Marianne's Response

Raccoons and lawn damage

Good Morning Marianne,

We woke up for the second morning in a row to find our lawn has been dug up just enought to uproot the grass and toss the rich soil around. We think is very well may be the raccoons. The first moring it was along the brick walkway but this morning we found they reworked that area again but also moved across the lawn to several other locations. Most frustrating! Have you any suggestions to let them know they are unwanted? In the past we have sprinkled cayenne pepper in flower beds to let the cats know their gifts are unwanted and it worked very well. Would sprinkling the lawn with cayenne pepper damage the grass?

Posted by TomandLinda on March 8, 2015

Marianne's Response

It does sound like raccoons as they cute little bandits like to dig shallow holes looking for grubs - perhaps the cranefly larvae. Red pepper does not repel raccoons as well as it does cats but give it a try as it will not harm our lawn. Another idea is to set up a motion activated sprinkler like the brand name \"Scarecrow\" that will get them wet and perhaps have them picking different hunting grounds. Keep repairing that lawn because when grub season is over the raccoons should go dining elsewhere. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti

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