Nocturnal Lawn Vandals

10 years ago

Last night, nocturnal visitors (I'm assuming raccoons) tore my lawn to shreds. (See photos at the link below.) They dug up the grass, I assume in search of worms or grubs. What can I do to prevent a repeat performance tonight?

Here is a link that might be useful: Crime scene photos

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Comments (4)

rockinar
10 years ago
Go to a sporting good store and buy a motion sensitive camera (in the hunting area) and see what the vandals are. If they are raccoons you can set up live traps and relocate them or kill them. Short of that, I don't think there's anything you can do besides feed them so that they don't dig up your yard. But then instead of 1 or 2 raccoons running around, you're going to have 10 of them digging through your garbage. I'm not an expert on animals, but I can't picture raccoons tearing up a yard. Sound more like armadillo.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Can't see your pictures. If it is a raccoon, they can be trapped but the trap will be broken and useless after a raccoon gets through trying to get out. Other digging animals include skunks, squirrels, and possums. If you catch a skunk, you'll have to let it die in the trap. Or you can turn any live trap into a skunk trap by covering it completely with black plastic. When the skunk cannot see out, it doesn't seem to spray.
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raymondo17
Original Author
10 years ago
>Other digging animals include skunks, squirrels, and possums. If you catch a skunk, you'll have to let it die in the trap.And we have all three of them around here. I don't think it's squirrels, as this happened overnight.

As dismayed as I am, I don't think I want to resort to such drastic measures as trapping the animals and relocating them, or worse, killing them. We live on the edge of a greenbelt and my personal opinion is they were here first. Situations like this are to be expected, I guess. I was just hoping there was some kind of effective deterrent (like coyote urine???) that I could spread on the lawn to inspire the critters to find more hospitable feeding grounds.
andy10917
10 years ago
Geez, guys, there is no need for a species identification project, cameras, traps or killing the animals. They are after grubs in your lawn, and will go elsewhere if the food source is removed. Locate a product that kills the lawn grubs and they will quit tearing the place up. Obviously, a grub killer that works in 24 hours is going to be better, since they will stop ripping the place up when a couple of nights doesn't produce dinner.