If you live in Etobicoke or have spent some time there, raccoons are not strange to you. These bin raiding furry animals are frequently seen in the area, having adapted to life in urban settings. But if you’ve seen the mess they leave behind after ravaging a garbage can or bin, you’re bound to wonder about their appetite and diet. In fact, knowledge of their diet will help many people to prevent intrusion in the first place and therefore avoiding having to get raccoon removal services for their Etobicoke properties.

What’s on a Raccoon’s Daily Menu?

Raccoons are pretty adept at finding food both in the wild and cities. Their natural ability to jump, swim, climb and run makes the job even easier for them. Their human-like paws, which have five finger-like paws, allow them to grab, twist, turn and move items to access food.

In both settings, they consume a wide variety of meat, fruits and berries and plants. In the wild berries, small animals and green plants are eaten by raccoons. Their preferred food in the wild includes frogs, snails, clams, crayfish, and fish, which they can get from water sources like rivers. In addition to those preferred items, a raccoon’s meal menu can also include slugs, bird eggs, and birds. If they need to do so to survive, they will also eat animal carcasses.

In the spaces shared by humans, they adjust their diets to accommodate the things people have around. City raccoons, for example, will eat fast food that they find in a dumpster (or anywhere else for that matter.)

Etobicoke, through its numerous human activities, provides the perfect nightly feasts for raccoons. These include dumpsters and garbage disposal sites in which discarded food and other tasty raccoon treats are stored. The rats and mice that hang out in and around dumpsters also make great meals for raccoons.

Raccoons and Your Garden

Although raccoons are noted for their assault on garbage disposal sites and bins, they also search for food in other areas like gardens. They will chow down of fruits like apples, peaches, and pears or items like peas, sweet corn and potatoes. To keep raccoons out of your garden, you need raccoon barriers that will deny them access. These can be installed by expert wildlife control teams like those at Skedaddle. Additionally, if you reap your garden produce promptly and remove those that fall to the ground, raccoons will have less of a reason to visit. Deterrents like wood ash, sprinkled around your garden, may also help to keep raccoons away.

Raccoon Attractants

Raccoons are great detectives when it comes to locating food. If they sense food in or around your property, they will come to feast, and when they come they carry consequences.  If you have a source of water nearby (a man-made water feature, nearby stream, lake or river), they’ll be even more comfortable on their nighty visits. Additionally, properties that are near forested areas are especially prone to unwanted raccoon visits. Once you have the food raccoons eat around your property, you will see them around. Even if you store your waste in raccoon-proof green bins, they may find a way in.

Raccoons are important members of the wildlife ecosystem, but that doesn’t mean you should entertain them on your property. They can cause extensive damage and transmit diseases. If you suspect intrusion, you should always seek expert raccoon removal services to assess and treat your Etobicoke property.