How to keep wild animals out of my garbage cans

There is no person who likes to go outside and find out that his trash can was knocked down or raided by wild animals. However, this is a common problem and most homeowners may have experienced it. When the animals come to your home because of your garbage, they may enter the shed, basement and garage. It can be hard to deal with animals if they come into your home, but you can find some tried and true methods that can help to keep these uninvited guests outside, and there is no need to use poisons or harmful chemicals.

Dispose of the garbage well

Wild animals such as opossums, rats and raccoons will come to the property while looking for food. They can be enticed by the smell of leftovers in the garbage cans. If you minimize the leftovers or keep their odor down, the animals may be kept away. Make sure that you rinsed the cans, containers and wrappers before you put them in the recycling or waste bins. If you have to place the food into the trash, then ensure that it is kept at the bottom of the garbage can. You can have a compost of coffee grounds, starches, vegetables and leftover fruits if you want to keep these things out of the garbage cans.

Have a secure garbage lid

Make sure that the garbage can is tight and that objects are not hanging outside of it. You can buy screw on lids to ensure that everything stays in their place, and this makes it hard for the animals to break into the cans. If you do not want to buy a special item, you should try DIY tactics. You can put a block or other heavy objects on the can. However, this method might only work with smaller pests such as rats while the raccoons may push a block away.

Use a metal trash can

Some animals, mostly the rodents, are able to gnaw into the plastic trash cans, but this does not happen with the metal trash cans. The metal will also absorb the odor as the time passes.

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