OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

>>>>I'm wondering if I can catch the raccoon that has been raiding my
>>>>trash can this past week by baiting the live trap with mackerel. Of
>>>>course it would probably also attract every feral and loose cat in
>>>>the neighborhood, but I need this sucker to stay out of my trash!
>>>>
>>>>Jill
>>>
>>>Might work. I've also trapped 'coons with p-nut butter bait or fresh
>>>shrimp.
>>>
>>>Be sure to re-locate at least 20 miles if you aren't going to shoot
>>>it.
>>>
>>>Cheers!
>>
>>I'm not going to shoot it and I'm sure NOT going to waste shrimp on a
>>raccoon! When I asked why this raccoon has suddenly singled out my garbage
>>the reply was, "You're a good cook." Great, so now I have to start eating
>>garbage to keep them out of my garbage? <G>
>>
>>Jill
>>
>>
>
>
> I keep racoons (and dogs) out of my garbage by composting...
> I put no food waste into the trash. Keeps the dumpster from stinking too!
>
> I have a separate bucket on the sink that all food scraps go into.
>
> Bones that I don't want to use for soup later go into the freezer in a
> bag. That bag gets put into the trash out front on the morning it gets
> collected.
>
> If you don't give them anything to eat, they will stay out of it.

We dealt with 4 baby racoons last year. The first rule of thumb is to
remove anything the critters can eat but that's hard with a garden
sometimes. I managed to keep them out of the veggie garden and the
garbage. I used a motion activated sensor to keep them and the
neighbourhood cats out of the garden. Like you our garbage goes out the
day it is to be collected and no sooner. Before that our garbage is in
the garage and we keep the door shut all the time. Neighbour cats have
previously been a problem In the event we aren't home the day the
garbage is collected we wait until the following week. Most food waste
goes either into the compost or disposal. We find the disposal is a
great help with the wildlife here. I do a lot of canning so dumping
that much food waste at one time creates a problem with the compost
pile. Rabbits, racoons, squirrels, possums, skunks, field mice, voles,
ermine, and pets on the run, heck we got them all! That isn't even
getting into the insects and other bugs! Today I'm battling a fly
problem that just started this morning. It's always something. A
neighbour likes to live trap these critters but we can't be bothered.
As long as they aren't in my house or bothering the garden I really
don't care.