I've got an old century home rental property that has a history of raccoons walking along the gutters, tearing away trim, and trying to get in the attic. Well, they knocked a gutter and facing board off, again. Is there any repellent (moth balls, ammonia in a pressurized sprayer, etc) that I can introduce to the attic space that will be unpleasant enough to make them go elsewhere? Worst case, I don't want to accidentally block him (them?) in with the repair. Advise..
How are they getting on the roof , any branches that are nearby should be trimmed back. I had squirrels in my attic and through in a box of moth balls it worked and will last for a few months. Racoons like peace and quiet , A radio, mothballs, amonia, smoke, anything that disturbes them will make them move the family. Amonia will dissapate in a few hours so it wont help much, unless you just fill a bucket and leave it. I had a dirt basement originaly and lit a few Gopher Bombs in the basement [ very poisonous] out ran a few squirrels and chipmunks, all coughing . And it killed all my spiders. After a few days seal all holes.
In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com says... :) Just trying to rid myself of the one, or ones, that are currently walking :) that gutter. And I don't necessarily want to catch him. Just repel him from :) wanting in this particular space ..if that's possible. :) M.B. :) :) City living raccoons are surrounded by unusual sounds and smells they would not encounter in the wild so "repellents" fail more times than not, even Fox or Coyote urine more than likely won't work for you. Also your raccoon is by no means the only one around, so trying to move him along into another raccoons territory may not work anyways. Trapping is probably the best way to reduce the population. Learn what your area laws are, some areas you must put the animal down, others don't permit removal to other properties without permission from the state. If you are in a city though, they will probably come get any animal you trap...anywhere from one to fifteen animals per average lot.
Back in the midwest I had racoons as pets when I was a boy. Would find the nests in the barns as we took out the hay for the cattle.
Talk to your local ag guy. If you remove the attraction they will go away on their own. An dog out side will help has to be loose. Mine racoons were raised with my coon hounds so anything near the house the dogs ignored. Traps will work but you said there was a history. So something is drawing them to your home. Find it remove it. You may have to band your trees with sheet metal or copper. Prevents climbing the trees near your home. Or create a home in a tree for them. They will keep down the rodent population and are pretty clever. Check with the ag guy and I am sure you can redirect their energies.
My Rascle got to be 23 pounds. Parents were terrified of him. I released him and he would come back every winter and sleep in the rafters of the garage. Yes I made a place for him to sleep. Mom was afraid of him and Rascle chased her occasionally like a playful puppy. So every time she wanted her car she would make me back it out of the garage, he he he my plan worked.
I forgot to mention and as SQlit said banding trees may be necessary. I did this after one came down out of a tree I was standing next to and my dog was right there, scared the out of me. I tried 14" band they just reached,climbed over it so i put up 24" aluminum trim , tree bark colored , that worked. I also had one living in my chimney, so i lit a fire well he came out. But 5 minutes later the fire went out , he went back in. So i lit a Real fire and was out there to meet him with the garden hose. He left, but i trimed all branches and put aluminum on the chimney. They are stubborn.
We live next to a forest preserve, so we have our own problems with those little beasts. Which has led me to the firm opinion that the only good raccons are roadkill.
Did you ever actually smell a raccoon? I doubt there's any substance that's unpleasant enough for them that they haven't already met and rolled around in in someone's trash can. So why ever in God's name would you want to let them keep ripping thru your roofing and eventually make their way into the attic space to smell something repugnant?
The most effective way is to eliminate the "ladder" they're using to the roof, even if it means having to significantly trim back the branches of a tree if they're near or overhanging the roof, or even cut the thing down if you're not in love with it. (Trimming will also cut down on carpenter ant "ladders" to your roof, too.) If they're climbing the gutters, investigate some wide collars that could bolt to the side of the house, kind of in the same manner people keep squirrels from climbing up poles into their bird feeders.
Personally, I'd go with wrapping the gutter about 10 feet up with some prison-issue razor wire, but that's just me because I hate 'em ;)
In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com says... :) I've had very good results with paradichlorobenzene "lollipops" sold as moth :) repellant. Drove one out of my fireplace/chimney in no time. :) :) What you have to watch for though is the fumes permeating into the home and causing more problems. If you go this route place them where they can be retrieved rather than just thrown about.
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