How to prevent raccoons from entering the gardenThese resourceful animals are second to perseverance and ingenuity, not counting the squirrels that steal food from the bird feeders. Raccoons - great climbers, swimmers, jumpers and sprinters. Five-fingered paws make them very agile, and their dexterity allows raccoons to bypass any human trap designed to scare animals away. If they could not get into your garden, then they can climb into the chimney and use it as a shelter.
Raccoons do not hibernate, but live in shelters during severe weather, resulting in losing much of their weight in the winter months. In the warm part of the year, they live in hollows of trees. Among the raccoons there are many young individuals who live in families throughout the year.
Despite the fact that raccoons prefer areas with forests and water sources, most of them get food, terrorizing summer cottages. They will be even happier if there is a small forest and a reservoir near your garden. These animals are omnivores and can destroy all the plants that you so painstakingly grew.
How to detect
raccoons Raccoons are small mammals that are 60-80 cm long and weigh 5-10 kg. Black masks on their faces rightly point to their gangster nature. The tails are fluffy with rings, and the bodies are mostly gray with different shades. The front paws of raccoons resemble human hands with 5 fingers, which makes these animals incredibly dexterous.
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Raccoons are nocturnal creatures, respectively, they hunt in the dark. This can make it difficult to identify them, because you find only the harm caused by them, but not the perpetrators themselves. A search for traces around this place will allow you to understand exactly who visited your garden.
What do raccoons eat? These omnivorous hunters are happy to eat sweet corn, fruit of fruit trees, peas, potatoes and caterpillars.
After a rainy night, you can easily find the five-fingered tracks in the dirt around your site. These are prints of the raccoon paws, which are easily distinguished from most of the tracks of the four-fingered limbs of other mammals.
Raccoon Damage
If you find many holes on your lawn, or mulch covers have been excavated, you may have a night visitor. Raccoons tear the ground and layer of mulch in search of the insects and worms they feed on. They are also devastating bird feeders, so keep track of any problems with the sudden loss of feed.
Of course, if you grow corn, there is nothing more unpleasant than finding broken stalks with torn ears and half-eaten cobs. Even more annoying is the fact that the raccoons, in fact, do not like corn very much and often spoil it for nothing, they prefer sunflower seeds, dog food and sardines more.
How to deal with raccoons on the site
The perseverance and the multiplicity of raccoons gave rise to many ideas on resisting pests. Further you will find tips from foreign farmers, one of them will definitely suit you.
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If night guests visits are regular, you can set traps for raccoons in the garden, catch, and then release an animal 5 km from your site. Raccoons can eat almost anything, so the bait can serve as dry cat food, chicken breasts, corn ears or whole peanuts.
Keeping a night shift dog in the yard is also an effective way. On the one hand, it will save you a lot of corn, but on the other - it will wake up at night.
To keep raccoons at a distance, try to scatter blood flour around the corn plantations, and sprinkle the remaining plants with wood ash.
Crush the garlic, mix it with chili powder and distribute it around the garden at small intervals.
One farmer recommended hanging out shoes and clothes smelling of human sweat in the garden or around the corn plot. Similarly, you can scatter a certain amount of dog hair or human hair on the territory of the garden.
Tune the radio to the wave with rock music and leave in the center of the courtyard or corn field all night. The noise will scare the raccoons.
Install lighting in the garden. A bright lantern sometimes makes a raccoon escape.
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Plant enough corn for yourself and for the potential visitor.
Put a few stretch marks with cans that will scare away animals by contact. There is also an opinion that paper scattered around the garden perimeter helps against raccoons.
How to prevent the raccoons from penetrating the garden
Install a good fence, however, remember that the raccoons are clever and smart, so build such a barrier that can hold them back. You may have to install an electrical fence, it is very effective. Send two wires, one at 15 cm and the other at 30 cm above the ground. That should be enough.
If your home is near a garden, remove all possible food sources from the yard, including dog food and seeds for birds. Buy trash cans with lockable lids and, if possible, keep all trash inside. Keep the doors closed at dusk and at sunrise. Close the chimney and seal any openings or gaps in the attic and roof.
Grow high varieties of corn, such as Silver Queen, Candy Corn and Lancelot. Ears of higher plants are located higher, so the raccoons do not have a lever to knock down the stem and reach them. Animals prefer low varieties of corn.
Zucchini can be planted around corn plots and other plants to scare away raccoons. They do not like walking on the barbed squash vine.
