Small raccoon keeps getting into the dumpster at night and I have to let him out in the morning, by putting a step stool in there and letting him crawl his stupid ass out. If I put anything on the dumpster, I might interfere with garbage collection. Is there an unobtrusive way to keep him from nosing his way under the lid and into the dumpster? Are there smells to keep them away?
bump - ok, let me pose it this way - do those products that are made of big cat urine work as a deterrent to racoons?
Why do you have to let him out?
Two reasons: it freaks people who are taking garbage to the dumpster to be confronted with him; if I don’t let him out, he will be in the dumpster when it’s taken by the garbage guys and put into that truck. Nope, can’t do that.
My guess is when it comes to food no mimicking smell is going to keep a hungry critter away from a free meal.
I saw a video the other day of a good Samaratin in a pick-up that was trying to get a ladder into a dumpster so two bear cubs could get out, this while the momma paced around outside trying to make sure no one harmed her cubs. Seems an built-in unobtrusive interior ladder or some mechanism with which they can gain purchase would benefit a variey of dumpster diving fauna.
Urban? Use a crossbow.
Where I live, raccoon rabies is such a big problem, that destroying the animal would be he only option.
Is it your dumpster? Lock the lid.
Live trap the raccoon and release him on the property of someone you don’t like.
But flights to the Capitol are so *expensive *this time of year. 
Post a sign warning of racoons or other more generic animals. Supply bungee cords and request that people use them to secure the lids after loading their refuse.
Trust me, the garbage guys are used to all manner of critters in the dumpsters. The racoons will be just fine and not crushed even slightly.
Live trap and relocate is illegal in Florida at least (except in very special circumstances that I won’t bother to define). But I like the way you think!
Really though, the best answer is to secure the lid so that raccoons and other wildlife cannot gain access. The animals do not really benefit from consuming food contaminated with household chemicals including but not limited to detergents and pesticides. Plus the availability of a large source of food, contaminated or not, drives a population increase that will not be sustainable whenever the supplemental food is no longer available. In quite real terms, dumpster diving isn’t at all a harmless habit or a positive benefit to those cute little animals. I see the sad results on a professional level all the time.
[quote=“Alpha_Twit, post:11, topic:631621”]
…Trust me, the garbage guys are used to all manner of critters in the dumpsters. The racoons will be just fine and not crushed even slightly. (my emphasis) I believe that the guys are used to seeing lots of critters. I also believe that things that are dumped into the trucks get smooshed totally, including raccoons.
Up here in the Great White, we can send mail to our Members of Parliament for free, but not raccoons if they are stil alive.
At least around here, the refuse collectors always seem to open the lids of the dumpster to quickly check for critters and/or improperly disposed of item before the dumpsters are actually loaded. I would have thought this was pretty much a standard practice but maybe your guys don’t do this.
Not where I am. The driver doesn’t even get out of the truck, it’s all controlled from in the cab.
And for the OP - how about a cinderblock on the lid? Take it off on trash day and hope the offender doesn’t climb in in the meantime.
Drivers may look in the bins, but if they find a raccoon stuck in there they’re not about to go find a step-stool to let the critters out. Cinder blocks aren’t the solution because we have too many people who would find that too hard to manage. Maybe we could rig up some sort of bungee cord device that would permit limited (to humans) access. We really need heavier, chew-proof lids on the dumpsters, but that would cost the city, so that’s probably out of the question. Does the urine-scented powder work at all? Does anyone know?
A raccoon will sneak into your house, steal your money and keys from your purse, drive off in your car for a meal at a McDonalds drive through, leave your car with some raccoon buddies, and be dropped off at home by them to pass out in the garbage bin, regardless of what you spray there, anad regardless of how you might weigh down the lid. It’s what raccoons do. They’re like people, only smarter, more agile, and are better endowed with secret super powers. If you don’t want to kill it, live trap it and release it far away from where any one lives.
Meh. He gets crushed in the trash truck, he gets crushed under the trash truck. Urban raccoons generally end up as crow food either way. You do the little fellers no favors by making it easier for them to raid the trash.
Hah! I don’t have a purse!