Are Raccoons in your dumpster in Bartlett, TN? Raccoons are omnivores which means they eat both plants and animals. Their diet in the wild consists of a variety of nuts, berries, plants, fruits, squirrels, rabbits, small rodents, fish, frogs, bird eggs and insects. Raccoons are also considered to opportunistic eaters which means they will eat practically anything they can get their little hand-like paws on including leftover human food from trashcans and dumpsters. The smell of food is what attracts raccoons to your trash receptacles.
How To Keep Raccoons From Getting Into Your Dumpster
There are a couple of things you can try on your own should you find that raccoons are getting into your dumpster:
- Cleanup any trash that has fallen on the ground around the trashcan or dumpster. This trash may contain foodstuff that provides the raccoon with an easy meal. If a raccoon sees accessible food then they will return again and again.
- Ask around the neighborhood to determine if a well-meaning neighbor is feeding wildlife in the area. They may be unaware of the impact that their actions are having on their neighbors and neighborhood.
Make Sure Your Garbage Is Safe From Those Raccoons!
Ensure the the lid on your trashcan is tightly secure. It is very easy for raccoons to open trash lids because of their hand-shaped paws. They are extremely smart, too. It only takes a few tries for them to figure out how to open most lids, jars, and other objects. You can attempt to make it difficult to remove a lid by placing a bungee cord around the trashcan lid in an effort to deter a raccoon from accessing the trash inside. For more information about raccoons, read Raccoon Removal In Bartlett TN.
We also advise clients to purchase dumpsters with locking mechanisms that are considered to be bear-proof. Considering keeping your trash receptacles in your garage until the morning the trash collector is scheduled for trash pickup. Hopefully, the raccoon will move on to another neighborhood with easier pick in’s when the meals at your home become not so easy to come by.
Is Your Dumpster Secure But You Still Need Raccoons Trapped?
What if you have tried on your own to deter the raccoons from coming around with no success? It may be time to contract a wildlife professional to trap and relocate the raccoon. Apex Wildlife Control are just the wildlife professionals you want to call! Our wildlife technicians have a successful record with outside trapping for most wildlife species, including raccoons. Our technician will set an appropriate number of traps using bait that is species-specific. We do need to know if you have any cats or small dogs that might possibly be curious enough to go into a trap to check it out. Of course we want to avoid a situation like that from taking place, but if a cat does become trapped it will not be harmed. It is easy for them to get in, but they will need our assistance to get out of the trap.
We will trap the raccoons over a period of seven days. Our technicians will return three times (every 36 hours) to check the traps. He will remove any animal that has been caught, re-bait and reset the traps as needed. He will also move the traps if there is a change in the raccoon activity in our area.
What If A Cat Gets Into A Raccoon Trap?
If a cat does go into the trap it’s no big deal. We can release the cat completely unharmed. After baiting the traps we will trap them for seven days and come out every other day to check on the traps and re-bait them or move them as needed with the changing activity in your area. Please give us a call if you see that an animal has been caught in the trap and we can come out that day. We try to make this as easy as we can for you, so we do not require you to be home while we are doing our trapping services.
Raccoons Trapped in Your Dumpster Or Trash Can
For a raccoon that gets stuck in a trash can, all you need to do is gently tip the receptacle over on its side move away quickly. The raccoon will be happy to be free and should run away. They are not usually in the mood to attack.
A raccoon that becomes stuck in a dumpster is a little trickier. Open any side doors to the dumpster if it has any. If there are no side doors then place a board or anything that can be found and used as a ladder for the raccoon to get out.
Call us immediately if it’s an adolescent or baby raccoon that is stuck in a dumpster and the mother is not around. A small baby raccoon is harmless. All we will need is a pair of protective gloves to scoop it out of the dumpster. We send orphan raccoons to a wildlife rehabilitator to assist with its feeding and caring until it can be reintroduced into the wild at the appropriate age. This will give the young raccoon the best chance for survival.
Time To Call A Professional!
Once you have tried to help the wildlife out yourself with no success, it is most likely time to call a professional. I would not advise you to try to get the raccoon out yourself. They will feel trapped and be extremely defensive and will likely lash out and may try to scratch or bite you.
Rescuing an adolescent raccoon from a dumpster will require a net and noose. Our wildlife technician will assess the situation to determine the best way to handle it. A raccoon will tire himself out from struggling, and it can easily be scooped it up and removed. At other times raccoons are afraid and become defensive. That is when the technician will need to use a noose. Always use a noose by wrapping it around a raccoon’s body at the chest behind its front legs. The noose should NEVER placed around the raccoons next which may severely harm the raccoon. An improperly placed noose could cause the raccoon to get free and harm the technician or others standing close by. and they may also be able to get free and harm the technician or people close by. We will then relocate the raccoon.
Rescue And Relocation
Let us know everything you have tried so far when you call and give us a count of the numbers of raccoons involved. We try to trap a raccoon family together. A raccoon family will have a much better chance of survival. They may have to fight other raccoons in the new area in order to claim new territory, and then find a new source of food and water.
The new raccoons will either have to fight for territory or avoid the local wildlife and hideout until they can find a new home. Raccoons relocated together can help to protect each other and forage together so their chances for survival are much higher.
If you have raccoons in your dumpster in Bartlett TN, call us today and we will be glad to help!
