Wildlife Management: How to Get Rid of Raccoons and Other Critters

Raccoons are skittish animals. They’re the burglars of the night. They’re nocturnal creatures that are afraid of light which makes motion-activated lights an easy decision, you’ll see them at any time of the year, but they’re most active in the spring when it’s mating season. You’re also most likely to only see them at night.

Raccoons are smart, and they have those little hands that can grab things, like trash can lids, which means they can open your trash cans if they’re not secured tightly. And when they get in those trash cans, they get to food. Raccoons will stay wherever there’s a food source. They’ll also eat dog or cat food leftovers. 

As for living arrangements, raccoons can make their dens inside crawl spaces, attics, sheds and wood piles. 

As with other unwanted wildlife, when you remove their sources of food and shelter, they’ll get the hint and move on. To help facilitate the process, purchase outdoor trash cans with lids that aren’t easily removed, relocate the wood piles and install one-way exit doors from the attic and crawl spaces. 

Raccoons have a keen sense of smell, and you can use that against them. They dislike the smell of:

• Garlic
• Vinegar
• Cucumber
• Black pepper
• Onions
• Epsom salt
• Cayenne pepper

Sprinkle the spice or put some of it in a spray bottle with water and mist trash cans and any areas you believe to be ports of entry and any other areas around your garden. 

Essential oils that they dislike include:

• Peppermint oil
• Eucalyptus oil
• Lemon oil
• Pine oil

Mix 5 to 10 drops of essential oil with water in a spray bottle and spray around points of entry, trash cans and around your garden. Respray or reapply after every rain. 

Other raccoon removal options include humanely trapping and releasing or contacting a professional.  

Like groundhogs, moles cause damage to your lawn and garden by burrowing underground. They thrive in areas where the soil stays moist.  Their meals consist mainly of insects like worms, centipedes, beetles, ants, slugs, millipedes, crickets and insect larvae.

Moles are usually solitary animals, so you may find that there’s only one mole, possibly two, wreaking havoc in your garden.

One way to rid your yard of moles is to eliminate their food source. This can be done by applying products designed to kill insects like ants, grubs, and other lawn insects. Once the insect population is controlled, the mole will go elsewhere for its food.   

Moles detest castor oil, and it’s one ingredient that you can use in your favor to help rid your yard of them. Create a mixture using two tablespoons of dishwashing liquid and a quarter cup of castor oil. Next, add two tablespoons of the castor oil/dishwashing liquid mixture to one gallon of water. Spray this all over the garden, at the entrance to the mole’s entrances and anywhere else you think it may have been or think it might go. Reapply every few days and after it rains.  

Moles also have an aversion to other smells:

• Red pepper
• Coffee grounds
• Garlic
• Peppermint
• Tar
• Daffodils
• Marigolds
• Mothballs

Other mole removal options include purchasing commercial repellant, humanely trapping or contacting a professional.

You may think groundhogs look cute and cuddly, but those rotund and huggable looking creatures — which are actually in the rodent family — can do considerable damage to your lawn and garden. They're underground diggers and they’re good at what they do. Groundhogs are herbivores, so your vegetable garden is their smorgasbord. 

To get rid of groundhogs, make your yard as unattractive to them as possible. Groundhogs detest certain smells. Bombard their sense of smell with the following: 

• Ammonia-soaked rags at burrow entrances (resoak every few days) 
• Epsom salts at burrow entrances and around garden perimeter 
• Blood meal fertilizer placed around targeted plants and burrow entrance and around the garden perimeter 

Another effective method is using essential oils: 

• Lavender 
• Lemongrass 
• Eucalyptus  
• Rosemary 
• Clove
• Peppermint

Mix 5 to 10 drops of essential oil with water in a spray bottle and spray around the lawn and garden, as well as near the groundhog burrow. Respray after every rain. 

You can also install groundhog–proof fencing netting around your garden to prevent chewing and digging. Another deterrent is to use commercial groundhog repellant products.

Opossums are omnivorous scavengers who’ll eat just about anything. They’re also transient, usually not staying in one spot for more than a few nights. That’s good news for you, but maybe not good enough when you want an opossum gone now. Oddly enough, opossums are beneficial to have around the yard as they eat rodents and snails, both of which can do damage to your yard and house. 

Homeowners will often find an opossum is the unwelcome guest rummaging around in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Or it may have climbed a tree and came in through the attic, tearing up shingles along the way. Or perhaps it has dug several small holes in the garden looking for grubs. Either way, the opossum has overstayed its welcome. To rid your garden of it, try: 

• Peppermint 
• Garlic 
• Onion 
• Ammonia 
• Vinegar