How to Get Rid of Raccoons (Attic, Trash & Yard)

To get rid of raccoons for good, take away what draws them (food and shelter), evict any animal already living in your attic or under your deck, and then seal every entry point so nothing gets back in. In most homes, that means locking down trash and pet food, harassing a denning raccoon with light and noise until it leaves, or fitting a one-way door, confirming the space is empty, and closing the opening with heavy-gauge metal. Timing matters. Raccoons usually raise their young in spring, and sealing a mother out traps her kits inside. Raccoons can also carry rabies and roundworm, so never handle one or its droppings bare-handed. Here’s the full DIY process and the legal limits to check first.

In this guide

1. Signs You Have Raccoons
2. Safety First: Rabies and Roundworm
3. Step 1: Remove Food and Shelter
4. Step 2: Get Raccoons Out of the Attic
5. Step 3: Seal Entry Points for Good
6. Step 4: Protect the Yard and Lawn
7. Trapping: Know Your State’s Rules
8. What Not to Do
9. When to Call a Professional
10. Frequently Asked Questions

Signs You Have Raccoons

• In the attic: heavy thumping or walking sounds at dusk and dawn, chirring or whimpering kits in spring, torn insulation, and damaged roof vents, soffits or fascia boards.
• On the roof: torn shingles, bent ridge vents or a hole near the eaves. Nebraska Extension notes 4- to 6-inch holes in the roof as a typical sign.
• In the yard: shredded or rolled-back sod where raccoons dig for grubs, knocked-over trash, raided bird feeders and sweet corn eaten just before harvest.
• Latrines: piles of dark, tubular droppings in one spot, often on roofs, decks, woodpiles or in attics.
• Tracks: hand-like prints with five long toes, about 3 inches long.

Raccoons are mainly nocturnal. Seeing one out in daytime is not, by itself, proof of rabies, since mothers sometimes forage by day. But a raccoon that staggers, circles, seems partly paralyzed or is unusually aggressive or tame should be reported to animal control and never approached.

Safety First: Rabies and Roundworm

The University of California’s IPM program notes that raccoons carry rabies and distemper, and that raccoon roundworm spreads to people through accidentally swallowing or inhaling roundworm eggs (UC IPM Pest Notes: Raccoons). The eggs are shed in raccoon droppings and can survive in the environment for a long time. Practical precautions:

• Never try to catch, corner or hand-feed a raccoon. Keep children and pets away.
• Keep dogs and cats current on rabies vaccination.
• If anyone is bitten or scratched, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and contact a doctor and local health department right away.
• To clean a latrine, wear disposable gloves, an N95 or better respirator and washable or disposable clothing. Lightly mist the droppings with water to keep dust down, bag them, and dispose of them as your local health department advises. Don’t sweep or vacuum dry droppings with an ordinary vacuum. Contaminated attic insulation is usually best removed by a professional.

Step 1: Remove Food and Shelter

Raccoons stay where food is easy. UC IPM recommends metal garbage cans with secure lids and bringing in pet food before nightfall.

• Trash: use cans with locking lids, or strap lids down with bungee cords. Store cans in a garage or a latched enclosure, and put them out on collection morning, not the night before. Rinse food containers before binning them.
• Pet food and water: feed pets indoors, or remove bowls at dusk. Store bags of feed in sealed metal bins.
• Bird feeders: take them in at night, or use baffles and hang them on poles at least 10 feet from trees and roofs.
• Compost: don’t add meat, dairy or oily food scraps. Use an enclosed bin or tumbler.
• Gardens and fruit: harvest promptly and pick up fallen fruit. A two-strand electric fence, with wires roughly 6 and 12 inches off the ground, protects sweet corn and melons during ripening.
• Ponds: protect fish with netting or deep water and overhangs.

Step 2: Get Raccoons Out of the Attic

First, figure out whether there are babies

UC IPM notes that young are generally born in April or May, though earlier and later litters happen. Kits stay in the den for about two months before following their mother out. If you hear chirping, mewing or whimpering, or if it’s spring to midsummer, assume there are young. Sealing the entry or trapping the mother at this point leaves the kits to starve and often leads to a frantic mother tearing through the roof to get back in.

The best approach in baby season is to wait until the kits are old enough to leave, often by mid to late summer, or to make the den uncomfortable so the mother moves her family herself. Mothers usually have backup dens and carry kits to them one at a time over a night or two.

Humane harassment (eviction)

Nebraska Extension suggests humane eviction methods such as placing lights or a radio in the area to encourage the animal to leave, then promptly sealing the entry point once it’s gone (Nebraska Extension: Raccoons). In practice:

• Set a bright work light near the den and leave it on day and night.
• Put a radio tuned to a talk station near the den at moderate volume.
• Place rags dampened with cider vinegar or ammonia nearby (not on insulation or wiring), refreshed daily.
• Keep it up for two to four nights. Most raccoons, including mothers with kits, will relocate.

One-way doors

Outside of baby season, or once you’re sure the young are mobile, a one-way exclusion door over the main entry lets raccoons leave but not return. Seal every other opening first. Mount the door firmly over the hole with screws and leave it in place for several days to a week, checking for activity. Then remove it and close the hole permanently. Don’t use a one-way door if there could be dependent kits inside.

Confirm it’s empty

Loosely stuff the entry with crumpled newspaper or lean a light board across it. If it stays undisturbed for three nights in good weather and you hear no sounds, the space is likely empty. Do a final visual check with a flashlight for kits before sealing.

Step 3: Seal Entry Points for Good

Raccoons are strong and persistent, so repairs need to be sturdier than for squirrels or birds. Nebraska Extension recommends heavy-gauge hardware cloth or metal flashing.

• Roof vents and soffits: cover with heavy-gauge galvanized steel mesh, screwed to framing on all sides, extending well past the opening.
• Chimneys: UC IPM advises covering chimneys with a spark arrester that meets local fire code. Install it only when you’re sure no animals are inside.
• Fascia, eaves and roof edges: repair rotted wood and add metal flashing where raccoons have pried.
• Overhanging branches: cut back limbs to at least 8 to 10 feet from the roof.
• Decks, porches and sheds: UC IPM advises tightly screening open spaces beneath structures. A common way to do it is an L-shaped skirt of galvanized hardware cloth buried about 12 inches deep and bent 12 inches outward.

The same techniques work for other attic invaders. See how to get squirrels out of the attic for lighter-duty sealing.

Step 4: Protect the Yard and Lawn

Raccoons tear up lawns in late summer and fall while hunting white grubs. Rolling back freshly laid sod is a classic sign. Fixing the grub problem removes the reason to dig, and new sod can be pinned down with landscape staples until it roots. Motion-activated sprinklers and lights give short-term relief in gardens. Commercial repellents labeled for raccoons have mixed results and must be used exactly as the label directs. Skunks cause similar lawn damage. Compare in how to get rid of skunks.

Trapping: Know Your State’s Rules

Raccoons are classified as furbearers or protected wildlife in many states, so trapping, relocation and euthanasia are regulated. UC IPM notes that California classifies raccoons as furbearers and prohibits relocating them without written permission from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Other states require licensed operators, prohibit release off the property, or require that trapped raccoons be euthanized because of rabies risk. Relocation is also hard on the animal, which often doesn’t survive in unfamiliar territory, and it can spread disease. Call your state wildlife agency before setting any trap, and avoid trapping during baby season, when you might catch a nursing mother.

What Not to Do

• Don’t use poisons. No toxicants are registered for raccoons, and poison bait endangers pets and other wildlife.
• Don’t use mothballs or fumigants in the attic. They’re not labeled for this use and can harm people in the house.
• Don’t seal an entry without confirming the space is empty.
• Don’t feed raccoons, even accidentally.

When to Call a Professional

Hire a licensed wildlife control operator if there are kits you can’t wait out, if the entry is high on a steep roof, if a raccoon is inside the living space, if you have latrines to clean up in the attic, or if your state requires a licensed trapper. Pros can remove young by hand and reunite them with the mother, install exclusion barriers, and decontaminate insulation. Our raccoon removal cost guide breaks down typical pricing, and choosing a wildlife removal company covers what to ask. See our pest control guide for other wildlife issues.