4 Ways To Keep Animals Out of Your Garbage for Good

Having critters in your trash can potentially lead to encounters that may include being bitten or mauled. It’s also bad for them too, as eating trash can cause bowel obstructions and other deadly complications. It’s best to keep animals away from it, but how?

Keep Out Food

Wash out containers thoroughly to make them less appealing. Find out if you have a community compost center where you can discard your fruit and veggie scraps, and keep other food waste in a container in your freezer. Wait to put it outside with the rest of the trash until right before your scheduled garbage pickup.

Wash Away Smells

Even if there’s nothing inside the cans, they may still be enticing. Regularly wash out the inside of your cans with diluted bleach, ammonia or vinegar, especially if you have a “juicy” day where the trash leaked. On days when those cans are full, you may still want to spray those cleaners inside the lid to repel the critters’ curiosity. Just make sure you warn your garbage man first.

Double Down on Security

You might want to secure lids with chains, bungee chords or locks. Building a pen out of two-by-fours and chicken wire is a project you could tackle in an afternoon that will deter smaller animals. However, if you’re dealing with bears you will need a heavier duty solution and should contact a gate fence company Salem OR or in your hometown to build a storage area to keep them out.

Illuminate the Problem

Shyer critters may be deterred by stings of LEDs or Christmas lights. For harder to scare animals, you may want to get motion-detecting garage lights that create the illusion they’ve been spotted.

One man’s trash is another one’s treasure, but when wild animals are in the picture, that trash turns into an all-you-can-eat buffet. Making it as unappetizing as possible will save you trouble—and their lives.