![]() Raccoons are excellent at pest controlĭid you know that raccoons are excellent at pest control – both insects, small mammals and reptiles – not only eliminating problems but cleaning up any remains. Use a high quality seed and catch trays to keep the ground under feeders free of large quantities of seed. ĭo not allow bird seed to pile up under your feeders.Today, a small pond or patio container of water is enough to satisfy their needs. Originally raccoons were found in the tropics where they could be found foraging along riverbanks. If there is one thing raccoons need, it is a source of water. ĭo not trap raccoons and move them far away into a forest or another part of town.ĭo grow a variety of berry, fruit and nut bearing shrubs and trees to provide raccoons and other wildlife with a natural food source.ĭo not use poisons in the yard to kill small mammals or insects that could be prey for raccoons.ĭo leave a large brush pile in a corner of the yard where raccoons can forage for food or even possibly burrow in for the winter.ĭo not leave access points uncovered in your home or shed where raccoons could gain access to your attic or chimney. ![]() You might be surprised what you attract, including a family of owls. Cut off branches that might pose a threat to humans, but leave the main trunk (or at least part of it) for habitat. ĭo leave old dead trees (snags) remaining in your garden.If you must feed them outside, be sure to bring in the dishes or ensure there is no food remaining at night. Feed your domesticated animals inside your home. When I do see them, they are almost always under the bird feeder, which I ensure has very little if any feed remaining on the ground as evening approaches.Ī high quality, no-mess bird food and a catch tray to keep seed off the ground goes a long way in keeping the ground around the feeders free of bird seed.ĭespite problems with raccoons, there are good reasons to admire them and welcome them into your environment.ĭo’s and don’ts to create a healthy environment for raccoonsĭo not leave cat or dog food out at any time. In fact, I rarely see raccoons in our garden even at night. In our woodland garden we benefit from the existence of foxes, coyotes and birds of prey including owls that I suspect keep raccoon numbers manageable. ![]() Studies have shown that in urban areas, part of a mother raccoon’s training for her babies is learning to cross the road quickly leading to a reduction in road kills. Here, traffic easily accounts for the highest death rates in raccoons.Įven traffic, however, can’t stop these little critters. Besides coyotes, foxes, dogs and maybe Great Horned owls, few of these top predators are found in urban areas and even fewer are found in inner-city cores. The problem is that raccoons are fierce little mammals and have few predators in the wild let alone inner cities.Ī raccon’s main predators include mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, dogs, wolves, Great Horned Owls, and fishers. ![]() Obviously, predators can play a major role in keeping the population down. ![]() And, where the situation is particularly out of hand, those numbers can get up even higher. In urban areas that number can climb to as many as 100 raccoons per square kilometre. In the wild, raccoon density is usually about 5-10 per square kilometre. This ballooning population is often the result of either a lack of predators and/or too many resources that allow for a disproportionate number of raccoons to survive comfortably in a given area. (More details on the dangers of the raccoon at the end of the post.)īut first, back to the problem of when the numbers get out of hand and there are too many raccoons in a given area. While raccoons in small numbers can be good for a garden, they can pose dangers if they get into your home and live in the attic or chimney. (Read on for more details on how raccoons can be beneficial in the garden.) These masked bandits can play an important role in garden pest control as well as seed distribution throughout the garden. But did you know that, despite the mischief they seem to get into regularly, these cute little critters are one link to ensuring healthy landscapes? ![]()
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