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raccoon climb prevention

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MarkJames

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I need some recommendations on preventing raccoons from climbing outside corners, gutters and the electrical service.

I was thinking about making some spike strips with 15 ga stainless nails and thin strips of 1x, then tacking them to the edges of the corner trim.

Another idea is to bend some sheet metal around the corners for a few feet up, but that would look kind of silly.

Got any other ideas? Thanks.
 
#2 ·
MarkJames said:
I need some recommendations on preventing raccoons from climbing outside corners, gutters and the electrical service.

I was thinking about making some spike strips with 15 ga stainless nails and thin strips of 1x, then tacking them to the edges of the corner trim.

Another idea is to bend some sheet metal around the corners for a few feet up, but that would look kind of silly.

Got any other ideas? Thanks.
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Your best bet is to trap and relocate or exterminate them. I wish I could be of more help. I tried controlling them once.

I gave up and began trapping them. I found dog food would get them in a trap easily. When that stopped working I used shells from boiled peanuts. Just don’t corner them, mean and angry is an understatement.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
WBailey1041 said:
Your best bet is to trap and relocate or exterminate them. I wish I could be of more help. I tried controlling them once.

I gave up and began trapping them. I found dog food would get them in a trap easily. When that stopped working I used shells from boiled peanuts. Just don’t corner them, mean and angry is an understatement.
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I'll be trapping, as well. But the neighborhood is full of them.
 
#4 ·
In my experience, ***** tend to hang around not just for shelter, but because something is "baiting" them. IOW, food sources. Not much you can do effectively if the HO's or neighbors are providing that. Just a thought...
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Tinstaafl said:
In my experience, ***** tend to hang around not just for shelter, but because something is "baiting" them. IOW, food sources. Not much you can do effectively if the HO's or neighbors are providing that. Just a thought...
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It's a lost cause in that regard. We've got neighbors doing all sorts of things, or just tolerating them, and we're about 40 yards from the main drag, which includes Popeye's, Taco Bell, 7-11, and Wendy's.

I've got a raccoon damage roof repair job later this week just two blocks away (not near the fast food), and they got under their solar panels. Now we await the solar guys to come and uninstall a couple panels for access.
 
#9 ·
They can figure out how to open garbage cans, you don't think they'll figure out how to get over tack strips?

That's like trying to stop a woman from shopping when they see something they want... they WILL find a way... :whistling :laughing:
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
KAP said:
They can figure out how to open garbage cans, you don't think they'll figure out how to get over tack strips?

That's like trying to stop a woman from shopping when they see something they want... they WILL find a way... :whistling :laughing:
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I'm up for the challenge. They should have a hard time without handholds. Removing tack strip with their teeth doesn't sound like fun, and there's no food on the roof. They can go elsewhere.
 
#11 ·
FWIW, they'll crawl up an outside wall under vinyl siding and then into the attic.

Amazingly string, they'll use their head like a wedge to pop things loose.

Wildlife laws up here is you can't transport them off the property. HO has to catch and kill, or a licensed ADC person can catch and relocate or kill.
 
#12 ·
Don't know situation, but a motion detected spotlight shining directly into their eyes should do the trick.
I recently put a strobe light my attic to stop the squirrels. It's sold as a disco light, but 1/2 of reviews are from people buying them to get rid of squirrels! From the reviews, they work well.
 
#13 ·
hdavis said:
FWIW, they'll crawl up an outside wall under vinyl siding and then into the attic.

Amazingly string, they'll use their head like a wedge to pop things loose.

Wildlife laws up here is you can't transport them off the property. HO has to catch and kill, or a licensed ADC person can catch and relocate or kill.
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Yes they do... Got me on two points in the soffit on opposite sides of a rental house...

They are creative and tenacious little suckers...
 
#14 ·
Despite my avatar, I hate raccoons.

I would suggest trapping them but don't relocate them. Exterminate them. They are overpopulated and besides property damage they carry a really nasty version of roundworm that can and has resulted in human fatalities.

Personally, I use a suppressed air rifle to dispatch them and burn the bodies to prevent disease spread.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Fwiw, I added a radius of trim coil on all the house corners...big enough to not reach around and grab, but tight enough to not crawl through. Just enough to cover 2' vertical, a couple feet off the ground. Seems to help a lot. Also put a sheet over the cable drop area and under the electric meter, since they were climbing there, too. Now they're bugging my neighbors instead.
 
#16 ·
Trap and dispatch. I used to volunteer at a animal rehab place. People keep bringing them in, Hate those damn things. Oh, if people brought in bunnies, we fed them to the hawks.
 
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#17 ·
I killed 14 in our yard by the house last spring.
That's the best solution.

The dog proof traps baited with just about anything work great. Much more effective than cage traps.
And, please don't cage trap them and relocate the problem for someone else to deal with.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Once I had a raccoon climb into the attic and live there, I found out about it as soon as the gaps in the corners of the wall at the top became visible and the wiring did not work well. It turns out that he chewed me the main wiring, which was responsible for the light in the whole house. I fixed everything right away, but catching a raccoon was a big challenge for me. I couldn't see him, but I knew it was him from the food he was carrying up to the attic. In order not to catch it myself and in order not to catch the infection that it carries in itself and spreads everywhere, I called the https://treasure-coast.aaacwildliferemoval.com/raccoon-removal and I was assisted in catching this large rodent. He seemed so harmless in the cage, but when I remember what he did in the attic, I don't think so anymore.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Feel free to visit Texas, here you’ll find a lot of them. Hunting season has already opened, starting October 1st. But maybe you’d prefer to drive up straight to my place? I think I’ve got a few holed up in my attic. Even when you think you got rid of them, there’s a chance that others will follow along. Just the other day I had the team from houston.aaacwildliferemoval.com/raccoon-removal/ come along for some rodent-busting action. These red-furred miscreants had already made a home out of my attic, and the smell of piss was unbearable.
 
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