When homeowners start thinking about how to get rid of raccoons, it is often because the little mischief-makers are getting into their garbage cans. This can cause a huge mess all over the yard. Worse yet, it can encourage the raccoons to make a den inside your house. Understanding why raccoons get into your garbage can help you figure out how to deter them from it. 

Why Raccoons Eat Garbage and Don’t Get Sick

Raccoons are opportunistic feeders. They are intelligent and able to apply problem-solving techniques to get food, and they can be very persistent at it if they think the reward will be worth it. On the other hand, they don’t like to expend a lot of energy hunting and catching food. They are much more interested in food that is easy to get. In many cases, garbage fits the bill, especially when it is not stored in sealed containers.

Another theory about why raccoons eat garbage is that they like the taste of it. People eat junk food instead of healthier entrees because it tastes good; raccoons are attracted to the leavings of human food for much the same reason. Nevertheless, just as humans can experience ill effects from eating overly processed food, so can raccoons. Therefore, preventing raccoon garbage incidents is in their interest as well as yours.

As for why raccoons don’t get sick from eating garbage, they are smart and well-adapted enough to avoid food that is truly rotten and inedible. They make this determination with the help of their keen senses of smell and touch. In many cases, food that humans throw away hasn’t gone off yet and is technically still edible.

What Raccoons Eat in the Wild

Raccoons are omnivores and can eat almost anything, from plant matter such as fruit or berries to things such as eggs or small lizards. In the wild, raccoons often make their homes near water so they can find things such as crustaceans and fish to eat. Raccoons may also scavenge carrion, which is part of the reason why they don’t get sick from eating out of the garbage.

How To Stop Raccoons From Getting in Your Garbage

Some people wonder how to scare raccoons away, but this really isn’t the most efficient solution to a raccoon problem. In the short term, trying to deter raccoons with bright lights, loud noises, and unpleasant smells may be effective. However, because raccoons are so intelligent, they figure out eventually that they aren’t in any real danger from those deterrents. The promise of easy food can be a motivation that is much stronger.

A better way to keep them off your property is to make them less attractive to them. Clean your yard of any possible food sources, such as fallen fruits and berries from trees or leftover pet food. If possible, store trash in the garage until garbage day, and don’t put it out until the morning of pickup. If this is not possible, build a rack for your garbage cans or secure them to a fixed object with a bungee cord so that raccoons cannot knock them over. Choose trash cans with tightly sealing lids that are more difficult for raccoons to open.

Why You Should Choose Skedaddle for Raccoon Removal in Victoria

Because raccoons do not like to expend unnecessary energy looking for food, they like to make dens close to reliable meal sources. Therefore, if they are eating out of your trash, they may wind up in your house. Our technicians in Victoria remove them humanely without putting either you or the animals at risk. We inspect your home for possible entry points and seal them off, then we clean and decontaminate where the raccoons have been. Learn more about what raccoon removal involves.