Knowing how to get rid of raccoons under deck or within your facility in Canada could be a major challenge. Do you know 20 times more raccoons reside in urban centers today than there were over five decades ago? And worse hit is Toronto; with the highest attraction of raccoons in Canada and around the world. And because these nocturnal furry scavengers feed on almost anything; it makes your home an easy attraction. They wreak havoc on garbage bins, crops, and gardens; eating nuts, fruits, eggs, seafood, frogs, insects, larvae, snails, etc. Raccoons under the deck; tip over and in the process destroy your trash can, dig up your yard, etc.
It is likely you already have a raccoon problem and thinking of the best method to get raccoons out. But removing raccoons from your deck must be done with caution. You need to ensure minimal damage to the property or animal, in line with public regulations. But for best results, you should consult the services of a professional raccoon removal Guelph company. However, this article provides the best approach to get rid of raccoons under your facility.
What You Should Know Before You Get Rid of Raccoons Under Deck
Raccoons are scientifically known as Procyon Lotor. They are intelligent, adaptable, sensitive (touch and auditory) and highly perceptive (smell) animals. Raccoons usually prefer living in decks, chimneys, trees, sheds, sewers, backyards, caves, attics, abandoned homes or vehicles. They could reside in at least 20 dens per time to have access to regular to food, water, and shelter.
Besides homesteads, raccoons also live in fresh and saltwater marshes, farmlands, floodplain forests, hardwood swamps, etc. They live an average of three to five years in the wild. But they are known to live up to twenty years or more when in captivity or safer shelters. Raccoons stay just 0.1 square kilometres apart in urban centers.
Places, where raccoons reside the most in Canada, include Toronto, Northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Central Saskatchewan, Southern British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba, Southern Quebec, and the maritime regions.
5 Common Tips On How to Get Rid Of Raccoons Under Deck
Place a Light around the deck
Raccoons are naturally nocturnal animals and you can place a light either inside or at the entrance of the deck. Once raccoons see the area lite up, they will evict themselves from your deck. Examples of lights to use include the mechanic light or outdoor spotlight to keep raccoons away from your deck.
Introduce Human Sounds
The sound of people talking could scare raccoons from your deck. You can achieve this by placing a radio at the entrance of the deck and tune to a talk-radio station. Make the audio as loud as it is permissible and leave it for some hours. Doing this experiment at night could yield better results. Please avoid playing music as it might not be as effective as a talk station.
Wait it Out
It’s always difficult to seat, wait and do nothing when you are sure there is a raccoon in the deck. But sometimes that could be one way on how to get rid of raccoons under deck. Raccoons are animals with a lot of movement activities. Therefore, they will leave the deck after a short time or when their cub becomes independent. This is usually around the summer. In other situations, raccoon mothers sometimes relocate their den while nesting. When they all move, it would be the perfect time to close up the hole to avoid more visits.
Natural Home Remedies
Offensive Smell technique
Deep a used towel or rag in ammonia concentration or Apple Cider Vinegar and place inside a plastic bag. Tie the lid of the plastic bag and poke the bag in several locations to let the fragrance out. You can now hand the plastic bag in a strategic location at the entrance of the deck. Raccoon does not like the smell of ammonia or cider vinegar. However, please note this method is not usually effective alone except combined with other methods. Combining the sound or light smell technique could be helpful.
Paper Technique
This technique is most effective after you must have carried out other techniques like the three mentioned above. To confirm if the raccoon has left the deck you can use the paper technique. Follow these steps:
- Inspect the deck of your facility for evidence or entry points of a raccoon into your deck.
- Look for any entrance under the deck with a hole as small as 4 inches. Such space is wide enough for the raccoon to enter your deck.
- Place the newspaper into the entrance of the hole to block off the raccoon entrance. Or cover the entrance with newspaper and seal the edges with tape. Make sure you double the paper to make it thicker if covering the entrance.
- Wait for one to three days for signs of raccoon entering the hole. You can inspect daily for the three days. If you noticed the removal or displacement of the newspaper then that should be the main entrance of the raccoon.
- But if the newspaper is still the way you left it you need to listen for sounds from inside the deck. You can also visually inspect the deck for any activity of the raccoon to confirm.
- Once you have identified the main entrance of the raccoon, dig your structure to about 1 to 2 feet deep from the surface. Get a galvanized steel or wire mesh and patch the hole using a ¼ inch mesh. Make sure the mesh is long enough to bury for that one to two feet and to cover the raccoon entrance. This will make it difficult for the raccoon to burrow under the mesh to try to gain access to the deck.
- Block other raccoon openings but leave the main entrance open or without the mesh.
- Get a one-way door and fix it to the main entrance of the hole. This will make it possible for the raccoons to exit without entering the deck again. Keep checking for raccoon activities for two to three days.
- Inspect the deck again for raccoon activities.
- Do you think you have done a neat job ridding the deck of raccoons? Then you now know one method on how to get rid of raccoons under deck.
- Remove the one-way door. And use the ¼ inch metal flashing or galvanized steel mesh to seal off all holes leading into the deck. Do not leave any entrance whether main or other entrances open, seal all of them.
- Before you seal the entrance you must be sure no raccoon is left in the deck.
Implications of Do-It-Yourself and Natural Remedies to Rid Raccoon Under Deck
There are so many laws in Canada guiding wildlife removal. Wildlife is protected for the benefit of the ecosystem and it is illegal to kill animals, including raccoons at will. You also cannot allow them to suffer in any way, trap and transport animals for longer than 1 kilometre. Relocating raccoons could result in death or suffering since they do not tend to survive well outside their known territory. Separation of babies from mothers can cause suffering for the babies and panic resulting in abandonment for the mother.
For a non-professional, using the one-way door could be counter-productive. It could result in starvation for the babies at an early stage of delivery. If the mother goes out and cannot come back she will frantically do more harm to your property. Therefore, allow the babies to become old enough to come out of the deck before installing the one-way door. The best season to use the one-way door is from October to December. Nesting season is usually around January and September and can result in separating mother and baby if you use the one-way door.
Therefore, knowing how to get rid of raccoons under deck doesn’t guarantee a one hundred percent success rate with keeping a raccoon out. It is always the best practice to seek professional wildlife removal company service help for long-lasting solutions. Irrespective of the time of the year or season the wildlife removal experts know what to do. Do-it-yourself and home remedies solutions, in the long run, are more expensive than relying on the professional. If what you seek is a permanent solution with advisory services, then speak with a wildlife removal professional today.