DIY Deck (Part 26): How to keep Raccoons off your patio furniture in backyard for good?

[@proagnes988]

If it hurts the raccoons, Im up for it if they never come back!

[@tooshieg2059]

Like you, I tried everything. Finally I went the electric fence option. My garden is spread out over several areas in the yard. The electric fence was the only option that worked. Not only raccoon but also keeps out rabbits, ground hog and possum. Now the only thing eating from my garden is me. Cute video. Love your humor.

[@aaronalquiza9680]

i just found this video and i'm doing a big backyard project this year including a patio, pergola, sauna, automated bird feeders, AND RACCOON/SKUNK DETERRENTS. thank you for your ideas, i will watch your whole series from part 1!

[@shill1444]

The last time I had a battle with raccoons on my roof I actually climbed out the window and sprinkled ex-lax all over the place. The next time they came back was the last time I saw them. Grantes, you have to clean up a bunch of sickly poop and vomit but it gets rid of them.

[@humblecourageous3919]

Raccoons are a real battle. We finally put in a pet electric fence all around the yard, except the front gates where we just put wire. There is 6 feet behind our wooden fence that we own that has a chain link fence. I found insulators for that. I thought we had them beat but they have been pooping in the area behind the fence. They MUST be getting shocked as for that gate we put the electric wire high enough over the fence that we can walk through, but it would shock the raccoons, yet they still go there to poop. Just found four piles two days ago and one today. We have fruit trees. I have been hearing the leaves of the fuyu persimmon rustle at night as they are just barely getting close to being ripe. We are in San Diego County and we don't have any water to use on a spray system. I use disposable gloves to pick up poop, put it in a bag and then in the trash. I do boil water to pour over the place where the poop had been. We are in fire territory. The next door neighbors moved but couldn't find their cat. The neighbors on the other side of them have been leaving out cat food. That is the worst thing you can do. Several years ago we had a peach tree. Sometimes the peaches would drop to the ground. I put them in a bucket that I covered. But when I opened it there were fruit flies. I squirted dish soap in to deal with the fruit flies. One day I came out and the lid was off and there was vomit all under the peach tree. I didn't do it on purpose but that kept them away from the peach tree until it died of old age. I did once try putting out some fruit with some dish soap on it, but they didn't go for it.

[@DIYable]

Thanks for sharing and I am glad electric fence works. I was very close to install one if everything else failed but my yard is very small, it's not easy to find space to install that with proper grounding. Yes, Raccoons are very annoying. Honestly speaking if they don't poop in my property, I am fine.. just like squirrels and rabbits, they come and go, they don't bug me at all. But yes, their poop is extremely deadly, yup using boiling water is good way to do it. A lot of people don't know about the danger of Raccoon roundworm, we need to spread the message to all Americans and Canadians.

[@humblecourageous3919]

@@DIYable You made such a nice deck. Instead of the IKEA furniture, couldn't you make furniture out of the weather proof decking material? You seem so talented, it should be easy. Then you would only need to put your cushions away into a locked patio box after use and never have to cover it. The raccoons probably liked getting warm under the canvas.

[@DIYable]

@@humblecourageous3919 Sorry for late reply. Using decking material to make furniture may not be that easy, also need a wooden frame which makes it way too heavy. Indeed there is 100% plastic outdoor furniture out there believe it or not, I found one called "CR Plastic Products in Stratford, Ontario", very interesting product. If IKEA furniture fails, honestly this is an option. I believe there are similar products out there, not just this CR plastic.

[@jyoung9181]

Thanks for this video. You have saved me a lot of time!

[@rieriec.36]

Cayenne pepper WORKED FOR ME HEY PEOPLE...TRY DIFFERENT THINGs...what works for Billy may not work for Tommy

[@tuomasholo]

This is very helpful. Thanks

[@Krigh_B]

What is the stuff on the back of the boards you can see at 6m16s into the video? It looks like you put something on the back rather than just blocks? Is that for moisture/airflow? You show mounting blocks in other shots. Also how wide are your boards? I have a load of offcuts from our AZEK deck that would probably work. Curious if you think a regular deck (5.5") wide boards would do? @DIYable

[@Jommybutler1234]

Thermal + 22LR works every time it has been tried

[@nanoceramics2747]

Excellent!!

[@mandingo609]

you killed me with coyote urine. 💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@hughkiddin1140]

You mention in the beginning of your video a list of things that did not work. One of them was a plastic animal deterrent mat, isn't that the same as the brad nail spikes? or is it because the other spike mat is just plastic,that it didn't work? Thanks for any info you can share, Cheers ! Les on Canada's West coast.

[@DIYable]

The plastic animal deterrent is very poorly made, the plastic is extremely soft.. the one I bought from Amazon is more like Made in China toy. I saw people posting pictures having their cats sleeping on it. Having said that, maybe you can find better spike mat that will work. The biggest problem is, all the plastic spikes are evenly spaced and they have the same height, I prefer brad nail spikes which I can space it randomly and with different direction.

[@hughkiddin1140]

@@DIYable Thanks for the reply I wondered about the effectiveness of a plastic spike strip, I will use real nails as suggested, again thanks for the info. Merry Christmas from Canada's Westcoast

[@DIYable]

@@hughkiddin1140 Use brad nails only, regular nails or screws are too sharp. We don't want to hurt the animals, we want to use it as deterrent. Merry Christmas from Ontario!!

[@hughkiddin1140]

@@DIYable Absolutely ,deterrent is the name of the game, I did mean real brad nails. Cheers !

[@stanleykeith6969]

Raccoons have chewed a hole in the back porch roof, have cause water damaged to the inside. They are in the ceiling in the house between floors. Fixed the roof. now made a hole in the roof again by climbing up the rain gutters. I have to hire someone to fix this problem. Trapping in next !

[@NickTheAddik]

Tried epsom salt?

[@DIYable]

I haven't honestly.. I heard about it but didn't try because I am worried about killing my plants and it can make the deck/fence hardware rust.. but for those doesn't have my constraint, may be not a bad idea to try. Thanks for suggestion.

[@NickTheAddik]

@@DIYable I tried it a few times and it seems to work. Idk for how long before it wears off though lol

[@dkadoch]

@@NickTheAddik what did you do with the salts? pour along the fence?

[@poppyshoessp]

I did. They hate the smell of mint in Dr. Teals. I'm getting an electric fense. I have children, and I'm already sleep deprived. These 4am battles have to stop. I was out at 4:40 a.m., chasing them off of my roof. Which is brand new. It's never fun hearing your alarm go off and watching a raccon climb your downspout. 😤

[@bedbath9056]

DONT DO THIS !!!! I did exact same 6 years ago and I received a fine from my york region municipal.

[@blakegreen9120]

So raccoon poop is deadly if you eat it, noted 👍

[@poppyshoessp]

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@josebriseno4670]

Build a pressure washing racoon sprayer.

[@DIYable]

Indeed, I have a similar video but not using high pressure... "How to build a portable Raccoon deterrent and repellent system with Orbit Yard Enforcer?" Check it out if you are interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZmQeWucYsudprM

[@sharonsmith2330]

Have animal control place capture cages and relocate the racoons to another area…😮

[@Apple-xt4vp]

I hope a safe solution was found interesting video 😮

[@josebriseno4670]

Make a House out of foam for the Racoons

[@DIYable]

LOL....

[@lilmsgs]

electric fence

[@poppyshoessp]

That's what I'm heading towards. I'm sick of the 4 and 5 am alarms going off.

[@MichaelBasedow]

You could have saved a lot of money and time…. Just remove the outdoor furniture covers! The outdoor furniture is able to handle weather issues so why put a comfortable cover for a raccoon to hide and sleep?

[@bayouboy6615]

Get you a 2 dog put in backyard are get some sweet potatoes to go with the baked raccoon yummy yummy good