Raccoons are intelligent, tenacious and resilient. Although these characteristics make these animals interesting and impressive, they also make them frustrating for homeowners to deal with. You may find that these curious critters are digging up your lawn. This can be a challenging problem to handle without professional help. Understanding why they are digging is the first step in reclaiming your lawn.

Why Raccoons Are Digging

Typically, raccoons are digging because they are looking for food underground, often grubs. Unfortunately for most homeowners, these animals have excellent memories and are extremely persistent. So, even if they are spooked away temporarily, they will happily return to find more tasty snacks in your lawn the next evening. Furthermore, even if they aren’t successful at first, they will continue searching if they think that there is food to be found.

How an Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure

Preventing raccoons from digging is more helpful than trying to get rid of them and repair any lawn damage they may have caused. Scaring them off will only cause them to come back when the coast is clear. Trapping a raccoon typically only gets rid of that single animal. Sooner or later, another one will be back looking for tasty bugs.

Treating your lawn for grubs is often the best solution. If there is nothing for the raccoons to find, they will quickly move on to another more productive spot. Eliminating insect pests has the added benefit of making your lawn healthier and better looking. So, get two proverbial birds with one stone and proactively treat your lawn for grubs.

What To Do If They Are Already on Your Property

Unfortunately, sometimes treatments aren’t completely successful. If you have raccoons already digging on your property, you can try a few “do-it-yourself” solutions.

Most importantly, do not try to handle or directly interact with the raccoons. They can become dangerous if threatened, and have the ability to spread diseases.

Try to make digging harder by laying down chicken wire over the grass. This doesn’t need to be a permanent installation; just keep it long enough to get the raccoons to leave. Another option is motion-activated deterrents. Lights may be enough, but a sprinkler is even better. These aren’t always effective, but every little bit helps.

How Skedaddle Helps Remove and Prevent Raccoons

Of course, there are many cases in which DIY solutions are not enough. Raccoons can be very persistent and clever. They are capable of working their way around your defenses and doing what they want to do regardless.

If that is the case for you, Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control may be able to help. Our team has years of experience dealing with raccoons and other wildlife. This has provided us with unique insight into their behavior.

Over the past 30 years, we have developed humane wildlife control solutions both because it is the right thing to do and because such solutions are more effective. Our team starts by analyzing your lawn to determine where the raccoons are coming from and exactly why. Although grubs are a likely culprit, there are other possible factors, such as a nearby den.

We will work with you to create an effective prevention strategy. This may involve techniques such as putting down nematodes, which are highly effective against grubs. It may also involve removing other attractants that could be bringing raccoons to the area.

Schedule Your Raccoon Control Appointment Today

If you need raccoon control in Madison, contact Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control. We can help you resolve the problem quickly and permanently.