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Toronto - vibrant capital of the Province of Ontario, rich in culture and history, known for the Raptors, Blue Jays, Argos, and Maple Leafs. And... Raccoons. No, not a new sports team - the masked bandits, also known as trash pandas who raid your trash bins, rip up your lawn and roofing shingles, and break into your home. Toronto has earned the dubious recognition of 'Raccoon Capital of the World'.
Why are there so many Raccoons in Toronto?
We can only speculate why Toronto is more popular with raccoons than other cities with similar characteristics. There's plenty of green spaces, woods, and of course - water. Lots of water. All of this is attractive to wildlife and when we add rapid development of land where raccoons and other wild animals would normally dwell and the abundance of food due to human waste, it's not hard to see why this city may be a near perfect alternative to living in the wild. If you'd like to explore this question in more details, have a look at this article »
What Problems are associated with Raccoons?
- Nuisance Damage
Overturned garbage cans, torn up lawns and plants - Serious Property Damage
Displaced and torn up insulation, damage to wiring and potential fire hazards, roof and water damage, ripped up vents - Diseases, including rabies
Raccoons are the most common carriers of rabies, a disease fatal in humans. Latrines in attics or other places inside your home will eat through your floors and contaminate rooms throughout the home - Injury to Pets and Humans
Cornered raccoons and/or mothers with kits can and will become aggressive and potentially harm you or your pets
Addressing the Raccoon Problem in Toronto
While it may sound funny and yes, raccoons do indeed look adorable (especially, the babies, or kits), a city overrun by raccoons is no laughing matter. Let's look at some of the efforts that have been made to address and solve the issue thus far:
Measures taken by the City of Toronto
A 31 million dollar initiative to implement 'raccoon-proof' garbage cans: Unlike traditional trash bins, these ones had lids featuring special gravity locks, which let go when a garbage truck picked up the bin and turned it upside down. The logic was that if trash bins could be secured and the constant stream of food could be cut off, raccoons would move on and out of the city. Yeah, that didn't work. Turns out that raccoons are way smarter than previously thought; cameras caught a female raccoon easily manipulating the lid and getting to the goodies inside the bin. In fact, studies now show that a raccoon brain is comparable to that of a primate in terms of neuron density. Additionally, raccoons have clever and dexterous little paws with many sensors, allowing them to feel subtle textures like special trashcan lids and open locks without even looking.
A Wildlife Feeding Ban: A new bylaw was introduced in April of 2023, prohibiting all feeding of wildlife, except for bird feeders. This ban includes purposely feeding animals out of misplaced compassion or for entertainment purposes as well as involuntary feeding by careless waste disposal or by improperly storing pet food outdoors.
Wildlife Trapping and Relocating
In the wake of the ill fated trash bin initiative, wildlife operators have seen a doubling in calls for raccoons. And, the majority of wildlife control companies only have one option: Legally, a raccoon (or skunk, squirrel, etc.) trapped in Ontario must be released within a one kilometer radius from the capture site. While this may not seem particularly practical, there are a couple of good reasons for this:
- Preventing the spread of disease - rabies, in particular;
- Ensuring the animal's survival in familiar territory
Unfortunately, trapping and releasing raccoons nearby does nothing, except produce trap-shy animals. Raccoons will literally turn around and come right back to where you caught them. Many home owners, or the wildlife control companies they hired, trapped the vey same animals over and over again. In addition to the horrendous costs, this understandably frustrates and infuriates home and business owners.
Wildlife Exclusion
Exclusion is also known as 'Fort Knoxing' your home. It entails repairing all damage from previous attempted or successful wildlife intrusions, reinforcing of vulnerable locations, capping chimneys, trimming branches around the building, erecting fences, and closing up any and every opening you possibly can. This also can become incredibly costly and while somewhat successful, this also is no longtime solutions. If you've really done a stellar job, the raccoons will simply move on to your next door neighbour. You've effectively passed the buck.
Making the environment less attractive
Also valid and absolutely necessary are measures to make raccoons less likely to pitch their tent in your yard, your shed, under your porch, or in your attic. This includes eliminating food and water sources, securing trash as best as you can, clean up the yard (pick up fallen fruit, clean up veggie garden), etc. However, this also not a real solution and definitely won't work on its own.
So then, What Solution will work to Solve Toronto's Raccoon Problem?
Solving Toronto's raccoon problem long term will require trapping and euthanizing entire families or a generation. Kits (raccoon youngsters) learn from their parents; they learn where and how to get food and shelter and how to get into cozy places to wait out the winter (like your attic). The knowledge to survive in the city is passed from mother to youngsters, and so on. Mothers will very often return to the location where they've had successful litters in the past. And so it continues.
Hawkeye Bird & Animal Control has the Solution to Toronto's Raccoon Problem
In contrast to almost all other Ontario animal and wildlife control companies/operators, HAWKEYE's permits and licenses under The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act (MNR) as a licensed furbearer trapper, uniquely qualifies Hawkeye Bird and Animal Control to offer permanent removal of raccoons. While we do not advocate for the senseless killing of animals, the ever increasing issues with city raccoons cannot be resolved by conventional methods. Contact Hawkeye today and learn more about permanent raccoon removal solutions.
