How to Keep Raccoons Out of a Garden

When it comes to contortions, gold-medal gymnasts have nothing on raccoons. Thanks to its collapsible spine, a raccoon faced with a tight opening flattens itself down to 4 inches and slips through. It also drops up to 40 feet without flinching and uses its flexible, sensitive forepaws to open latches with a lock-picker's dexterity. Keeping raccoons out of a vegetable garden, berry patch or earthworm-rich flowerbed is never simple.

Normal fences won't stop an animal capable of climbing and descending trees forward and backward. Installing an electrified polytape fence, however, deters raccoons with a mild shock.

Wide, white or brightly colored polytape is a more noticeable and effective visual repellent than smooth wire. It's less likely to get knocked down by passing animals or endanger people or pets.

Cornell Cooperative Extension recommends installing a low, two-wire electrified fence. Position the wires 5 and 10 inches above the soil surface, and power the fence with a portable, solar- or battery-powered charger so it doesn't draw household current.

To raccoon-proof an existing fence, install the polytape fence 8 inches outside its perimeter. One strand of tape positioned 8 inches off the ground is sufficient.

Check your location's ordinances before installing the fence.

Commercially available electrified fence kits contain all the necessary materials and installation instructions.

 Look for an intermittently pulsating, high-voltage, low-amperage charger rated to control nuisance animals.

Turn the fence off in the daytime; raccoons feed only at night.

Lure raccoons to the fence by wrapping small amounts of jam in aluminum foil and attaching the baits to the fence with metal paper clips so they conduct electricity.

Don't place an electrified fence where it could endanger people or pets.

Hang caution flags at regular intervals along the fence.

Regularly weed and mow the area around the fence so the caution signs are visible and vegetation doesn't short-circuit the polytape.

When electrical fencing isn't an option, consider:

leaving a portable radio set to a talk show station turned on in a sheltered spot near the garden at night.

installing solar-powered, pulsating predator-control lights at raccoon eye level. Space them 20 to 50 feet apart on each side of the garden, mounted to posts and facing outward. From dusk until dawn, they emit intermittent flashes of raccoon-repelling, red, light-emitting diode, or LED, light. 

placing battery-operated, motion-activated sprinklers outside the garden. One manufacturer's sprinkler sends three-second sprays of water over a 1,200-square-foot area when a raccoon or other intruder passes nearby. The animal quickly learns to avoid the area.

Don't place motion-activated sprinklers where the spray may hit garden plants; getting wet at night exposes plants to fungal infections.

Because motion-activated sprinklers need constant water pressure, connect them to heavy-duty hoses to help prevent leaks.