We have had a pesky racoon causing a mess in our flower beds. He literally is digging all the flowers out and throwing the topsoil on the ground. It has happened the last two nights. This is the first year we have had this problem. Any tips on how to get him to stop?
Wow, that's something I haven't heard of before. I had no idea that they ate flowers. Is there anything those little bandits won't go for? Jeez. To answer your question (finally),I've always found that stirring up the dogs will get the coons moving right along.
Was there some sort of food around the flowers? I had this problem a few years ago when I had birdseed close to the flowers. The raccoons dug through the flowers trying to get the suet and seed.
Hmmm... I would think that he is smelling food of some sort. I have never seen a racoon eat flowers. What a pain though. I hope that he stops soon so you don't lose your flowers.
Honestly raccoons get into everything but not flowers (here at our farm). I would try to set up traps if they continue to bother with your flowers. Are these flowers you grow to sell or flowers you decorate with?
The raccoon is probably smelling food and trying to dig it up. This is the time of year when the babies arrive, so if the raccoon is a female, she has added incentive to look for food.
Yes, we had a bird feeder over the top of one of the beds. It has been moved now. I'm sure the raccoon smelled it and he demolished the flowers. He dug so much that the stones that were on the bottom for drainage were on the top.
Yep, that will do it for sure. If he smelled the feed or suet, he would dig to the bottom. Raccoons are such nuisances for sure. I hope with you moving the feeder, he will stop bothering you.
We have caught him on camera a few nights, but he hasn't dug any more flowers since we moved the feeders. I bet he just smelled the suet and was looking for more! Lesson learned!