What scent will keep raccoons away? Let's dive into it

Are you struggling to get rid of raccoons from your property? Tired of their continuing night shifts? 

Raccoons have become widespread in North America because of continuous supply and access to food. They are famous for their sensitive olfactory receptors, which help them to navigate in the dark and spot the place with food.

You might be wondering what brings raccoons to your yard. Raccoons are attracted to your house because of pet food, table scraps, available garbage (for you, not for them), and pests such as beetles, fleas, ants, moths, and grubs. 

You will never want to share space with these scavengers, given their immense destruction to your home and garden. Raccoons are intelligent, adaptable nocturnal animals that will attack your house at night, scavenging through your space. This makes it difficult to repel them, right?

Since they have sensitive noses, we can benefit from this by using scents that will repel raccoons naturally. Read on to find out how.    

What Do Raccoons Hate The Most?

Raccoons are put off by scents that give them the notion of a predator or humans. Raccoons also dislike fragrances that smell sour, caustic, pungent, or spicy. This is tremendous since you can use scents with such characteristics to discourage raccoons from making another raid on your territory.

Any lethal removal of such animals is prohibited by law, so we will enlist the best natural ways you can use to repel raccoons. Raccoons hate the smell of vinegar, peppermint oil, ammonia, cayenne pepper, garlic, and Epsom salt, making them excellent raccoon-repellent scents. 

Hot peppers like black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon can do wonders since they interfere with the smell-detecting ability of raccoons forcing them to leave and relocate. Certain smells like citrus or vanilla might not repel raccoons but will mask the aroma of foods in your domain. 

Garlic juice is an elixir for repelling raccoons because of its pungent smell and great longevity. Raccoons hate the smell of garlic because it confuses and irritates them greatly. 

You can certainly get rid of raccoons by these methods, but using scent repellents is the best choice. 

Why Do You Need To Keep Raccoons Out? 

Raccoons may appear cute little animals, but their activities can harm your home or property. Raccoons' number is increasing rapidly in cities, which can be credited to their intelligence, allowing them to adapt immediately to their new environment. 

They destroy your yard, lawn, and garden, poach your pets' food, tip your trash bin and spill food, and destroy your building's material. The most alarming impact of their presence can be the transmission of diseases such as rabies, Parvo, and distemper to you and your pets. It is thus imperative to take rapid action against these disturbing mammals. 

We will help you repel these raccoons by listing all scent repellents that will deter raccoons naturally.   

Home Remedies to Deter Raccoons

You can easily deter raccoons from ingredients that are all present in your kitchen. What can be a better way to expel them than scent repellents which are easily accessible and inexpensive? 

We will discuss scent repellents for raccoons that you can easily make in your home. 

Light on the pocket, heavy on the raccoons!

Hot Pepper Keeps Raccoons Away

Hot peppers can help you eradicate these trash bandits from creating havoc on your property. Raccoon's nasal gets irritated with the smell of Capsaicin, the main constituent of hot peppers helping you to end their game.  

To limit their rummage, you can spread hot peppers in areas frequently visited by these critters, such as the garden. Make sure to apply a generous amount of pepper in dug-up areas and trash bins. Don’t forget to reapply after one to two days or a rainy day. 

Have you ever witnessed how spicy fish tacos dishearten raccoons from tipping dustbins? Well, yes, it does. Hot peppers like cayenne pepper are potent for raccoons as they disrupt their ability to smell food and deter them from invading your periphery.   

Spray a Combination of Onion and Pepper

Female raccoons make their way to your home's attics, decks, and chimneys to lay eggs. This can get frustrating when there are feces all around. There are increased chances of getting diseases as well. 

Here comes the most practical and tremendous remedy. 

One of the most effective and versatile homemade pesticides is onion and pepper spray. You can use this spray indoors to disavow raccoons, especially in your home's attic and hidden areas. 

To make this potion add equal amounts of onion and pepper in boiling water, then add it to a spray bottle when cooled. The smell is very unappetizing, pungent, and stifling to raccoons and will keep them off your place.    

Peppermint Essential Oil to Deter Raccoons

Peppermint is the best option if you have a cat or dog at home and don’t want to use a spray that repels them. Raccoons hate the permeating minty smell of peppermints, making their nose burn and their eyes water. Raccoons hate the smell of peppermint essential oil because of the disorientation, and it will keep raccoons at bay. 

To make this spray, mix peppermint essential oil and alcohol 2 ounces each in a spray bottle and then mix the rest with water. Since essential oil is expensive, this recipe can be used instead of spreading pure peppermint oil everywhere.  

 Do not forget to reapply in a day or two because peppermint oil can only last for such long.  

Epsom Salt Is the Best for Your Yard

With Epsom salt, you can hit two targets with one arrow. Epsom salt will not only serve to deter raccoons but will also act as a natural fertilizer for your garden. Raccoons neither like the taste nor smell of this salt; hence will keep them away from your garden.

A handful of Epsom salt sprinkled around your garden, garbage cans, and edges of your lawn will force raccoons to keep a safe distance from your property. It has many beneficial minerals like iron and magnesium, which are best for your garden. 

If you have a vegetable garden home, cover its boundary with Epsom salt. Don’t waste your energy screaming at these masked bandits every night; instead, use Epsom salt. 

Cayenne Pepper Spray

Continuing in the vein, cayenne pepper spray has the same features that can evacuate your garden from raccoons. This pepper has a very hot flavor and a spicy, irritating smell that raccoons dislike.

To make a spray, mix cayenne pepper in water and spray it liberally on the area most frequently visited by raccoons. For best results, take 1 gallon of water and add ten finely chopped peppers. 

It’s a 100% organic and natural pesticide used for decades by farmers and gardeners to eliminate pests. Make your homemade pesticide now and deter raccoons naturally without harming the ecosystem.     

Vinegar Spray

Vinegar has many flavors, but apple cider vinegar is best for its extra-potent effects. The vinegar smell is overwhelming for raccoons and makes it hard to smell their surroundings. It is especially essential in deterring raccoons, given their caustic, acidic smell, which significantly dampens the raccoon’s senses.

You can spray vinegar around trash bins to get rid of garbage spills, in dens or dug-ups to relocate raccoons, or around your garden to protect your plants. Clothes soaked in vinegar can be placed at frequently visited places by raccoons to end their mischievous activities. 

Use Ammonia

Compared to all scents mentioned above, ammonia occupies the highest place for being effective in repelling raccoons. Ammonia has a striking unappetizing pungent smell as of urine which raccoons hate. Being a common household cleaning agent, you can easily use it to deter raccoons. Another option is to soak mats in ammonia and place them at entrances since their smell is perceived as urine. Hence, raccoons will be forced to leave.   

You can place a bowl of ammonia in entryways or places where raccoons are commonly found hiding. This colorless gas quickly takes away breath, creating suffocation for raccoons.   

Where Should You Use These Scents? 

To get the best results, it is significant that you spray these scents in the right locations. Let’s look at places that will bring the best results if sprayed appropriately. 

- Entry points around the perimeter of your house: you can spray these scents at the entrance so that raccoons can find no way to enter your domain. 

- Apply them by the pantry, food bins, garden, and on crops: food is the reason raccoons make their way to your house. To deter raccoons, spray scents like ammonia, vinegar, and Epsom salt on your garden and crops. 

- On places where raccoons might build their nests: hidden places like the attic, chimneys, and decks are hard to reach by humans. You can spray these scents there to stop them from reproducing. Remember, if you don’t spray in their nesting areas, you cannot stop them from coming into your house. 

FAQs 

What Smells Do Raccoons Hate?

Raccoons hate smells that disrupt their sense of smell. Among these scents most notable are hot pepper, peppermint, ammonia, Epsom salt, and garlic juice smells. All these scents have either a pungent odor or a spicy disrupting impact. 

How to Keep Raccoons Out of Your Garden

Using scent repellents or physical methods, you can make your garden safe from these nocturnal animals. You can make scent repellents from materials readily available at your kitchen counter. Because of their sensitive olfactory receptors, they are inexpensive and natural to deter raccoons. 

In physical ways, you can keep a dog to scare raccoons away or create loud voices such as banging steel plates, etc. Make sure to collect eggs and catch female raccoons, if any, to stop the growth completely.   

Does The Irish Spring Soap Keep Raccoons Away?

Irish spring soap is best for keeping raccoons and other small animals away. Raccoons who invade your place for forage hate the smell of Irish spring soap.  

Does Epsom Salt Repel Raccoons?

Epsom salt is a good way to deter those scavengers on a night raid. Epsom salt can be used indoors and outdoors to limit raccoons’ attempts to destroy your building. Raccoons hate their taste, and the smell is enough to irritate their nasal cavities. 

Conclusion

Raccoons prefer to live in woody areas, but being highly adaptable can also live near humans. Living in North America can become a headache if these raccoons constantly disturb your home. 

Scent-repellent home remedies are an effective way to repel raccoons. You can use combinations of the above-mentioned sprays or use them in variations to make your home a raccoon-free zone.