Keeping Raccoons Away From Your Yard

A family member of mine owns a lovely home in a suburban community a few hours away from Chicago. Some time ago I decided to pay her a faithful visit since we had not seen each other in so long.

After arriving and surveying the front of her home thoroughly, I greeted her with a displeased look accompanied by subtle sympathy. My obnoxious reaction had been targeted towards the repulsive jumble of rattled vegetation that she called a yard. It was an absolute mess. The trash can had been tipped, her yard grass had been deliberately ripped from the earth, feces were spread awkwardly on the ground, and the sides of her home were scratched up pretty badly.

I asked her about the mess and she confessed to me that she was at constant war with the pests that chose to designate her property as their personal residence. She was tired of constantly cleaning up after their nightly escapades. The most annoying of them all was the raccoon pack that discreetly established themselves as the rulers of her yard. Their lack of concern for her aggressive shooing tactics led her to give up on them. She once considered installing an electric fence but eventually came to her senses after thinking about the potential harm that the fence could bring to her young children.

She modestly asked for my help and I was more than happy to give her advice about getting rid of those pesky ‘coons.

I told her about the general problems that were affiliated with raccoons:

• Raccoons adapt very well to almost any environment with ample food and water sources.
• You will rarely witness raccoons in the act because they are nocturnal. The only sign of their presence is a tattered lawn with occasional feces lying round.
• Raccoons will eat virtually any food that they can put their grubby little paws on.
• Raccoons are wild animals, so handle them with caution! They are infamously known for their susceptibility to viral diseases, such as rabies, canine distemper, and raccoon parvoviral enteritis. Also, their feces may contain raccoon roundworm spores, which can seriously sicken humans if inhaled.
• Raccoons are not easily intimidated and can be ferocious animals; test them and they may perhaps sink their sharp teeth into your precious skin.

Tips for Getting Rid of Raccoons:

You must make sure that your home is not a desirable location for raccoons to inhabit.

• Secure the lid of your trash can (e.g. attach a bungee cord to both handles and let its elastic rope naturally fasten the top of the can).
• Station your trash can so that raccoons will not be able to knock it down easily (e.g. put a heavy brick inside).
• Apply raccoon repellent granules onto the lawn. Granules last longer than liquids and have a stronger scent. (Consider using Shake-Away Repellent Granules. These granules are 100% organic and are made up of predator urine, which signal danger to the raccoon.)
• Install a scarecrow sprinkler on your lawn. (Bird-X’s HydroBlast ScareCrow sprinkler is motion activated and shoots an extraordinarily potent water spray that scares animals away.)
• Most importantly, consider investing in an electronic, sonic pest repeller. (The Bird-X YardGard will surely do the job but if you have a more serious pest problem, check out CritterBlaster PRO.)

I wished her the best and assured that if she followed these precautions and guidelines, she should definitely see results in no time.

For more information about how to get rid of raccoons and other backyard pests, visit Bird-X.com.

How to keep your neighbor’s dog from pooping in your yard

I live in a gated community. Not a hoity-toity community or anything, but a nice place to live. Especially with the well manicured landscapes and park-like atmosphere. And it is quite serene. My wife and I like to take walks around our little community and my son loves tossing rocks in the ponds and running across “his” bridge.

We just added a new member to our family – a black Labrador puppy. He’s great! We take him for extended walks, but clean up after him wherever we go. Not so is the case with our neighbors who take their dog out early in the morning and late at night. And each morning and each night I find that I have to clean up an extra helping of poop because my neighbor lets his dog defecate in my yard and does not clean up after it.

There are several dog owners in our community and several “curb” or clean up after their pets. Yet there are a few who don’t. And there’s nothing worse than having to clean up after someone else’s pet.

I have talked to my neighbor, called my association so they could fine him, and even called the non-emergency police to let them know so they could fine him too, but nothing worked. I was at my wit’s end with my neighbor. I actually sat in the bushes early one morning and sprayed him and his dog with my garden hose. This is not something I want to do every morning and he is obviously doing this on purpose now (as opposed to letting his dog crap in my yard on purpose before I started asking him to politely curb his dog).

Yard Gard Electronic Pest Repellent Device

And that’s when I figured that the Yard Gard I had from Bird-X, Inc. was going to be my new dog defense system. I had purchased a Yard Gard unit to keep squirrels and rabbits out of my wife’s garden – and it sure did the trick! (I work at this company and was so happy to see firsthand that the humane solution is really the best solution). So I took the Yard Gard and placed it in my front yard (hidden, of course) and turned it on its motion sensor mode and left it to annoy my neighbor’s dog.

I know, you’re wondering how it affects my own dog. Well, here’s the thing: since it is an ultrasonic unit (meaning that its sounds are above human hearing), it cannot penetrate walls. So I leave my dog inside my house and let me neighbor bring his dog over to poop in my yard. You know what? That dog avoids my yard like the plague. And now the dog poops in his “master’s” yard. Now he’s forced to pick up the poop. And I have a poop free yard. And I turn the unit off when I walk my own dog.

If you have any questions on how to keep dogs from pooping in your yard, just check out the Yard Gard at and see how you can keep your lawn dog poop free. If you need a BIG solution to your dog or pest prob lem, look into the Critter Blaster electronic, sonic pest repeller.