SallyBrian

How do you get rid of raccoons? They're in my backyard. I tried putting a falcon dummy on my trash can but they just ate it.

travelover

Short of trapping or shooting them, you need to secure the trash can so they can't get in to it. Some people use a bungee cord over the top and through the handles. They are very tenacious so it won't be easy.

How to Keep Raccoons Out of a Trash Can: Home & Lawn Pest Control | eHow.com

TxBuilder

Raccoons are tricky because they like trouble. Hide anything that could be of interest. Move the food source. It's tough to do if your in a neighborhood. Have you tried live trapping then turning them over to animal control?

EMD47

I have had problems with Raccoons in my wooded backyard in spite of having no food or water source for them. They would frequent a landscaped area just under some trees where they would deficate. I tried mothballs, smelly ammonia and that did not work. Then I had some old plastic netting or deer block that I bunched up and laid randomly on the ground and droped some big rocks here and there to keep the wind from taking it and keeping it in place under and on top of the netting. The Raccoons hated getting tangled, snagged and caught up in it so they stopped coming around. It also deterred the chip munks and other critters. I put it down in the fall and the leaves helped camouflage it. It stayed through winter. In the spring I took it up and eventually the coons returned...so I've got a new role of deer block. If you put a little ammonia on a paper towel inside the lid or on the top the garbage that's also a deterrant.

Rumi

I wonder what the state laws are for killing them, and various means for doing so?

Someone once told me that they are considered a nuisance animal in some states and are allowed to be killed and disposed of?
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joecaption

Coons are not coming back to that same tree for nothing ( unless it's a oak tree). Look and see if you do not see a rotted out spot up in the tree someplace where they have built a nest. Fill the hole with something like concrete, steel wool, spray foam, and they may move.
Also amonia may smell bad to us but smells like urine to them and it will attract them to that area to mark there territory.