Dexterous of paw and hearty of appetite, this ring-tailed, masked marauder strikes at night. An excellent climber, it’s omnivorous, dining on plants, insect, and snails. Raccoons are usually solitary except when mating and raising young.
Many fruits and vegetables, especially sweet corn and melons.
Damage:Corn stalks are bent and ears are munched on; melon flesh is scooped out. Lawns may be torn up.
Control:Sanitation, pruning, barriers, repellents, and trapping.
Notes:To make your property less appealing to raccoons, harvest crops promptly, bring in pet food at night, and secure garbage cans tightly. To protect the vegetable garden, erect a 5 to 6 foot high chicken-wire fence; then cover the top 2 feet with a band of sheet metal. A low, two-strand electric fence is also effective. To keep raccoons out of trees, prune lower limbs and wrap a 2 foot wide metal band around the trunk, positioning the bottom of the band at least 2 feet off the ground.