Often, if one animal can get into your garbage, more can be using it as a food source than you realize. In urban and suburban settings, there is plenty of trash for raccoons, opossums, skunks, and more to get into. If your garbage cans can be accessed by one type of animal, chances are high that you could be feeding a small community of wild critters near your home.
How Different Animals Access Your Trash
Different animals can utilize different techniques for trash access. Skunks try to knock over cans. Squirrels can access garbage by jumping into the trash can. Opossums, while trash-lovers, usually can’t access bins. But, they will wait for raccoons or skunks to do the heavy lifting before coming in to scavenge what remains.
Raccoons can, and will, try just about anything to access the garbage can’s contents. This includes climbing in, knocking over, and even unlocking cans. Raccoons can figure out simple clamps and basic security functions that would protect the scraps inside your can from the deft hands of the trash bandits.
Protecting Your Cans from Different Animals
There are a few ways to protect your trash bins from would-be diners. First, invest in your trash cans. Sturdy, animal-proof trash bins with locking lids can stave off most critters. Even the smartest of raccoons may be deterred from a meal if the garbage can is sturdy enough. Next, use natural deterrents. Mint Essential Oils and Cayenne pepper powder are natural ingredients that can deter pesky animals from the trash. And the mint can help your trash smell less pungent to human noses. Sawdust sprinkled around your trash cans can also act as a deterrent. Animals like raccoons and skunks do not like the feeling of sawdust on their paws, which may discourage them from approaching your trash bins. Hopefully, these tips will help reduce animal activity in your trash cans. Shoring up your defenses against dumpster divers will hopefully encourage them to seek their next meal elsewhere.