Is there anything natural that repels raccoons?

Question

We have a family of raccoons in our neighborhood, 4 babies and a momma. Im very tired of picking up our trash cans and the leftovers all over the place outside my home. I dont have the option of bringing in the trash cans and even though i do my best to keep the waste down to a minimum i do have trash and of coase that attracts them. I dont want to call animal control because they aren't invading my home and are very fearful of human contact.

My question is.... Is there anything natural that will keep them away. Cant get a dog/cat and really dont want to harm them just keep them away from my garbage. Ive tried putting cement blocks on top of the lids, we even bought a trash can that has the turn up handles - like a lock, and yes they still opened the trash.

Please if anyone has tried anything that worked let me know! Thanks!!

Answer 1

I was going to say get a coon dog but since you can't have dogs that is out.

Plus if you live in town, all your neighbors would be ready to kill you and the dog inside of a week.

Ok get a chain and a padlock that will fit through the links. When you turn the handles up to lock the lid on chain the handles together and lock them in place so the racoons can't get them open.

You can also call the Park service at Yellowstone National Park.  They go through the same thing all the time with Grizzlies.

They will be able to tell who you can buy an animal proof trash can from. But they are going to cost.

And if a Grizzly can get in it. A racoon can get in it and vise versa.

Answer 2

I don't know of any other repellents than dogs or wildcats (predators), but since that is out, you might want to think of attractants.

Obviously, garbage is a great attractant, but it isn't in a trap.  Revenge (www.get-revenge.us) has a lure/attractant you can use with a trap (like "Havahart"), then you can remove the animal to another area, but it will need to be several miles away to keep it from coming back.  

If it could be a danger to other people, animal control (if you live in a city with that service) might remove it for you.  Otherwise, you'll have to find a wild animal specialist to remove it (for a fee--probably not very small either).  Then, there is always the "whack-it-on-the-head-with-a-big-stick" method, since they are carriers of disease and vicious when bothered.  Do not mistake them for cutesy little pet-like animals.  They get very big, and will growl like a dog, and attack if cornered.  

I ended up getting several windows broken out while trying to chase one out of my house before.  [It came in through the chimney, and came out a small hole in the closet at night, causing the kids to have nightmares.  They could only tell me that a witch came out of the closet with green glowing eyes, and went back into the wall.]   Anyway, it climbed up the curtains, ripped them down with the rods, and got all the way to the ceiling twice, leaving muddy footprints on it.  It was a vigorous, sweaty venture lasting close to an hour with two adults trying to get it out of the house without it going into a bedroom with small children who were already terrified.  

I hope you have good luck removing it.