Raccoon-proof Green Bins: Fact or Fiction?

This morning our curbside was a disaster. Those raccoons are relentless, ingenius, dirty rats!

That is an adorable drawing.

We keep our garbage bins inside a stout shack ... it's not pretty, but no overspilled bins in a long time.

there are two hooks that hang our greenbin off of the back wall of the house and the coons don't get in. it's a different story when the bin hits the curb the night before and they get in and throw crap all over the sidewalk. that's the part i haven't figured out.

We got a buckle clip thing (you know those hard plastic clips that are used on backpacks, car seats, etc) from Home Hardware that we screwed onto our green bin - one part on the lid, one part on the base. We keep it clipped together until moments before the garbage truck pulls up. It works like a charm.

As long as ours are securely locked (with the clamp provided), the racoons knock 'em over but don't get in. If they AREN'T securely locked, on the other hand, all hell breaks loose. You ever had to pick up the remains of a chicken on the hottest day in June? Boy that's fun.

When we put out the garbage it is usually the day of, when we get ready for the work. Otherwise, if we put it out the night before we put a heavy recycling bin on top of it - usually the paper - making the bin hard to fall over. Since we did that I have yet to see the bin spill.

the little buggers used to get into my garbarge containers with regularity before the days of the green bin, but i seem to have received an industrial strength green bin. the locking mechanism is extremely difficult to pry open (i usually have to pound on it with the ball of my hand to lock it) - they've knocked it over once or twice, but have never managed to get into it. for now, i am the victor!

You have squirrels on the brain. Or are your squirrels also raiding your green bin? Enquiring minds want to know!!

I remember living just outside the Rouge Valley and always catching the racoons in the act. They would scuttle off with a tap from a broom end, making irritated noises. So frustrating (for both of us I am sure)! I tried putting the bins under a motion sensor light that was halfway down the wall, and very bright. No luck. I tried pie plates tied to the bungees that made lots of scary noise when tipped over. Nope... Bungee cords were wasted time... The little varmints could undo them as easily as I could.

The only thing that worked was an external shed/bin to house all the garbage in, that had a good sturdy lock. a flipcatch was no grand feat.

We had genius racoons there, I think.

Now that I am in the country near Ottawa, I thought myself inmmune to raccoons. But in the past two years, they have migrated out to us, and we now find ourselves in the same dilemma. The recycling comes at 5:30 AM, the garbage not long after, so we have to put it out the night before.

I'm tempted to wait up at night and begin broom herding again....

We keep ours in the basement, and put it out on garbage day. Between possums, dogs, coyotes, raccoons and bears, we figure it's a lost cause. At the state parks in WVA, they've solved the problem by putting the garbage cans in a chain-link cage on a concrete pad. I think that's worked pretty well...

I've found that harpoons work really well.

Lissa, thanks for pointing out my squirrel/raccoon switch. Yes, I have squirrels on the brain! Who wouldn't, after their abuse of my hapless seedlings? :-D

Like Scott, we hang our green bin on the wall outside our back door. The racoons still get in to dine on our food waste, after they dig through all the kitty litter, but they don't get knocked over making a mess.

There might be some spillage once in awhile, or you might open the lid to find one feasting but otherwise it works great.

On a side note, to reduce plastic bags in our green bins we use brown paper lunch bags or any small paper bag to put the clumped and poopey kitty litter in, they work great and IMO are better for the environment than using plastic bags.

Ha! I'm amazed you've been unscathed so long. My "raccoon proof" green bin lasted about 5 hours from issue. They were in the first night. Squirrels soon followed. I try to hold my composting materials inside as long as I can, but ick!
My neighbors wedge their bin under deck stairs so tightly that they have trouble getting it out. But the raccoons have no problem.

Today I came across this blog item about raccoons openly stealing cat food that was left out for stray cats:

http://involuntaryslacker.blogspot.com/2007/06/urban-pets-coon-contingent.html

I find it helpful to my morale to think of the process in terms not of keeping raccoons out of the garbage, but rather breeding smarter raccoons for our squirrel overlords. That said, if you have to keep your green bins in an insecure location (raccoons can learn how to operate garage door openers, beware), you need to do two things. First, you need to keep the bins upright, because if they can be knocked over, a mature raccoon can jump up and down on it until the plastic breaks. We use a series of bungee cords for this, replacing them as the raccoons and squirrels gnaw through them. Second, you need to keep the lid shut. The clip straps are great for this; we haven't had any raccoon feedings since we installed them half a year ago.

Bungee cord wrapped from under the lid to the little notch at the base of the back of the bin has worked for us in the past.

He/she/it (referred to as "it" hereafter) looks so cute staring up at you. It's giving you the "I'm cute and innocent, come closer" look even though you know that it's a furry demon. Hrm, kind of like some guys that I've dated.

Dog crap.

We used to have a raccoon party in our yard every night but they never touched the green bin, even when the lid wasn't secured. The reason - we disposed of our dog's crap in the bin as well (as is permitted under city by-laws) and the "Rakkins" ('cause you've got to throw in a Trailer Park Boys reference every now and then) wouldn't go near the thing.

Get a dog, borrow a dog, or leave the green bin at the curb an extra day, inviting local dog walkers to dispose of their stuff in your bin.

Raccoons are NOT cute! They're giant filthy rats! :P

I wonder what the city of Toronto suggests we do. They came up with the design. It's a pity they didn't test it first with our rascally raccoons.

Last summer I caught a litter of baby raccoons stuck in a garbage bin:
http://flickr.com/photos/wordfreak/sets/72157594293893671/

Roger, those pics are ADORABLE. I still curse the raccoons for making my morning so smelly, but those baby raccoons are darned cute.

Dog poop is a very good repellent but it doesn't always work.

I used to bungee my bin to the railing at our back door and then just use the clasp to keep the lid sealed. As long as they couldn't knock over the bin, they couldn't pop the clasp.

they go as far as open my garage... seen tehm do it in groups of 6 or more. Crazy animals, try putting moth balls in your garbage.

i love raccoons, but i can't finish a whole one

I ended up getting one of these:

http://www.binsolutions.ca/

I'm currently using bungees, and it's working great. The secret is in how you hook them up. :) I take a single stout one, about 4' in length. Fold it in half and insert the loop through the handle. Put both ends through the loop, and wrap around under the lip to connect to the latch at the front. Hasn't been defeated yet (fingers crossed).

Now if I can just get the garbage guys not to show up when I'm in the shower...

Hi there, my company recently designed a lid-locking system for the green bin. Not one of our customers have complained of raccoons getting into their green bin after we installed our system. It's $20! See our website!
www.rockyraccoonproofing.com?

Thank you thank you Bob for this posting.  After first reading about it in your comment from June 28, I also bought a cedar Binsolutions bin!  Two actually.  They're exactly what I was searching for.  My garbage and green bin fit in one, and 4 recycling containers fit in the other.  They're beautiful and I don't have to look at unsightly garbage at the side of my house anymore.  And, NO RACCOONS!  Don't even have to latch the green bin closed, or even touch the lid until garbage day (green bin lid opens automatically when you open the bin's lid).   So happy.  www.binsolutions.ca

Ok, I know this is not EXACTLY the blog I should be posting this on, but I don't think the one I need actually exists.... Has anyone experience PEOPLE stealing garbage out of the green bin? Happened to me last night - found the green bin open, with three big, filthy, nasty bags of garbage missing and no mess anywhere to be found. Green bin is in the back yard, and suspended on two hooks in the back wall... Scary, no?