The Bay Area’s residents are waking up to yards that have been messed up by some furry creatures throughout the night. Among them is Courtney Kress. It was the most unpleasant aspect of my day. When I went outdoors, the entire yard would be completely destroyed.
The strange mess in her backyard in Outer Richmond began about a month ago. Photos show squares of sod that are flipped over and spread around like they were hit by a tornado.
“We were so happy! We had just moved in and fixed up the whole yard with a lot of work!” she hugged him. But that happy change from unmanaged brush to lush and green didn’t last long. Thanks to some very important people.
You can see several raccoons playing, fighting, and running around on Courtney’s cell phone film. “We did this for them!” she and her fiancé can be heard saying.
The foxes were after the grubs and worms to eat under the grass, according to the experts. The grass sheets would get torn up over and over again after it was put back down.
“For about a month, I would go outside almost every morning. Depending on how I felt when I came back inside, my fiancé would know if they came or not.”
It’s not just happening at Courtney’s house. It happened six times in the last month at our own Dan Ashley’s home in the East Bay.
People who know a lot about raccoons told ABC7 News that these animals have a very good sense of smell. They can smell trash and food from very far away. You may be seeing more of them in your neighborhood for another reason, though.
Who owns Mighty Men Pest Control? Maria Talacona says, “They are good mothers and teach their young different things, like how to find food, how to store food, and how to look for other rodents.” She doesn’t feed the rats, but Maria says a lot of people in the Bay Area do.
When word gets to one animal? They really do get the word out to their friends, so there must be a Facebook raccoon problem right here. They go on trips with others!” There were several things Courtney did to try to keep the rats from coming back.
He would have to go outside and get the hose, and they would finally run away when they were almost drenched. I tried to make the whole fence area stronger by adding a steel mesh. I put raccoon claws all around the outside. For now, it seems to work. “I also got a trail camera, which I’m going to set up,” Courtney says.
As a cheap fix, Maria from Mighty Men also suggests putting chicken wire over the grass. Just so you know. “They’ll be back because they have a way of getting around and they always go back to crime scenes.”
