I have a disaster on my hands. The raccoons come every night and dump everything out of my compost bin, tear up my garbage bags, and they've dug huge holes all over the lawn. My neighbors say it's normal around here, but I don't know how to get them to stop coming without hurting them.
It's not that normal for you to have to put up with that - there's quite a lot you can do before you give up. First thing is to secure your trash cans properly - put everything in containers with airtight seals or store them in a garage until collection day - and as for the compost bin itself, it's better to remove anything that attracts the animals (meat scraps, dairy products, oils) or cover it with a sturdy mesh they can't lift off.
Raccoons look for easy food, so your first line of defense is making sure your compost bin is secured with a heavy lid or airtight container, and putting trash in bins with locks they can't open! Also try putting motion-sensor lights or a radio in the garden at night, since sudden noise and light scare them. If they've already dug holes, fill them in with soil and then place metal mesh under the grass to keep them from digging further. The good news is that once they lose access to food, they usually move on to another house in just a few days!
One thing nobody mentioned is the whole thing about lights and noise 💡 Raccoons are pretty skittish when there's movement or sound, so if you install motion-sensor lights or even an old radio that turns on automatically at night, a lot of times they'll go look for food somewhere else. It's not a permanent fix if you also have unclosed containers, but combined with what the others said (securing your trash and compost bin properly) it works pretty well and doesn't bother anyone.
Log into answer.
