How Do You Keep Raccoons Away From Watermelons?

Here’s what works for folks around here:

1. You can put a radio in a zip-lock bag to keep moisture off of it and put it right in the middle of the melons.
2. An electric fence with two strands, one 4″ off the ground and the other 12″ off the ground, usually deters raccoons.

How do you keep racoons out of watermelons?

Fences for Raccoons
The best way to keep raccoons out of the corn patch—or melons, tomatoes, and anything else that is ripe and tasty—is to exclude them from the area. Fencing works well, although raccoons are excellent climbers.

How do you protect raccoons from melons?

Depending on the size of the melon you need to protect, cut out a square of hardware cloth that will be large enough to wrap around the fully mature melon and still fold up on either end.

How do you protect a watermelon?

Fencing and netting won’t keep bugs away from your watermelon crop. Spray repellents are the most effective and common way of protecting ripe fruit from insects. A few sprays of a vegetable-safe repellent can keep away aphids, ladybugs, and various other watermelon-eating insects.

What scent keeps raccoons away?

Since raccoons have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find convenient food sources, one can take advantage of this feature by using scents they hate. Hot pepper, garlic, peppermint oil, onion, and Epsom salt are a few scents used to repel raccoons.

Does Irish Spring soap keep raccoons away?

Soap the yard
Raccoons use their superb sense of smell to forage for food, and some scents are really effective at keeping them away. The ingredients in Irish Spring soap are generally effective in keeping raccoons and other small mammals out of your yard.

Do raccoons eat watermelons?

Raccoons, deer, coyotes, and especially crows are all animals that might eat a watermelon if they found one.

What animal is eating my watermelon?

Animals such as squirrels, chipmunks, deer and woodchucks enjoy puncturing and eating melon crops. Coyotes and domesticated dogs also enjoy biting into sweet melons. Raccoons and birds make holes in the tops of melons and scoop or suck juices from the fruit’s inside.

What to put under watermelons while growing?

Instead, place small patches of plastic sheeting, coarse straw or a piece of plywood directly under melon fruits that have become at least softball sized. As long as the melon doesn’t rest directly atop wet soil or mulch, there’s much less chance for the melon’s underside to rot.

Do raccoons eat melons?

Main Attraction: Raccoons are omnivores, meaning that they eat all kinds of plants as well as animals. They’re accurately known as marauders of sweet corn patches, but they also commonly feast on melons, berries, grapes, and a variety of other garden vegetables.

What can you spray on watermelons?

Contact fungicides should be the backbone of most cantaloupe and watermelon spray schedules. Two contact fungicides for this purpose have the active ingredient chlorothalonil or mancozeb. They may be used all season-long.

How do you grow big watermelons?

To maximize the size of the melons, water the plants at the base in regular, deep-watering sessions that keep the soil moist. Side dress the watermelon plants with fertilizer designed for edible crops or compost tea to feed the plants. The fertilizer encourages growth to get larger melons.

How do you keep coyotes away from watermelons?

Over the years, the only deterrent we have found that works is putting a tomato cage over the watermelons as they start to grow. The coyotes have yet to figure out how to move the cages and the melons can’t be pulled through the wire. We manage to save a few watermelons each year using this method.

What home remedy keeps raccoons away?

4 Natural Raccoon Deterrents

• Scatter or spray pepper. Spices like cinnamon, black pepper or cayenne pepper bother a raccoon’s sense of smell, forcing it to relocate to a more livable area.
• Soak rags in ammonia.
• Place mothballs around your house.
• Call Apple Pest Control.

What smells do raccoons hate or avoid?

Raccoons have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find accessible food sources. You can take advantage of this trait by using scents they dislike, such as hot pepper, onion, garlic, peppermint oil and Epsom salt to repel them.

Does Pine Sol repel raccoons?

Do you have a raccoon problem? Try mixing a 50-50 solution of full strength Pine Sol and warm water, and spraying your garbage cans with it. The pine smell is repulsive to most animals.

Do coffee grounds repel raccoons?

The strong scent of the coffee grounds is an effective repellent for raccoons. While you may enjoy the smell and taste of coffee, raccoons do not. Raccoons are deterred from coffee grounds the same way that deer are.

What are raccoons afraid of?

Raccoons aren’t fond of spicy smells, so a cayenne pepper spray can be an easy and effective raccoon repellent. Mix a small bottle of cayenne pepper with a bottle of hot sauce, then add both to a gallon of water and shake well. Spray this pepper solution around your plants, bushes, and other garden greenery.

Will moth balls keep racoons away?

Raccoons dislike the strong smell of mothballs. Buy a box and scatter them around your property to prevent raccoons from taking up residence.

What is eating my watermelon plants?

If you’ve ever tried to grow watermelons (Citrullus lanatus), you’ve probably noticed insects, such as aphids, leafminers and caterpillars, like to eat parts of the plant almost as much as you enjoy eating the fruit. Repelling these pests is the key to growing a crop of watermelons good enough to eat.

Do possums eat watermelons?

And, they are doing so in the most adorable way possible. This group of five sibling opossums is thoroughly enjoying their bowl of delicious watermelon. If everyone liked fruit this much, we would be a much healthier world! Opossums are, sadly, regularly hit by cars in North America.