Sod-seeking raccoons ravage backyards of Bay Area homes
By Dion Lim
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SAN FRANCISCO, California (KGO) — Residents across the Bay Area are waking up to torn up yards, all thanks to some furry creatures in the night.
Courtney Kress is one of them.
“It was the worst part of my day. I would go outside and the whole yard would be totally wrecked.”
The mystery mess left at her Outer Richmond backyard started about a month ago. Photos show squares of sod overturned and haphazardly strewn about, as if a tornado ripped through.
“We had just moved in and we had fixed up the whole yard and put a lot of work into it, we were so happy!” she beamed.
That happy transformation from overgrown brush to green and lush though, was short-lived. All thanks to some special guests.
You can see multiple raccoons playing, fighting and trotting about in cell phone video taken by Courtney. She and her fiancé can be heard exclaiming, “We provided this for them!”
The raccoons, according to experts, were after the grubs and worms to eat underneath the sod. After it was put back, the sheets of grass would get ripped up over and over again.
“Almost every morning for a month, I would go outside, and my fiancé would either know if they came or not depending on my mood when I came back in.”
This sod-ripping isn’t just at Courtney’s house. It happened at our very own Dan Ashley’s home in the East Bay half a dozen times in the last month.
ABC7 News spoke with a number of raccoon experts who say these animals have a keen sense of smell. They can smell food and trash from miles away. But there’s another reason why you may be seeing more of them in your neighborhood.
“They are good mothers, and they teach their young, different things, on how to forage for food, how to store food and how to look for fellow rodents,” says Maria Talacona, owner of Mighty Men pest control.
Even though Courtney doesn’t feed the raccoons, Maria says plenty of people in the Bay Area do.
Once words gets out to one animal?
“There must be a Facebook raccoon situation out here because they really do spread the word and get it out to their buddies. They travel in groups!”
As for Courtney’s situation, she tried a number of methods to stop the raccoons from coming back.
“My fiancé would have to run outside and grab the hose and then finally when they were almost doused with water, they would run away. I tried to fortify the whole fence area with a galvanized mesh. I added raccoon spikes around the perimeter. So far, it’s working. I also got a trail cam so I’m going to install that!,” says Courtney.
Maria from Mighty Men also suggests laying down chicken wire over the grass for a cost-effective fix. Just be forewarned.
“They will be back because they do have a cycle that they travel and they will return to the scene of a crime.”
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