their sensitive parts such as eyes, abdomen and chest areas. Since they are omnivorous creatures, they pose a threat to your chickens as well. They are one of the best known and easily recognized non-domesticated chicken predators. Fortunately, there are effective steps that keep raccoons at bay, therefore, protecting your pets and chickens.

Raccoon Proof the Chicken CoopMake sure there are raccoon-proof latches on the doors and windows of your coop such as a padlock or combination lock. You should also use something heavy like a cinder block to lean up against the door. It is advisable to use hardware cloth around the run and over coop windows. Chicken wire will keep your chickens in, but can be ripped apart by raccoons. Hardware cloth is sturdier. Bury it 2 to 4 feet deep around your coop to deter the raccoons from digging. You may also want to put it over everything like a roof and secure it tightly so the raccoons cant gain access by climbing.

Scare Them With Loud Noises

Raccoons may be smart and wily creatures, but theyre also easily shaken up. All it takes is a sudden loud sound and theyll go scampering away into the night.

If you can get a device that puts together a loud sound and flashing bright lights, that would be even more effective.

There are motion-activated speakers made especially to repel wildlife. You can choose one that emits raccoon distress calls or sounds made by a raccoons natural predators.

There are studies that show a recording of a dog bark is especially effective. Theyll stay clear of your home if they think that bad things can happen to them there.

There are also those that emit sounds above or below the frequency of what can be detected by humans. This makes it less annoying for neighbors who might not enjoy the intermittent loud noises coming from your backyard.

Any loud and abrupt sounds will work, as well. You would too if you were stealthily creeping around and a loud crack goes off. It is important that the loud noise isnt continuous or at regular intervals. Erratic noises that are sudden and short are more likely to work.

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Discourage Raccoons From Snooping Around Your Roof By Destroying Bridges

Ok, so dont take that literally. But the point is that raccoons may be accessing your roof via natural bridges such as overhanging tree branches. If its too high for you to safely cut down the target branches, make an investment in hiring a tree trimming service to take care of it for you. Once you remove their easy access to your rooftop, theyll move on to easier targets.

How To Prevent Raccoons

Raccoons take up residence in an area because there is a dependable source of food nearby, access to water, and a sheltered place to den that is warm and protected from predators. The last is a primary concern of female raccoons with kits or about to give birth. Male raccoons or raccoons out of breeding season are more likely to roam.

Because female raccoons will often stay near the area they were born, preventative measures need to be extensive in order to be effective. A moderate effort will not deter a raccoon who is already familiar with your property and the surrounding ones. In a big city, raccoons will rarely be deterred from an area because there are almost always food sources nearby. Even in more rural areas, raccoons will likely come back unless changes are made. Ideally, raccoons need to be physically prevented from entering or your yard needs to be undesirable so that they are made to go elsewhere to seek out food and shelter.

The more comprehensive your efforts towards raccoon control, the less likely you will see raccoons. For maximum protection, focus on these steps:

DIY raccoon exclusion may not keep raccoons out of your yard indefinitely. Habitat management will effectively make your property less appealing, but a desperate raccoon may still enter. As they are generally not a concern as long as they dont come inside and you or a pet doesnt confront them, managing the raccoon population is typically enough to ensure your safety.

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Signs There Are Raccoons Living On Your Property

Raccoons walk around your yard and complete property.

Their leg prints are somewhat same as that of a small mans hand.

Their foot is just 2-3 inches longs and they have sharp claws on their fingers.

As a sign of a raccoon, you may notice holes dug up or a big portion of grasses torn apart or dug upside down.

However, this can also be the action of some other nuisance animal.

There may also be scratching and bumping noises in your ceiling, attic, or inside the wall.

You may also get these noises on your roof and garage.

This may signify the presence of raccoons in your home as they may be trying to build their den.

Few other signs which reveal that a raccoon is present somewhere on your property or scavenging around your home for nourishment are:

• Scattered trash from bin around your yard or garage
• Noticeable scratch marks on your garbage bins or trash cans
• Garden with fruits and vegetables damaged and eaten up

Raccoons can be a threat to your house, health and garden.

No matter you are getting the signs of the presence of a raccoon outside your house or inside, it is important to take immediate action.

Listen And Look For Baby Raccoons

Usually, mother raccoons will move into your attic because they need a safe, warm place to give birth. In this case, its crucial to find and remove the entire family.

Listen and look for the den and the litter of pups. Remaining still and quiet for a few minutes can help locate the babies when they move or make noises. Baby raccoons make noises that are often mistaken for birds chirping in the attic. The den is often tucked away in a hard to reach place. Be careful, since a mother raccoon might be defensive over her little ones. Wear protective clothing such as gloves, goggles and boots just in case. Also, try to look for pups when the mother is not around, or if youve seen her leaving the attic.

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How Do Pest Management Experts Get Rid Of Raccoons

Sometimes, getting rid of raccoons is a job only a wildlife control professional can do. Heres how our team can help:

How To Keep Raccoons Off Your Roof And Property

Wondering about how to keep raccoons off your roof? If so, you certainly arent alone. Even if these nuisance animals didnt carry disease or cause significant property damage, raccoons would still cause homeowners considerable trouble and annoyance, thanks to their ability to break into garbage bins and scatter trash everywhere in search of a meal. Thanks to the mess they make, the extensive damage they are capable of and their potential for spreading disease, raccoons are an unwelcome presence for almost any homeowner.

While hiring a pest control professional is the most effective and time-efficient method of keeping these critters off your roof, there are a few do-it-yourself tricks you can try before calling in the big guns:

• Trim the trees around your home so the raccoons dont have an easy pathway from your surrounding trees to your roof.
• Keep vines and other plants that are growing up your homes exterior short so raccoons cant use them as a type of ladder.
• Eliminate any food sources surrounding your home that could lead a raccoon to believe that your property is a good place to stick around.
• Place metal sheeting around your roof, as well as around the base of the trees around your property, making it difficult for raccoons to climb up them.
• Install electric fencing on top of any fence that is close to your roof.
• Keep garbage bins stored inside your garage and pet food containers inside your home.

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Signs You Have A Raccoon Problem

So how do you know you have a raccoon problem? Most homeowners will see a raccoon at some point or another, if theres a real pest problem in and around the home. For those with more elusive raccoons, here are a few tried-and-true signs that there may be an infestation in your attic, garage or yard three of the most common places homeowners find raccoons.

In Your Yard Or Garden

When raccoons take up residence in your lawn or garden, theyre typically looking for food. Raccoons scavenging for grubs, for example, will rip up grass, flowers, and landscaping to expose their favorite food sources. This can quickly cause thousands of dollars of damage to your flowers, shrubs, and grass.

To get rid of them, we recommend the following:

• Invest in a professional grub treatment. If youre based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Smiths Pest Management will treat your lawn and garden to get rid of food sources for the raccoon, encouraging raccoons to go elsewhere . For best results, we recommend enrolling in an annual lawn grub treatment program, which keeps grubs from coming back each summer and keeps your property raccoon-free. Contact us to learn about this service.
• Use home remedies like ammonia, vinegar, ground-up garlic, powdered cayenne pepper, blood meal, or dirty cat litter. Sprinkle the natural deterrent for raccoons in highly trafficked areas to make the space less appealing for raccoons.
• Use motion-activated light or sound deterrents. These deterrents sense movement and emit loud noises or flashes of bright light, keeping raccoons away from your lawn and garden.

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