Do tree services include raccoon removal? Probably not (you’ll want to call animal control services for that!), but plenty of preventive tree services are available to keep your trees healthy while making them less attractive to these masked bandits.
Male raccoons are particularly fond of using trees as sleeping posts, while females who are pregnant or with babies prefer more solitary places, like your attic. If you’ve spotted a raccoon in your tree, many tricks are available to you and your arborist to drive it away.
For starters, recognize that it’s impossible to fully keep raccoons out of your yard since they’re smart, adaptable and have excellent memories. In other words, if you drop a slice of pizza in the back yard during a party, a raccoon can remember a “good pizza spot” for up to three years and will keep coming back.
Trapping and relocating with the help of wildlife control experts is best, but you also can minimize the damage they do.
Removing Temptations
Raccoon repellants don’t really work, so your best move is to get rid of what’s tempting them. It might be a garbage can on collection day, in which case keeping cans in the garage whenever possible or investing in a raccoon-proof lid is a great idea.
It might be dog or cat food outside (raccoons love it), a bird feeder, the recycling bin or a grub infestation. Raccoons also adore lifting up freshly laid sod because a lot of insects hide there, so removing smaller pests can often eliminate the bigger pests who feed on them.
Raccoons are also very good tree climbers, and they’ll be able to scale even a tree with no low-hanging limbs if they really want to. Still, don’t make it easy on them. Keeping trees trimmed and pruned isn’t just healthy for the trees, but it also can make raccoons less likely to climb them. These animals are opportunists, and might move on to greener pastures.
Make sure limbs are trimmed far away from roofs too, otherwise you’ll have raccoons on the roof, in the attic and maybe chewing on electrical wiring, too!
Pest Control
These cute but annoying little beasts will eat just about anything, but they certainly have preferences. Bugs will do in a pinch, and you won’t complain when they get rid of local mice, but they’d much prefer recently disposed-of takeout.
The more you control pests like mites, borers and beetles, the less raccoons will have to snack on in your yard. Work with your tree services provider to eliminate bad bugs and manage good bugs so your yard isn’t a veritable raccoon buffet.
Raccoons scavenge and hunt only within a one-mile radius, so your mission is to make your yard the least desirable for the neighborhood’s raccoons. For help, call Reliable Tree Care and get the best tree services for pest control (of all sizes).