Just when you thought...Got raccoons? Tearing up your lawn, coming into your house at night?
By Gary Bogue
Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 7:33 am in Raccoon roundworms, Raccoons.
Raccoon in house by Maureen Wright, Pittsburg, Calif.
You can’t really blame the raccoons for foraging for food … BUT … there are humane ways to help protect your lawn and house and still get along with your wild neighbors.
I’ve put together a 7-page “Gary’s Raccoon Help” and will be happy to provide a FREE COPY to anyone who needs it. It’s full of humane solutions that have been used successfully over the years by many of my other readers.
If you need a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help,” please request one under comments/reply below. Include your name and e-mail address so I can e-mail you back a copy. And please include your city so I know what area you’re from (I keep statistics on where the big raccoon problems are.)
Raccoons can do this to your lawn while foraging for earthworms
Raccoons can be a problem. Some raccoons have roundworms that can infect humans. These infections are rare, according to the California Department of Public Health, but they are definitely not something you, your pets, or especially your young children want to encounter. More on this, including information on how to safely clean up raccoon feces at http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/discond/Documents/RaccoonRoundworms.pdf
I’ve already sent out over 2,000 free copies of “Gary’s Raccoon Help” this year, which shows you how big a problem they are.
NOTE: If you have figured out your own humane solution(s) for dealing with raccoons, please include that information under comments/reply below. That way, you may also end up helping some of your human neighbors.
If you need to discuss these things further, you can always e-mail me at gbogue@bayareanewsgroup.com
Thanks. /Gary
When not living in town, raccoons normally forage for food in and around streams
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George Kelly
December 5th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I need a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help” I have pictures and it cost me $800.00 to have the Raccoons removed.
December 5th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Forgot I’m in San Jose east foot hills
December 6th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Hi Gary,
nice meeting you today at Wildbirds. As we discussed, please send me a copy of “Gary’s Racoon Help”. These beasts have turned my pond into their own sushi and salad bar!! I live in Concord, at the “Crossings” and back onto the trail to the north. Lots of critters, including opossums,skunks, squirrels and a hungry Cooper’s hawk!! such fun!!
thanks for your help.
Liz Martin
December 7th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Hi Gary! I love reading your column. I have had racoons come in my pet door and eat three bowls of dry cat food a few times. We are now locking our cats in the house at night. We are in Antioch. A friend of mine has racoons in her backyard nightly in Pleasant Hill also. Please e-mail me a copy of your racoon tips.
Thanks! From Michele
December 8th, 2008 at 7:27 am
I’d like a copy of your booklet. I am in Novato, Marin County.
December 8th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I’d like a copy of your booklet please. I’m out in Pleasanton and my lawn can’t take too much more abuse!
Thank you!
December 8th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I’d like a copy of your booklet. I live in Pittsburg, Contra Costa County. Thanks
December 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Raccoon Lawn Party Nightly…
Please send me a copy of your booklet and any information that might help
cut the party short.
Warmly,
Lax
December 15th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
i would like to request the raccoon help handbook. Twice a week my new lawn looks like the one pictured above.
Thank
December 16th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Please send handbook. I’m desperate. I have a brand new turf lawn that looks just like the picture every morning. Thanks,Jerry
December 17th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Hello! I would love a copy of your handbook. The raccoons in Martinez are constantly tearing up my lawn and I need help! Thank you so much!
December 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I’m in San Jose and would love a copy of the handbook!
For the past few weeks, our lawn in attacked nightly by a foraging raccoon. I installed a motion activated water jet that seems to work most nights. But, if I forget to turn it on or if the battery runs low, I awake to find my lawn destroyed yet again.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I’m in Concord.
I know there are raccoons around. I’ve seen them.
My neighbors got the motion activated sprinkler and it worked for them.
Now I think they have taken up residence under my house. “Something” has torn off a ventilation screen to get access.
How do I get rid of the critters?
Help! Please send me your handbook.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Gary – Pls send a copy of your information on ridding ourselves of raccoons. We are a smal condo association with one yard they love to tear up.
Thanks,
Bill
December 30th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Gary,
For two months I’ve been fighting raccoons who have been digging up my new sod almost every night. I’ve tried everything– lights, radio noise, humane traps (that they won’t go into), Shake-away, Critter Ridder, ground red pepper, motion-activated sprinkers… I don’t want to kill them but am running out of options. My new lawn is almost dead because of them.
Does your book have a solution? Does anyone?
Thanks,
Tom
January 9th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Gary,
I live in Santa Barbara. We just had new sod put in a few weeks ago, and every morning before work I’m finding myself putting the lawn back together again. I’d love a copy of your book.
Kristin
January 12th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Please send us your raccoon suggestions. We have intermittent visits, mostly leaving feces or stuff scrounged from neighbors’ garbage cans in a corner of our yard. We have dogs and a dog door but they haven’t come in to the house, it’s locked at night. We live in Pasadena very close to the Rose Bowl.
Thanks
Bob Snodgrass
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Yes, please, please send me your booklet! I live in Temecula, California and last night there were two raccoons fighting savagely on our patio cover. This morning I went out to find quite a lot of blood left behind and pieces of the patio cover spread everywhere. These critters are ruining my roof and I would love for them to find another place to spend their time!
Thanks,
Donna Schwarz
January 24th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Gary
Please send me a copy also. My lawns was completely torn up like the one shown in your photo. We have a pack of 5 raccoon family in our nearby greenbelt area. Loved to do it in a humane way.
We live in Bellevue, WA. Northwest
thx
February 5th, 2009 at 11:07 am
The lawn was destroyed exactly like the first photo. we live in Chino hills in the carbon canyon road. i would like to get a copy as soon as possible.
thanks
February 10th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Please send me a copy of your raccoon help guide. I live in Toronto.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Thank you. Living here in Lafayette
February 28th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Please send me a copy of your raccoon help guide. If it’s not skunks it’s raccoons here in Antioch
March 4th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Please send me your raccoon help guide. I hope it offers new solutions – I’m tapped out. The animal agencies, groups, advocates, vets, and feed stores in my town have no idea what the regulation regarding humane trapping of raccoons is/are.
March 4th, 2009 at 11:08 am
PLEASE send me a copy of your racoon help guide before the ground is defrosted and the critters return to continue the havoc they started last year!! My lawn is not new sod – but they tear it up just the same. I live in Southwestern Michigan – very close to Lake Michigan shore….
March 4th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I live in Martinez and have been dealing with raccoons for a couple years. Please send me your help guide.
March 10th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Stupid raccoons are tearing up my lawn! It looks like a little mine field. Please send me a copy of your guide. Thanks.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:11 am
HELP!! This racoon is tearing up my lawn. Please send a copy of your guide ASAP. Thanks, Lake Forest, CA
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:02 am
Need a copy of your booklet.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:49 pm
We’re in San Francisco (the Richmond) and the raccoons are destroying our newly laid sod. We also have small children and are worried about diseases.
Thanks for sending copy!
April 4th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Hi Gary
I live in the northeast, I was pazzled by the damanges of my lawn last fall and now again in the spring as soon as snow melts. It may well be the racoons although I have only spotted rabbits. Our back lawns are connected with neighboghs but the funny thing is only our lawn gets the frequent invasion. All of our neighboghs are free of the damages. The only thing I did last fall was I fertilized my lawn and reseeded it.
I would appreciate any comments and perhaps a copy of your self-help guide.
Thanks
Ken
April 12th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hi Gary, im hoping that your book will help. I finally put in an automatic sprinkler system last year. This year first thing after the snow left the ground the raccoons were tearing up the lawn. I dont need sprinklers if i dont have a lawn lol. They only touch my lawn and one neighbors. They leave everyone elses on the block alone… HELP! (please)
April 12th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hi Gary,
We just laid down new sod a few weeks ago to find it upturned just like the picture you posted on your site. I’ve spotted a raccoon in our backyard.
I would appreciate a copy of your self help guide. We have a toddler and a newly planted organic garden in the backyard. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Katy
P.S. We live in Woodland Hills, CA
April 14th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Help!! They are tearing up my backyard. And eating my garbage cans up. Please send me a book your help guide. Thanks I,m from Saginaw, MI
April 16th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Please, forward a copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help” which we hope will help the raccoons move out of the neighborhood. The cedar bark is being stripped & shredded as they make their way up & down the trunk.
Thank you from Seattle, WA.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Hello Gary,
I’ve got a raccoon fight going on in my attic as I am writing this. I live in south Alabama and thought that I had remedied me problem by catching (2) previous raccoon residents with a live trap and releasing them in a rural area. When you have an opportunity could you please sent me a copy of your book. Thanks very much.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Hello Gary,
You are my last hope, we tried many diferrent things but it looks that those critters are smarter than we think.
Please send us a copy of your guide ….
Thans from Kirkland (Quebec)Canada
April 24th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Please send your paper on how to get rid of racoons. One has made a home under a wooden walkway covering part of our roof!
Thank you.
April 26th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Hi,
I am desperate, in just 2 evenings they ave destroyed 25% of my lawn looking for grubs. I have hung aluminum pans on the clothesline hoping that the noise may scare them away. I adore these masked bandits but I have put a lot of money into my lawn over the years.
Thanks for your help
April 27th, 2009 at 10:47 am
we have a raccoon that is ripping up shingles apparently trying to get in the attic. We’ve had the roof fixed twice, and the raccoon keeps going back to the same spot.
We trapped two in the garage and thought that we were through. I guess we’ll have the trapper get on the roof with the trap. Any help you can give will be appreciated. thanks, Karen Morton
April 29th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Help. We have a couple of Raccoons that come in our yard every evening around dusk. They stroll by the pool and climb on the pump house. The stay there for a few hours driving out dog nuts. He’s kept in the house, the is no dog food around for them to munch on.
Please send us a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”!
thanks
May 2nd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
i need a copy of gary’s racoon. i have them eating at my lawn. chaffer beetles i heard. not sure if i have them or not.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:12 am
Raccoon with a sense of humor that is tearing up my lawn in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. Tried ammonia soaked rags, moth balls, Critter Ridder, sprays to kill the grubs (which I may or may not have seeing I have never seend them), and finally using lights/noise/barking dog, all to no avail.
Please send a copy of your brochure
Thanks,
David Lieberman
May 11th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Gary, big fan of your column in the CoCo Times; Now we have a raccoon that gave bith to babies in our wall. Yikes! Can we get a copy of your “Raccoon Fact Sheet”?
Thanks
Don Loeffler
Walnut Creek (Downtown)
May 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am
May 12/09
Hi: We live in Pickering, Ontario, Canada and we have raccoons pooping on the roofs of our 2 sheds in the back yard and they are also digging up our back yard. We have tried amonia soaked rags on the top of sheds, sprayed amonia on the roofs, critter ridder, & cayenne pepper to no avail. HELP!!! The poop smells terrible and it not pleasant to get rid of, not to mention having to fix the yard all the time. We are sure they are residing in the area but have yet to find where. Any suggestions would be grateful.
Regards
Eileen
May 14th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Hi Gary…
I would love to get a copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help”. I just re-did my lawn and 3 days later…they tore it apart! Arrrgh. Thanks.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Whoops…forgot to mention…we are in Toronto, Canada.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
In case everyone hasn’t guessed, I have sent copies of my “Gary’s Raccoon help” via return e-mail to everyone above who has requested them and will continue to do so. /Gary
May 14th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Hi,
The last week each morning my wife and I have found parts of our back yard dug up and I assume it is raccoons
since we have seen them in our area(Antioch) in the past.
I would love a copy of your booklet.
Thanks,
Bob Gayewski
May 17th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
I would love a copy of your raccoon help guide. I stood there this am for over an hour and watched a raccoon go over every inch of my lawn, digging and wringing and eating. I keep a bowl of water on my porch for the outdoor cats and the raccoon has been drinking it all every night. I am in Stockton Calif and I am around 3 blocks from the San Joaquin Delta and one block from the Smith canal. I have seen a family of raccoons in my yard before, but I made a noise and they all ran off. This is the 3rd night in a row I have seen this one though..the first time it was on my porch drinking the water, and that was just after 9pm, but this am it was 4am-5 until it got tired and left.
Thankyou so much:)
Kathy Daly
May 21st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Hi Gary,
I could definitely use a copy of your booklet, please! I’m in Foster City, CA, and we’ve had raccoons breaking in through our *locked* cat door for the past week. Last night, apparently two of them got into some kind of fight, because there was blood all over the kitchen in the morning. Horrible! We thought they had attacked the cat, but we found her and she was fine. We really need these pests to go away, and any help you can provide would be terrific.
April
May 21st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
would love a copy!!!! i’m in washington, dc and i have a fence, but there’s a parking garage behind my house, the raccoon goes to the roof, then climbs on a branch connected to a tree in my yard and gets in that way. ugh.
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Please send a copy of your raccoon article. Rolled up grass every day!
Northeast Ohio
May 25th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Please email me a copy of Gary’s Raccoon Help. I live in Woodway, TX & have already trapped 14 Racoons & 2 Opossums. They’ve been coming into the garage through the cat door & cleaning out the cat food in the feeders. Thanks…
May 25th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
raccoons are ripping up my lawn, please help!
May 25th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Hi Gary,
I live in Bellevue WA, and have a whole family of raccoons that have torn up my newly sod backyard. Please send me a copy of your booklet. Thanks so much!
May 26th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Hi Gary.
We live in Toronto, Ontario and raccoons or squirrels have been rolling up our new sod. I would really appreciate a copy of your booklet.
Thanks.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Good morning.
Again I woke to my freshly potted urns torn up and my new shrubs dug. I’d love any tips you may have.
Thanks.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:51 am
please send copy of book to keep raccoons out of new lawn.
thanks,
May 28th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hi Gary,
I am located in Vancouver, WA & am experiencing recent problems with Raccoons invading my goldfish pond. They have destroyed my water lilies and continue to fish. I am short 3 goldfish in a matter of 2 nights. Would like to deter them in a timely manner as humanely as possible.
Thanks.
Wendy
June 1st, 2009 at 5:50 pm
please send a copy of your racoon book – they are ripping up my new sod. Thanks
June 4th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I have a raccoon under my deck that will not go away.
help!
June 4th, 2009 at 4:51 am
Hey
I need to read the racoon book…
June 5th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Please send your book! Some animal has been tearing up our raised beds almost every night. Last night, 6 peppers, thyme, chives, and a tomato plant were all completely torn out and thrown onto their sides. This has happened dozens of times, and it is really damaging our plants’ little rootlets. My husband went as far as ordering an animal trap. So far he’s caught 3 possums and 2 stray cats. He has relocated the possums and 1 of the cats, but the problem continues. We also have racoons and skunks in the area, so we’re suspecting the racoons!
June 5th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
P.S. We live in San Diego, Clairemont area, near a canyon.
June 7th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Please send us a copy of your book. Our new lawn is being torn up every night.
Thanks
June 8th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Please send me a copy of your book. Just put in a new lawn in Walnut Creek and very frustrating.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Please send me your book on racoons
June 10th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Hi Gary,
I have enjoyed your column for years, but never needed any help until now. We live in El Sobrante and have been hearing scratching noises next to our bedroom window for a few months now. Last night we heard sounds of babies and when my husband went to open the solarium doors this morning, there was mama raccoon and 5 (!) adorable babies. They live under a waterfall next to the house and climb down the back between the waterfall and a fence. Can we just let nature take its course or should we do something so we don’t have the problems I read in the above messages? We see no indication of them during the day and there’s nothing for them to eat in the backyard except leaves and some flowers, although we have a big field behind the yard and open space across the street in the front. Please send a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”, as well as any other suggestions or comments you have. Thanks.
June 10th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Please send a copy of your Raccoon guide. We live in Martinez, CA and have a mother and babies nesting under the house.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
raccoons have a latrine in my back yard right next to my kids playground!!!! they tear up my kids toys and balls!!! they love bubble wrap!!! , they’ve tore up our sod all winter now we saw them eating the babies out of our bird house, that was the last straw. please send me a copy of your booklet from Kent, WA
June 11th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Hi,
I have 2 feral cats that live in my backyard. Last month was the first time I saw raccoons eating their food. I have tried taking the food in at night and not feeding them till later in the morning but I leave too early to go to work. Now I have 1 raccoon who is sleeping under the deck during the day. Its gotten to the point that when its time to feed the cats in the morning, the raccoon and the 2 cats are waiting at the glass sliding doors. I have a trap that I used to trap my feral cats that I was going to use for this raccoon and try to relocate him. Please send me your booklet on raccoons. I live in Stockton CA in the Twin Creek area close to the Delta.
Thanks very much
June 13th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I live in Sterling, VA, and I have a raccoon pooping on my deck. My neighbor actually saw it in broad daylight. I didn’t know about the roundworm problem until I started online research, and I was just using a plastic bag to pick up the poop the way I did with my dogs. I was being very careful, but I’m not sure if this was okay. I guess I really need your booklet. I have contacted animal control and asked for traps, but I need all the help I can get.
Thanks much!
June 15th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
i have a mother racoon and 3 pretty big babies in a 12 foot long 3×3 ft hole. it’s a non active chimney hole but there are 4 chimneys and now i’m hearing scraping almost all day above there den i want them to leave but i’m thinking they are able to srape the bricks out to the other chimneys we live right across from a big mountain. i’m at a loss at what to do. we caught the mother and then we saw the babies who were very young and it was still quite cold. do you have any ideas?
thank you
ruth in salt lake city utah
June 16th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
A copy of your guide would be so appreciated. Raccoons are dropping packages on our roof and lawn.
Thanks.
Monrovia, CA
June 17th, 2009 at 3:45 am
please send me your info – i have the coons back again tearing up my sod here in toronto and and any help appreciated – thanks Jim
June 17th, 2009 at 3:46 am
please help me – the coons are back in my yard tearing up the sod here is toronto – any help appreciated _ Jim
June 17th, 2009 at 7:10 am
recently a pair of ducks flew into our backyard and laid eggs. about 5 days ago, the ducklings hatched. unfortunetly last night, a racoon ate one of the ducklings, and one other drowned for staying in the water too long trying to hide from the racoon. please send me a copy of your guide!! we want to prevent these racoons from eating these helpless ducklings! I live in the san fernando valley, California! Thanks so much.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Mary: I sent you my “Gary’s Raccoon Help” which should help you with your raccoons. But I should tell you, baby ducklings hatched in backyards have about a 100 percent mortality. Not only raccoons, but also cats, dogs, owls, hawks, opossums and skunks will prey on them, PLUS they can’t get out of your pool so will drown. If you can somehow get mom duck and the rest of the ducklings to a nearby pond, lake or creek, you will be doing them a BIG favor. Good luck! /Gary
June 17th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Hi Gary, please send your help book. These things are digging out my nice new sod – I guess they are looking for grubs. I live in burnaby, bc canada.
Thanks for your help.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Hi I need help with raccoons. Thank you
June 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Hi I need helpwith raccoons. Thank you.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Hello Gary
I would love a copy of your booklet. I live in Seattle, WA and have been dealing with raccoons and possuums coming into the house thru the cat door. Help!!
Marc
June 17th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Gary,
Please send me a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”. We have been seeing raccoons during the day in our neighborhood. Today we observed one who quickly climbed a roof and sat under the eaves. We have many children in our neighborhood and are very concerned.
Thank you!
June 19th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Gary,
I am in North East Texas, Holly Lake Ranch, Texas, and have had several sleepless night with raccoons tearing up my front porch and even tearing up a door to my screened porch. I live in a 4000 acre community that is a refuge for deer, raccoon, hog, even some big cats and mostly retirees. I would love to see your fact sheet on raccoons and how to get rid of them.
Thanks,
Edward
June 20th, 2009 at 6:18 am
Gary -
Please email a copy of getting rid of raccoons.
June 24th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Hi,
We need some help getting rid of raccoons that are using our backyard as a latrine.
Thanks!
June 25th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I would love a copy of your Raccoon Help book. I’m in San Jose, CA and have one of the furry buggers making nightly attempts at my cat door. I keep the door locked after the cats come in for the night, but yesterday the raccoon showed up much earlier than usual and caught me unprepared.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Please send a copy of your Raccoon help book. We gave up on the pond but now they are digging up the veggie garden and we don’t want to give up on that. Seattle, WA. Thanks!
June 25th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Please send me a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help.” If this is only a printed document, my address is:
11 Cutting Court
Walnut Creek, Ca 94596
Thanks!
June 26th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Hi Gary,
Please send me a free copy of your Raccoon “help” book. I just spent my entire savings on a new lawn a month ago, and every night these darn raccoons come in and turn it into a mine field. I live in Redwood City, CA and didn’t have a problem until I put in the new lawn.
Thanks for your help
Judi
June 26th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
can you please send me a copy of your Raccoon Help book. We are having problems in our neighborhood. thank you very much We live in Bristol WI.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Help, can I get a copy of your book? My yard looks like your photo almost every morning!
Thanks
Rockford, iL
June 29th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Gary,
We live in San Ramon and just had a visit from a raccoon- it is 4:00 p.m. and about 98F, so the heat may have contributed to the visit. This is the 2nd time in 3 days that he came for a drink out of the pool early in the day. Is this normal? They are night creatures, so this is a surprise to us.
Please send a copy of the “Help” booklet.
Thanks and love your columns.
Chuck
June 30th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Chuck: Raccoons and other wild creatures may be nocturnal normally … but living around us in town is not “normal,” so although they are mostly out and about at night, we occasionally do see them during the day. Especially when it’s very hot and they might need a drink from your swimming pool. I sent you a copy of my Gary’s Raccoon help, in case you ever need it. /Gary
June 30th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Hi Gary,
Thanks is advance for your email booklet on dealing with raccoons.
I live in Palo Alto, CA. Left the old lawn die and killed with roundup. Dead for over 6 months.
New sod lawn and they are attacking after just a few days of installation. Are they attracted to the compost that contains chicken waste? Could there be something in the new sod itself?
My neighbor put in a new lawn 2 months ago and never had a single problem.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Please send me a copy so I can get rid of this coon.At nite I have to take a broom with me when I go uut on the porch.I’m in southeastern ohio half hour north of the Ohio River.My email is ness1up@gmail.com.
THANKS
July 4th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Woke up to screeches right outside our window. Raccoon was fighting with something. Maybe a cat. What a strange sound. Then, it went into our backyard, walked around our koi pond (which has a cover to keep them out), swam in my pool and peed on my kids’ pool toys! So much for the toys. How dangerous is raccoon urine? Big healthy adult. We are near Pasadena. Please send booklet.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Gary–
Can you please send me a copy of the booklet? Thanks so much, hopefully we can find a solution that works!!
–brandon
July 6th, 2009 at 5:33 am
Gary – the raccoons have destroyed two ponds on my patio. I would so appreciate a copy of the booklet. I don’t want to hurt them — just to keep them out of my ponds! Thanks a million!
Harriet
July 6th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Forgot – I’m in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
-Harriet
July 6th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Please send info to me. Duluth, MN.
Pat
July 6th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I need a copy of our booklet. 5 racoons visit our once beautiful lush lawn nightly and it looks like a mine field here in Tacoma, Washington.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Greetings Gary,
We are having nightly racoon wars here in Berkeley. Please send your booklet.
–erin
July 9th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Hi Gary,
Please send us your booklet asap – raccoons are destroying our plants and flowers. We have heard red chile powder will keep them away, have you tried this?
thank you
July 9th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
PLEASE send me a copy of Gary’s Raccoon Help! I am in Bristol Indiana and they are tearing up my sod and there are soooooo many at night!
July 13th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Please send book. 93103 Thank you.
July 18th, 2009 at 6:15 am
I live in Powell, OH. Raccoons are digging in my mulched flower beds and uprooting my annuals. I think they are after earthworms. Please email your booklet. Thanks.
July 20th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Please help me. I have 5 to 6 raccoons in my yard every night. They are using a section of the yard as their latrine. I’d been hosing it down to disintregrate the solids but just read horrifying stories on the web re: roundworm infection. I’m really concerned about my 4yr old and kitties playing in the yard. I need a low cost way to remove the poo and get the raccoons to stay away.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I would like a copy of your booklet. I live in Clayton and racoons are eating my tomatos. I don’t know if there is anything I can do to keep them away or how to protect the plants.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I need some help, they are tearing up my newly laid sod and I need to stop them… please help
Jeff
July 21st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Please send me a copy of your booklet. I have a raccoon pooping in my pool. I read on that raccoon roundworm is difficult to kill and I want to know how to make sure my pool is safe to swim in. Thank you!
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Please send me a copy of your booklet. I live in Foster City, California and have racoons tearing up my yard nightly. Thank you.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:06 am
That sod pic looks exactly like our yard. After putting up strobe lights, hanging cd’s from string, halloween decorations that made noise nothing worked to deter the racoons except havaheart electric fence. Even the trap from the city worked but the city released the racoon too close to our house and it came back in 3 days to the exact same spots! we’d love the booklet. we are in Burbank, CA
July 28th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Help! We have just sodded our backyard and the racoons are making a terrible mess. We have tried motion sensing spot lights, motion sensing sprinklers, but nothing works! They are peeling back the sod to get at grubs and worms. Please send me your guide! We live in Toronto. Thanks
July 28th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Please send me a copy of your Racoon Help. Thanks.
July 28th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Dear Gary,
We live in Kentfield, CA. Noticed a raccoon a few months ago, got someone to trap her, but had to let her go because we realized she had babies under the porch. Now they are grown up, and come out every night fighting with something, making a lot of noise. And just today, they have started to come out early evening (in the daylight), standing by the window and making roaring noises while looking at me working on my computer. Very scary! Please send me your info.
July 29th, 2009 at 4:44 am
For about 2 weeks now something has been ripping up our lawn every night. From what I read here, it must be racoons. Are there other animals that do this also? This critter(s) have invaded 4 lawns so far, but ours seems to get the brunt of it. Help! We are outside of Portage, WI.
August 1st, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Hi Gary,
I am in san rafael marin county. We have A family living in a concrete pipe in the creek. they are always in our yard, driving my dog insane.
Pls help!! Thanks!!! We also have rats any good websites?
August 4th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Hi, Gary. I emailed you a few days ago about the racoons using our roof as a bathroom. I haven’t seen a response. Perhaps your Raccoon Help info will help? Please send me a copy. Thank you!
Julie
August 5th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Julie: You need to get a can of spray dog repellent, and a couple of those paper dust filter masks you can pick up at the hardware store (used when sanding, etc, to keep from breathing dust particles).
You need the dust filter masks so you can wear them when cleaning up the raccoon poop from your roof. Some raccoons (not all) can be infected with a roundworm that can be passed along to humans. When cleaning up dried raccoon poop, if the raccoon has those roundworms, roundworm eggs can get stirred up in the dust while you clean and you might breath them. The dust filter mask keeps that from happening.
Clean up the poop. Then get some old rags and drape them around the problem area on your roof. Then spray the dog repellent on the rags. This should keep the raccoons from using that area again. If it rains, you should go respray the rags.
You should also try to figure out where the raccoons are climbing up on your roof and see if you can block that route. Maybe a tree limb that could be cut off? Etc.
This is pretty common, by the way. Raccoons seem to have this thing about using our rooftops for their bathrooms. Maybe they like to sit and stare off into the distance and ponder the meaning of life. Beats reading old Sears & Roebuck catalogs.
Hope this helps. I’m also sending you my Gary’s Raccoon Help in a separate e-mail. /Gary
August 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Gary! You are a saint! I was so glad to find that you had compiled a list of HUMANE solutions when I began scouring the web for the culprit of my rolled up sod and the solution to his unwelcome behavior! I live in San Anselmo California and the problem happened once to a much minor degree when the sod was first laid. Now, nearly 2 months later, the masked marauders have stuck again- but to a much worse degree. I thought my boyfriend would cry when he saw the damage to his lovingly tended lawn ( from sod he painstakingly laid himself. PLEASE send me a copy of the Gary’s Raccoon Help via e-mail asap!!! Thank you.
- Also, I read an article about using plaster owl statutes as a deterrent with supposedly good results. Have you heard anything about this? seems silly and I dont know if I want a bunch of dummy owls hanging out on my lawn but I’ll try anything at this point.
-Anne-Olivia
August 6th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Gary, Please send your bookley to me. Raccoons & skunks invade my house ever night! They come in though the kitty door that is the smallest I could find 5″ x 7″.
I’m in Walnut Creek, CA.
Thank you!
August 6th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Gary, Please send your booklet to me. Raccoons & skunks invade my house every night! They come in through the kitty door that is the smallest I could find 5″ x 7″.
I’m in Walnut Creek,CA
August 6th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Gary: Please forward a copy of your booklet. Our problem is freshly laid sod and racoons are now coming over nightly. We have had sleepless nights as hubby has bought sensors and put them all over backyard so now we know when they come around and then sprays them with hose to scare them off. Needless to say, we can’t go anywhere overnight for fear of our grass! Hope you can help. Thank you.
Pickering, Ontario
August 6th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Help! They tore up our newly sodded lawn last night. And returned for a 2nd helping tonight. But I just sprayed them with the hose. Not sure how long I can keep it up though. I’m in Los Angeles.
August 7th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Hi Gary,
Just had a mom and four babies evicted from under our house, crawl space closed off on Saturday. Wednesday night and last night a raccoon is trying to eat/tear through our metal vents to get back under the house. We are getting no sleep and are afraid to go out of town. We’re in Concord, CA. Would love a copy of your booklet!
August 9th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Help, raccoons are tearing up my lawn. I’m in Pittsburg and I need a copy of your guide. Thanks
August 13th, 2009 at 10:44 am
I just replaced my lawn after the fire and now raccoons are destroying it!! Please send the booklet to my Santa Barbara home.
I am trying Shake-Away before I tear my hair out!
Thank you,
Amy
August 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am
raccoons have been at my lawn for over a month. i have tried everything from motion censored sprinklers to bb guns …. none have worked. They are HUGE beastly raccoons. I need your booklet please and thank you! im from Toronto, Canada
August 15th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Gary
Would love a copy of your book. Raccoons started coming around our yard and hissing at our dog.
thank you, Diana
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
August 17th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I am having a problem with raccoons digging up my front and back yard and would appreciate a copy of your book on how to discourage this kind of distruction to my yard.
Thank you, Valery
August 17th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Would love a copy of your booklet. I’m getting my lawn destroyed every night… exactly as in your pics.
Thank you,
Jonathan Rumford
Los Angeles, CA
August 20th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Hi,
We live in Crockett almost adjacent to the Carquinez Regional Trailhead and on a bluff above the Straits.
We can deal with the foraging,the garbage can attacks and the occasional crop damage.
Our concern is the Racoons using one of our stepping stones as a toilet. We have tried moth balls and clorox but they keep coming back.
Any suggestions ?
Thank you, Robert Rogers. 366 Winslow, Crockett
August 21st, 2009 at 11:49 am
Hi Gary,
I live in Parker Colorado. Lots of deer, squirrel, raccoons, foxes, etc..Could you send me your booklet on Raccoons? I have raccoons defecating in the same spot on a ledge and it’s really hard to clean it up. What can I do? I’d like to get them to stop.
Thanks,
Debbie
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Gary,
Please send me a copy of your guide to get rid of the raccoons that are constantly tearing up my lawn in the front & now in the back yards…. I’ve spent countless hours seeding, fertilizing, watering, & applying grub control products. Just when it starts to grow and gets to the point it is looking like a lawn again,, the buggers seem to know when & tear it up overnight & I have to start all over again. I have traps set out in both the front & back yards, but they seem to ignore them constantly & dig all around them. I am in Grand Haven Michigan & am almost at my wits end here!!!
August 24th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Please send me a copy of your “Help” material. Had raccoons tearing up a lawn, now tearing up a replacement for the lawn: baby’s tears – even easier work for them. I live in Kentfield, CA …
Thanks
August 24th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Please send a copy of the raccoon help info.
thanks,
san ramon
August 24th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
We would appreciate a copy of your raccoon help information.
Thank you,
Bob
August 26th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Can you please send a copy me a copy of the raccoon help information. Between the skunk and the raccoons, can’t tell which is worse
Thanks, Lily
August 27th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Please send us a copy of the raccoon help information asap. Our yard is a latrine.
Thank you!
Vince
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Please send me a copy of raccoon help. One of our chickens was killed last night (in San Francisco.)
September 4th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
We’re getting some Raccoons in Fairfax, CA.
Thank you for your help.
Jason
September 4th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Hi Gary:
Please send me a copy of the raccoon help before I lose my entire yard. They have ripped up 3/4 of it already. I have never experienced anything like this in the 25 years I have lived in this home. I live in London, Ontario, Canada. Thanks very much for any help you might be able to give me.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Hi, my nice looking lawn has been destroyed by racoons. At $250 a pop to remove them is expensive. I have tried Epsom Salt, Critter Ridder and so on. I would be very interested in getting your guide.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I am from Toronto, Ontario. Canada. I just put new sod in and lost the battle.
September 5th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hi Gary,
Please send me a copy of your raccoon help. I am in Canfield, Ohio and they have torn up my lawn two consecutive falls.
Thanks for your help.
Matt
September 5th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I am in San Francisco…Lot of raccoons here and I cannot sleep at night as I heard them tearing up the yard. Please help!
September 5th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Please send me a copy of your raccoon solutions. I have a huge problem with them making my yard into a latrine.
September 6th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Yes, i would like a copy of your book. I have Racoons digging and tearing up my yard looking for earth worms. I live in just north of Dallas TX
Andy
September 7th, 2009 at 12:42 am
hey gary,
i just hosed down the mama and her babe coon that keep coming to my yard. they come in over the back fence and haven’t caused actual trouble in the yard, but i don’t want my dog eating one (he’s gotten into tiffs with them twice already, they scratched his nose), nor do i want my dog getting hurt (though, at 90lbs. of catahoula, i’d put my money on my dog). anyway, the hose gets them to leave the tree when i spot them there, but i’m not always a night owl. could use some tips on keeping them away from my yard.
we have two bunnies living out there and a compost heap. i assume they’re attracted to either of those. i also have a yard full of corn, pumpkin, tomatos, and beans.
we live in albany, ca.
cheers!
tacy
September 8th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Raccoons were/are living under my deck and using the basement window well as a latrine. It appears as if the feces are old, however I would like to remove them and then put some sort of deterant in the window well. Will moth balls and sycamore tree prickly balls discourage?
Please send me a copy of the raccoon help.
September 8th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Great work. I could use a copy. Please do send me one.
Thanks,
Senthil
September 8th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Can I please get a copy of “Gary’s Racoon Help”? Thanks.
September 8th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Please send a copy. I have skunk problem on my damaged lawn. Hope your book will help. Thank you.
Anita from North San Jose near Hwy237
September 9th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Need a copy of your raccoon book. Live in Walnut Creek…My lawn is a mess!
September 9th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Please send a copy. I have racoon problem and my lawn is badly damaged. Thank you.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Please send a copy of raccoon help. We have a family of raccoons next door that are causing havoc on our new lawn. We are in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Yes, please send me a copy of raccoon help. A large area of my lawn is upside down, thanks a family of 3 racoons…
September 11th, 2009 at 3:09 am
Gary,
I live in central Stockton, California, several blocks below Oak Park, an area considerably farther from nature than Kathy Daly’s neighborhood (in comment 50). Tonight at two I encountered two raccoons that I previously suspected were eating my outside cats’ food and drinking their water. I would much a appreciate a copy of raccoon help.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Hi Gary!
I live along the Illinois/Wisconsin border – and raccoons are stripping up my new sod every night. Please send me a copy!
Thank you!
September 12th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Hi Gary!
Please send me a copy. I’m desperate. I have a brand new sod that looks just like the picture every morning. I live in San Ramon near Pine Valley Middle school.
Thanks,
Shailly
September 13th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Gary
I had new sod then they came.We now have no new sod. I have paid someone to remove them and have spent hundred’s.Their back. I would like a copy of your book to see if we can get rid of them.
Thanks Tony
September 13th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Hi Gary!
We live in Fremont, Califorinia and the raccoons are tearing up our front and back yards. I’m also concerned about encountering a raccoon when my daughter is outside so I’m with her when she is outside at play. Please send me a copy!
Thank you!
September 13th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Please send your Raccoon Help guide. The beasts have decided our concrete swale is the most comfortable latrine in the Castro Valley hills!
Thanks!
September 14th, 2009 at 7:07 am
Please send us a copy of your Raccoon Help guide. Our new lawn is being torn up every night.
Thanks
September 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Hi Gary,
Love your column, hate what the raccoons are doing to my lawn! Please send me a copy of your Raccoon Help Guide. Thank you!
-Susan H. from Walnut Creek
September 16th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Hi Gary: I would really appreciate a copy of your book.
San Marcos, CA 92069
September 16th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Hi Gary -
Any help is appreciated. Motion activated sprinklers haven’t deterred them.
Richmond, near Wildcat Canyon
September 16th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
thanks for the info…
September 16th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I have the same problem, something is tearing up my lawn ( @ san jose, ca) .After seeing the picture you posted i think its might be raccoon.
I would like to get a copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help”.
I really appreciate your help.
Regards
Renuka
September 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Please send me a copy of your booklet. I live in Poway, county of San Diego, CA.
Thank you!
September 18th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Living in the suburbs of Mpls/St.Paul, you’d think 15 yards of sod would be safe…. But nope, the little buggers rolled up all 15 yards looking for a good meal before their long winters nap.
Please e-mail me a copy of your humane hints.
Thanks!
September 18th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Gary,
I heard a noise on my deck one evening, turned on the light and saw an entire raccoon family prowling around. Almost every day I see remnants of their mischief the night before both on my deck and in the backyard. Now they’re tearing up the grass on a nightly basis. I need help before they decide they need in my house as it’s becoming cooler here now. Also, I have a Sheltie who is out in the backyard to do his business and I don’t want him to catch anything from them. Since I’m picking up his stool, I’m possibly picking up something from them too. I see my dog catching and following the scent of something that has been out there at night. Since I’ve seen the raccoons up on my deck, I’m assuming it’s one and the same. Thank You for any help you can give me. I live in Pittsburgh PA
September 19th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Hi! I would love your help! our nice new sod is rolled up every night, some worse than others….Any help would be appreciated. We’re in Abbotsford BC.
Thanks!
September 20th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Please send me a copy. We live in Menlo Park, CA. We’ve got to do something, but it’s got to be humane, and it’s got to be safe for our kids and cats.
Thanks!
September 20th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
HELP! I need a copy too. We’re in Tehachapi, CA — in the Sierras — and have had nothing but troubles this year. They’re usually kind enough to replace the lawn they peel back, but not this batch. Unfortunately we had to shoot mama and one baby. We’d tried everything and finally had to resort to gunfire. Any other ideas are worth a try. Hubby saw the big daddy on our deck last week and we’d like to avoid any more killing.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Gary, I could really use your booklet. Could you please send it? I’m in Los Altos, CA. The last 3 nights, raccoons have torn my lawn up. Help!!
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:46 am
Please send me a copy too! These guys aren’t scared of humans. I literally have to get up at 2am and run after them with a hose! Thanks in advance!
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Gary,
I noticed the lawn around my house is all dug up and it looks like raccoons. Last night I saw a couple crawl under my neighbors elevated deck. Please send your booklet.
Thanks.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Hello. I have raccoons tearing up my yard in Campbell. Can you please send me a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”? Thank you!
September 25th, 2009 at 9:02 am
We live in Foster City, CA and we’re having a terrible time with raccoons (one attacked a neighborhood dog). Our lawns are heavily dug up every year. Thanks for the help!
September 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Our homeowner’s association would greatly appreciate an email copy of your “Racoon Help” document. We live in Blackhawk and one lawn in particular is being torn up every evening. There is a large amount of damage.
Thank you.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Dear Gary, I don’t know what to do, I have an idiot of a neibor who feeds the stray cats with wet and dry cat food about 5x/d. She leaves a large dish of food unattended with of course a bowl of water for hours. I have problems with bees, dead birds, feces, raccoons and yesterday I had to pick up a dead chipmonk. It sounds like I live in the country, I am actually live about 18 miles east of Manhattan. I am very interested in your publication. Thank you, Laura Tralongo any tips, I would really appreciate
September 26th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I have racoons ripping up my lawn can you send me a copy please asap…..
September 26th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Dear Gary I have ALL the problems mentioned for All the desesperated homeowners in this blog, please send me your “Gary’s Raccoon Help” to avoid to kill them, Thanks, I live in Mississauga ON. Canada
September 27th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Dear Gary, my parents live in the Red Bluff, CA area. Racoons come in every night and dig up the lawn, and overturn potted plants. Please send a copy of your article, “Gary’s Racoon Help.” Thank you.
September 27th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I need the book. Coons are killing my lawn.
September 27th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Hello Gary, I’d be very grateful for your “Gary’s Racoon Help” booklet. We thought we’d outwitted them by putting a radio tuned to conversation just inside our catdoor, and it did work for years. But now they seemed to have caught on that the radio won’t hurt them and they walk right over it and into the house!
Thanks for your help.
Luanne, Foster City
September 27th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Would you please send skunk and raccoon information. Last year in two nights raccoons totally ruined our front lawn, it look as someone rototillered the entire lawn. Thanks
September 28th, 2009 at 10:17 am
We are in Alameda and have 40lb raccoons roaming at night and have destroyed our lawn! Is there a way to keep them away without hurting them?
September 28th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Hi Gary,
I would love a copy of your raccoon info. I live in Richmond but am requesting the info for my work place WildCare in San Rafael.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Any help appreciated. Please email me a copy of the Racoon Help book.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:23 am
It is great that you are searching for humane solutions to your frustrations with wild life! WILDCARE of San Rafael has a Wildlife Solutions expert who can also help provide solutions and education. Please never put out poison no matter how challenging the problem might seem. As you probably very well know, the effects can be devastating for wild and domestic animals of all varieties and for human animals too.
Thanks for trying to do the right thing.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Gary,
Had a racoon visit last night and tear up my lawn here in Walnut Creek. Can you please sent a copy of your racoon help book?
Thanks!
September 29th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Hi Gary, We have a whole family of racoons under our house. I have tried to board off all openings but they keep getting in. I feel bad but I don’t want to have them there all winter, I can only imagine what they’re doing under the house! I live in San Mateo. Thanks
September 30th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Please send a copy of your 7-page white paper on raccoons to kirstenzurbrugg@hotmail.com
I am battling a problem with raccoons continuously tearing off the foundation vent screens of my home. Have tried ammonia, mothballs, lights, talk radio during the day. As soon as I stop doing these things, the raccoons return.
September 30th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Please send my the “Gary Racoon Help”.
Thank you so much.
Sharon
September 30th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Forgot to say I live in Ponca Hills, outside of Omaha, Nebraska.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
We have a family (total of 4) raccoons living near our
home. They are beautiful creatures and we don’t bother them nor do they bother us . . .with the exception of occassionally digging up our backyard lawn. They are apparently looking for worms, grub worms, etc.. I need a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help” desperately to hopefully curb their war on my lawn.
Thank You
September 30th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Hi Gary;
We have Racoon dig out our lawn in last two days and they even left their mess on the lawn, looks awful, Coul you please send me the “Gary Racoon Help” to me? I am in Vancouver BC Canada, not in a suburb, we are actually inside the city. only with a few old house around my house. I guess they have a home somewhere closeby.
Thanks
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Please send me a copy, Gary. We awoke today in Moraga to a torn up lawn. Now I know where humans got the idea for sod!
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Gary,
Please send me a copy of your Racoon publication. I live in Albany, CA and I have had nearly regular visits by racoons to my back yard for the past 10 years, mostly an annoyance but managable. This year they are distroying my yard and landscape every night…sometimes as many as eight frolicking at one time. This week one of them tried to dig through the top of my two inch thick rewood picnic table, shredding it almost through. Apparently the cities of Albany and Berkeley are not interested in helping homeowners manage the racoon problem so I am searching for help. I have tried a variety of devices strob lights, water sensors…all to no avail. I cannot even chase them away, they are perfectly comfortable in this habitat and clearly are not concerned about a human presence. Is trapping the only solution?
October 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Please send your ‘Gary’s Raccoon Help’
Thank you,
Judy
925-256-6644
October 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 am
Gary – Please send us a copy of raccoon tips. We just started getting our lawn dug up in the past 2 weeks. They have now dug up the same corner 3 or 4 times now. This is the first time this has happened to us. And our lawn is the only one on the block of 15 homes that seems to have this problem. There’s nothing special about our location – I guess they know when they have found a good thing.
We went to our local gardening store and they confirmed that there has been an unusually high number of people having this problem this year. We live in the Bay Area. They said that the animals are foraging for grubs so they recommended that we buy stuff to kill the grubs in the lawn. We have not done this yet, but would you recommend this?
Thanks.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:48 am
I would like to receive information on humane ways of dealing with raccoons. Thanks so much. My in-laws live in Hayward, Ca and are about to poison some raccoons who are tearing up their lawn and I’d like to offer them other ways of dealing with the problem.
October 5th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I have terrible raccoons digging up my front yard in Danville, CA. Please send me a copy of your books, thanks!
October 5th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Have a family of racoons that have set up camp under the house in the crawl space. they rippedoff the foundation vents and settled in. Also, it seams that a skunk or twohas also tried to takesome of the area and have “sprayed” some areas.Then the smell is sucked in through the HVAC system… yippee.
please send us the 7 page info
October 5th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Hi Gary,
We were out of town this weekend and returned home to significant racoon damage to our front yard. Could you send us a copy of your radoon tips?
Thank you,
Portland, OR
October 6th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Gary,
I have a problem with Raccoons digging up my lawn for earthworms just about every night. How can I get rid of them ? I live in NY. Can you send me the booklet ?
Thanks,
Joe
October 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Hi Gary,
I live on Lake Alhambra in Antioch,CA. There are plenty of fish in the lake but recently noticed an agressive family of raccoons, digging up my lawn.
I am fearful they might become agressive when we are on the deck or in the hot tub. Please send your tips.
Thank you!
October 7th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Hi Gary….
I was awoken this morning at 5am by the ring of of our phone. It was my son on the line saying that he took his dogs for their morning walk and half way down the block he was confronted by 4 racoons. The racoons attacked both dogs. After fighting off the racoons he immediately took the dogs to an emergency pet clinic. One of the dogs nose was bitten half off and the other dog sustained deep gash wounds. My son lives in the San Fernando Valley. I wasn’t aware racoons lived in “mid-San Fernando Valley”. I would appreciate a copy of Gary’s Racoon Help. I’ll pass it on to my son.
Thank you much for your insight to these animals.
October 7th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Thank you for all you do. When you can, would you please email me a copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help”? We live in Danville and our back lawn has been torn up by what we think are raccoons. Many thanks, Debbie Simpson
October 7th, 2009 at 8:27 am
i would love a copy of your 7 page book. we are currently fighting an uphill battle with our new lawn in downtown toronto (ontario canada). thanks, Heather
October 7th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I live in Fremont, CA. and need a copy of your booklet.
Thanks,
Tom
October 10th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Hi Gary,
I live in Brentwood (in Summerset) the racoons always come through my yard at night, dump water cans, take the covers off lawn drains etc. Last night they dug a good size area on my lawn. Please send me your racoon info.
Thanks, Jane
October 14th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Hi Gary,
Please send us a copy of your raccon control.
Thank you,
Sandy
October 15th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Hi — I live in LA and have a group of racoons running the joint! I’d like to re-locate them to a park on the other side of the city but am concerned that trapping 6 racoons will be almost impossible — given the trap “savvy”syndrome…also there are kittys out at night. We have them under the houses in our Hollywood courtyard and the resultant mess has reached the untolerable point…Please send a copy of your booklet to me. Thanks very much, Liz
October 15th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
My fiance lives in San Clemente, CA and has racoons tear up his lawn now five times. He has put out Cayenne Pepper and it doesn’t even phase them. I would like a copy of your booklet.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Gary please send me a copy!!! Raccoons and cats and squirrels and poop and etc… I love them, but they also can be very annoying. C’est la vie!
Thank you for all your very informative tips. I enjoy reading your column.
Thanks again.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Please help! We live in Folsom and believe a racoon or skunk is partying in our back yard. We’ve tried moth balls, traps…just keeps getting worse! Would like a copy of your booklet.
October 18th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Hi,
Please send me a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”.
We live in Illinois. Thanks.
October 18th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Gary,
Please send me a copy of your booklet on raccoon control. I’m in Palo Alto, CA and they are tearing up my lawn. Night after night.
Thanks, Roger
October 19th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Gary
We live in the Echo Park region of Los Angeles. We’ve been having raccoon problems for a while and I just found your site. I am anxious to see your humane solutions to address this problem.
Stephen
October 19th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Hi Gary — Please send me a copy of your booklet on raccoon control. They are not bothering my lawn, as I don’t have one, but I think they are in my attic and living on the roof. Help! Amy in Walnut Creek.
October 19th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Oops — typo in the e-mail I just sent. Please send booklet to this address. (Amy in Walnut Creek)
October 19th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Hello Gary, I would like to have a copy of your “Gary’s Racoon Help” handbook because the raccoons tear up my lawn every night for 2 weeks. And, I really need your help in Fremont, Alameda County.
Thank you so much!
October 20th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Please send your “Raccoon Help” booklet.
Thanks,
Alameda
October 21st, 2009 at 10:20 am
Gary,
I need your information sent to me. I have already trapped and moved 5 from my property and have had to kill two that were ill. I still have problems with them tearing up the yard and taking up residence. I have taken care of grubs on the lawn, therfore Im not sure what they are after. HELP!
Sincerely,
Tracy (Pittsburgh PA)
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:51 am
Raccoons have torn up a section of our grass in Los Altos 4 times in the past month – would appreciate a copy of your book. Thanks.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 am
Gary,
Please send me a copy of your Raccoon Fact Sheet. The raccoons dig in the lawn, destroy any new plantings in the yard and remove drain covers in the lawn, which they then hide. They also use the pool as their personal bathtub. They even have been removing the pool sweep from the pool during the night. Last night they were on the roof and it sounded like a thundering herd – I initially thought it was an earthquake! We also have skunks, most of which have been removed by the county.
Thanks,
Dianne (Alamo, CA)
October 25th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Hi Gary,
We’ve had something digging up our front lawn for the past five weeks. After reviewing your site we’re inclined to think it might be racoons. We know they are active in our area since we’ve seen them on a few occasions in the past. Please send us a copy of your pamphlet on solutions to encourage them to go elsewhere. We’ve already tried pepper based pellets called “Critter Ridder” with no results.
Thanks,
Matt
lacheby@yahoo.com
Westchester, Los Angeles
October 25th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Please send raccoon help info. I am in Indiana
Thank you.
October 25th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Please send me your book. I fight the fight every year. If it isn’t under the back room, it’s under the deck or on the roof. Racoons come from the creek behind the houses across the street. Very wooded area with laots of undergrowth. Brier, Washington outside of Seattle.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Raccoons are tearing up my lawn in Carlsbad, CA. Please send me a copy.
I read they could be digging for Grubs and Milky Spore would kill any Grubs in the lawn?
October 26th, 2009 at 8:18 am
My lawn is getting destroyed by raccoons. I am in Antioch, CA. Please send me a copy of your booklet.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hi Gary,
Help! I would love to have a copy of your book.
These guys come out of the storm drains across the street from me and do not ask permission to enter the front lawn area. I keep trying to green up my brown area but they just won’t let me . Thanks so much and I enjoy reading your wonderful column in the times.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Please send “Gary’s Raccoon Help”
The raccoons are here! Clayton
October 28th, 2009 at 8:41 am
We live in Concord and from time to time have Raccoons, but the 7 page “Gary’s Raccoon Help” is really for my 80 year old mother who has annual epic battles with families of racoons (the racoons always win). She lives in Southern California.
We have enjoyed your column for years. Thanks for forwarding Gary’s Raccoon Help.
Craig and Vickie Rieger
October 28th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Please send Raccoon Help.(Oakland). One of the things I’ve tried to keep them from coming in the cat door at night is to have a bright light shining into their face. It seems to work, but they did get in once(maybe the light didn’t go on, maybe they were undaunted) and then it was every night. Had to close down access for a few months.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:41 am
I would like to request a book to get rid of racoons,I have some friends that I am taking care of thier house that is empty and racoons have made a home, plus some have stationed on the outside in the yard so I will be dealing with a bunch of different family.
Thanks Janet
October 28th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Hi Gary, thx for your generous offer to email us who are in need of your Racoon booklet! Through out the years, we’ve had Racoon’s visit our back yard on & off. One quiet summer nite we saw our Orange tree leaves rustling from our kitchen window, went outside on our deck & saw a Mom with 3 of her babies peeking at us from inside the tree. We spoke to them & said you can’t stay here & must leave, made noise & turned on our lights. A little while later, we saw them leaving by walking on top of our fences & never saw them again! Do you think they understood us?? Regards, your avid fans from Antioch. (-:
October 28th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Could surely use the raccoon book, we have several families in our Redwood City neighborhood that are terrorizing cats, digging up gardens and lawns and keeping the dogs barking all night. They live in the crawl spaces under several apartment buildings.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Hi Gary,
Any chance you can send your booklet to me today? We have just recently had raccoons tearing up the front and back yard and we are laying new sod down today (for other reasons). I’m worried they will have a hayday with it tonight.
Thanks so much.
San Anselmo, CA
October 28th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Please send me your Gary’s Raccoon Help booklet via email. We don’t have raccoons yet, but we are relatively new to the neighborhood and I would like to be prepared. Thank you!
October 28th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I am requesting your 7-page book “Gary’s raccoon help” for my dad. He lives in Concord and has a large very problem with raccoons.
Thanks Johonna
October 28th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Would appreciate a copy of your Raccoon Help advice. We just had new sod installed and it is just too easy for them to roll it up every night and look for a snack – our yard looks just like the picture above each morning. Have tried the pepper based pellets, “Shake Away” pellets, a portable radio, and personally chasing them away with no lasting impact. Need some help to break their bad habits and disappear these guys soon…thanks in advance!
Danville
October 29th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I would like a copy of your book. I am in Lompoc, CA.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Please send me your “Gary’s Raccoon Help”. I could use some ideas. The animals are making a mess of my back yard.
Thanks, Lee
October 29th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Please send me a copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help”
Thanks,Lee
October 29th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I enjoy your column very much and read to my husband what you wrote yesterday about raccoons, very similar to what the Pleasanton police animal control officer told us when she came to our yard to collect the juvenile raccoon we had trapped in a cage. So we packed away the cage, agreed we must learn to accept the little creatures, and “planted” beneficial nematodes in our flowerbeds. We need more good advice so please send us a copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help”. Thanks both for the pamphlet and also for your interesting column.
October 29th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Please send a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”
We had a raccoon in our heating duct, lured her (and I think her babies) out and secured the area, but she or one of her friends is back! Help!
October 29th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Forgot to add… We are in Lafayette, CA
October 29th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Please send me a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help”
October 29th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Please send me a copy of “Gary’s Raccoon Help” I’ve got two large raccoons that dig up my lawn at night.
October 29th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
A copy of your “Gary’s Raccoon Help” booklet would be fantastic.
They come into our garage through the cat door and tear open the bags of cat food.
Thank you
San Ramon, Ca.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Please send me a copy of your raccoon help. I’ve spent $800 relocating them so far, and my lawn is still being torn up.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:19 am
oops! when i asked for the raccoon help information, i forgot to tell you i’m in lafayette.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Please send your Racoon help. I live in Jax Fla. Need to keep them off of roof.
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Hi Gary,
We live in San Ramon, and are having the back lawn torn up for the first time in 5 years.
Isolated areas 15′x 15′, even though lawn is much larger.
Please forward your Racoon guide.
Thank you,
Corey Pontrelli
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Please send me your Racoon help. I live in Northville, Michigan Racoon Destroy my lawn.
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Hi Gary,
My gardener just put in some SOD patches in the back yard and the 2nd night the racoons were digging for food.
Put on the back yard flood lights for a couple of days and they went away, I thought. Lights out, things were looking good but the other night they came back and dug up the SOD again. Light back on,this time it only worked for one night, the next night they were back, didn’t seem to care that the flood lights were on.
Time for your advice in the Racoon guide.
Reside in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
November 5th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I need Gary’s Raccoon Help. For the past two nights, my new sod lawn has been rolled up. I’m in north Concord, CA.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Please send me a copy of Gary’s Raccoon Help Guide. Raccoons plague the part of my back yard that has a lot of thatch. It looks like it’s been plowed. They also terrorize anyone else’s yard where new sod has been laid down. I’ve tried everything. It’s never been worse than this year.
Thank you.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Please send me a copy of Gary’s Raccoon Help Guide. We have been having problems with the raccoons digging up our front lawn. We live in Glen Head, NY
Thank you.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I would greatly appreciate a copy of Gary’s Racoon help guide. Our lawn is being torn up nightly. We are in Pacifica.
Thanks
November 9th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Please send me a copy of Gary’s raccoon help guide. I live in Santa Cruz (in town, not in the woods), and get nightly visits from the critters. They wake us up, and on a few occasions, when we forget to lock the cat door, have had them come into the house and tear up the kitchen.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Please send a copy of Gary’s Racoon Help guide. We live in San Clemente, CA.
Thanks!!
November 11th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Please send a copy of Gary’s Racoon Help guide. We live in Kent, Washington. I awoke my son at 5am and looked out to see two racoons copulating in our back yard. They like to live in our cedar tree. They are not a nusiance, but I am concerned about the safety of our cat and the neighbors dogs. The racoons are finding some reason to stick around. I would like to find out what it is and eliminate it. Thanks.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Please send copy of Gary’s Racoon Help. We have a problem!! Thanks
November 12th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Although they are cute off in the distance, they sure play hob with our lawn. Could you send me a copy of your Racoon help? I’d really appreciate it.
Keith Johnson
Fremont, CA
November 12th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Please help! Haven’t slept in a week and my husband wakes up to me yelling at our uninvited backyard guests. They ripped up by yard and have pooped in my empty hot tub. Any help is appreciated. A copy of your guide is Much appreciated. I live in Rancho Palos Verdes.